Slow Cooker Cheesy Ham & Potatoes

Since everyone has been on the slow cooker bandwagon as of late due to the uber hot weather, I wanted to share with you this delightful gem of a recipe.  Whether you add a salad, a roll and make it a full dinner meal like we do, or as a side or even as breakfast, this hearty fulfilling dish will leave you with some very happy tummys!

Using my food processor to slice the potatoes and shred my cheese makes this ever so faster.  This dish was in my slow cooker and on my plate in just 4 hours.  (on high or 8 hours on low)  It's super velvety, creamy, cheesy, salty...it just doesn't get any better than this for a quick set it and forget it type of meal.  I hope you enjoy!

Cheesy Ham & Potatoes
adapted from Mixing Bowl Magazine

6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 pound boneless ham, cut into small pieces
3 cups of shredded cheddar
1 small onion, diced
1 can of cream of chicken
1 can of cream of celery
Paprika
salt/pepper

In a 3.5-4 quart slow cooker, layer half the potatoes, half the ham, half the onion, half the cheese and one can of soup (spread out as best you can with the back of a spoon).  Add salt/pepper.  Repeat another layer with remaining ingredients.  Sprinkle paprika over top.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Edges will be bubbly and cheesy and browned. 

Note:  spray the inside portion of your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking or use a slow cooker liner available at your grocery store in the foil aisle.  It's a lifesaver as this cheese likes to stick to everything.

Double Bonus Monday!

Oh what a Monday!  I bought Linkin' Park's new album last week and I have had the song "Waiting for the End" replaying in my head like a skipped record.  I am just so enamored with the lyrics to this song as its dead on accurate to how I've been feeling lately in dealing with a broken friendship.  Instead of pouting and puttering about the house miserable (even though I want to do so), I've been plunging forward in projects that have been laying about in my head.  So to kick off this wonderful transition phase for me, you get to reap the rewards with a bonus Monday with TWO recipes.  Who doesn't need a kick of motivation on a Monday?

There is a cake out there that has like 1,000 names.  Wacky cake, Garnet's cake, War cake...whatever you want to call it, its the recipe that has no eggs in it and was developed war time when supplies were in great shortage.  War time kitchen engineering/finagling has paid off big time in this time tested recipe that is so good, so gooey and so chocolately rich, you'll never miss the eggs.  And BONUS!  It's made IN the cake pan.  No bowls to mess with at all!  No greasing, no flouring...serve this cake right from the pan warm with a glass of milk.  Its so quick and easy, it'll be your kids favorite after school snack.  Hey, its cholesterol free too, so its good for them too!  (well, as good as a chocolate cake can get!)  Mine is shown with two mini scoops of my homemade triple chocolate ice cream and a drizzle of dark chocolate syrup.  (yum and totally not healthy)

This recipe is from King Arthur Flour's website which I *so* encourage you all to visit.  A treasure trove of baking recipes await and some of the coolest things are in their shop.  Stop by!  You can view this recipe there with variations to make it mocha cake or a rum type cake.  This however, is the true blue original.

KAF Original Cake-Pan Cake

1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (not dutch processed, just regular)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup cold water 


Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Measure all the dry ingredients into an 8" or 9" round or square cake pan; if you use an 8" pan, make sure it's at least 2" deep. Blend the ingredients together thoroughly with a fork or whisk and scoop out three holes, or indentations.

Pour the vanilla into the first hole, the vinegar into the second, and the oil into the third. Take the cup of cold water and pour it directly over everything in the pan.  Stir all the ingredients together with your fork until they are well blended making sure to get the corners if using a square pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve right from the pan; warm from the oven.


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This is the BEST potato salad I've ever had in my life.  I've never been a potato salad fan because I hate mustard and undoubtedly, like me, you grew up on your mom's yellow potato salad.  Every holiday or family gathering someone brought this mustard laden concoction to the party and I shuddered just even smelling it.  I really loathe mustard, can you tell?  This recipe however, has no mustard and the cooked potatoes marinate overnight in this vinegar/herby blend before adding the mayonnaise right before serving.  Its tangy, its creamy and cool.  Perfect with burgers or with pigs-in-a-blanket!  Its a bit of work and takes some planning (its not a simple throw together on the fly type of thing)...but so is every other homeade potato salad out there really.  This makes a HUGE amount that we ate off of all weekend long with light sammies.  We ran all weekend long so I wanted something easy to pull out and snack off of.  Its just perfect.  I hope you really give it a go. 

Marinated Potato Salad

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
12 fist sized Idaho potatoes
 ⅓ cups cold water
⅓ cups white vinegar
1-½ tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
½ large yellow onion (not sweet Vidalia ones, just regular)
5 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip, please)

Place potatoes WITH skins on in a large pot and cover with water.  Place on stove and turn on high.  Once they start to boil, boil for 45 minutes or until a fork inserted, comes out easily and gives no resistance.  Drain and cool for about an hour.  (will likely still be warm)  Peel cooled potatoes with a spoon.  Chop peeled potatoes into chunks, place in a large bowl and set aside.

In a smaller bowl, mix together the water, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, parsley flakes, onion and celery.  Pour over the warm potatoes and stir to coat all the potato chunks.  Cover well with plastic and place in fridge overnight or at least 12 hours to marinate.

Before serving, add mayo to potatoes and stir well to coat all pieces.  (can add more mayo if you need to but do so a little at a time)  Add chopped, boiled eggs and stir again.  Keep cool until serving.  Refrigerate leftovers in a tightly sealed container.  Stir leftovers before serving.  (may separate some as is normal)

Big, Bad and Cheesy

Note to My Readers:  This is my last post until the 31st of August.  I will be away as we're hitting the road on our way to our new house at Fort Benning, Georgia from New York.  Wish us well!  And talk to you ya'll soon!  Much love! - Jill

I am thoroughly convinced everyone on the planet has a version of these cheesy hashbrown potatoes.  They have popped up at every family gathering, bridal shower, back yard BBQ or holiday event I've ever been to.  For years I was convinced my Aunt Lori's was the only version on Earth that was worth eating.  Hers was a true work out though and required you to dice pounds of potatoes and hand shred mounds of cheddar.  It also used Cream of Mushroom soup, of which, I think is pure evil with its bits of rubbery mushrooms hidden in a slimey mush pile of gelified ingredients.  (such an image, I know)  Every serving I would pick those icky bits out and it took forever.  With Labor Day creeping around the corner, I thought I'd share my favorite potluck dish with ya'll. 

Over the years I have morphed her recipe multiple times into something more time manageable and from what everyone tells me, more delicious than any other potato casserole they've ever had.  Our one friend couldn't even describe them...he just stood there and made sounds while waving his hands.  LOL  They really are crazy delicious and super creamy.  I love you can make them ahead of time and free yourself to make/do other things.  I love these with ham strirred in for a quick bunch and served with a salad.  I love them as a side dish at big holiday dinners.  I love the leftovers with scrambled eggs for breakfast.  They are just *perfect* at every meal.  And they reheat so well - I actually think they improve overnight!  They really are big, bad and cheesy!  Hope you try them yourself!

You really can use your favorite cut of potoatoes - the diced or the shredded.  I've done them both.  I've even had the sliced version and it was like au gratins.  Its really all about your preference.  I got super lucky here on base and our commisary had these frozen bags of super small shreds and they're my favorite b/c the potatoes kinda break down and just adds to the creamy texture.  You could most certainly go the route of my aunt Lori and shred fresh yourself if you have time but I like frozen.  And for a nice change up, since there is cheddar cheese soup in the recipe, I like using a cheese blend.  Cheddar and Monterey Jack is my current favorite.  Just gives it a different background flavor.  Like I said, its really adapatable to your preferences.

Big Bad & Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole


1 bag of frozen hashbrown (i love smallest diced ones I can find)
1 can of cheddar cheese soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cup of cheddar cheese (or blend, your choice), divided
salt/pepper to taste
6 pats of butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray or grease with butter and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the soups, the sour cream, onion, 1 cup of the cheese and salt/pepper to taste.  Add the frozen potatoes and mix thoroughly to coat all.  It will be very thick.  Plop into your prepared pan and smooth, pressing down evenly.  Cover with foil and cook for 40 minutes till bubbly. 

Remove foil and top with remaining cheese and place 6 pats of butter spaced out across the top.  Bake another 20 minutes or so until top is bubbly and brown and cheese is completely melted.  Allow to cool several minutes before serving.