Easy Slow Cooker Ham

I had never made ham except for coca cola ham so I wanted to try something different when I found a ham on sale. I found the following recipe at allrecipes.com and it turned out very good and tender. It reminded me of a Christmas ham. I made smashed red potatoes on the side - yum!

Easy Slow Cooker Ham
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 (6 pound) bone-in country ham
30 whole cloves (I used about 5 tbsp minced garlic)
3 cups apple cider, or as needed (I used about 3/4 gallon of apple cider)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (omitted)
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg (omitted)
2 teaspoons ground ginger (omitted)
2 tablespoons ground cloves
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (optional) (omitted)
1 orange's peel(omitted)
DIRECTIONS
Press whole cloves into the ham so they are evenly distributed. You may score the ham for easier insertion if you wish. Place the ham in a slow cooker. Pour in apple cider until only about 2 inches of ham is above the surface. Pack the brown sugar on top of the ham, pressing into the cloves. This will get washed away in the next step but any that stays on is a bonus.
Pour the maple syrup over the ham. Season the apple cider with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves and vanilla. Add the orange peel to the pot. Fill the slow cooker as full as you can with apple cider without going over the fill line. Cover and set to Low. Cook for 8 to 10 hours.

Crock pot Coca Cola ham

When I found a 2 pound ham on sale, I remembered my mom making this when I was a kid. I never buy coke but had 2 bottles from a recent trip to the Coca Cola Museum so I figured that would be a good excuse to use them. I googled the recipe and just made adjustments to this one (my adjustments are in italics.) I stopped at the bakery for onion rolls to serve with this and made a veggie as well. Super easy dinner and good, too!

Slow Cooker Cola Ham
from About.com

This easy crock pot ham recipe is very popular, made with fully cooked ham, brown sugar and mustard, and cola.

Cook Time: 8 hours (I did 6 hours because I had only 2 pounds of ham)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar (I only used a 1/4 cup)
1 tsp dry mustard (I used just about 1 tsp. of boar's head honey mustard)
1/4 cup cola (Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, etc.) (1 bottle of Coca Cola)
3 to 4 pound pre-cooked ham (2 pounds)

Preparation: Combine brown sugar and mustard. Moisten with just enough cola to make a smooth paste. Reserve remaining cola. Score the ham with shallow slashes in a diamond pattern. Rub ham with paste mixture. Place ham in slow cooker/Crock Pot and add remaining cola. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then turn to low and cook for 6 to 7 hours. Serves 9 to 12.
A 5 pound ham could be cooked in a larger slow cooker. Cook for 1 hour on high, then 8 to 10 hours on low.

Ham and Cheese Turnovers

The recipe is from Real Simple magazine. It's very easy with hardly any prep time at all and all the ingredients compliment each other very well. It's something different but just as easy as making a pizza, etc.

Ham and Cheese Turnovers

1 1-pound package refrigerated pizza dough (I used a tube of pizza dough.)
8 ounces deli ham, thinly sliced (I used Boar's Head low sodium ham - yum!)
4 ounces Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion, cut into thin rings
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard (I used honey mustard.)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small head romaine, torn into pieces

1. Heat oven to 400° F.
2. Roll the pizza dough into a 14-inch circle and cut into 8 triangles.
3. Stack a piece of the ham, cheese, and onion (I spread a bit of honey mustard on each triangle.) on the bottom of each triangle and roll the dough up around the filling. (Some of the filling will stick out the ends.)
4. Transfer the rolls to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
(I sprayed the parchment paper with non-stick spray.)
5. Bake until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes.
6. Combine the mustard and oil in a medium bowl and toss with the romaine.
7. Serve with the turnovers.

Make Ahead: These turnovers can be assembled, wrapped tightly, and then refrigerated up to 12 hours in advance. Once cooked, they will last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator if sealed tightly in bags or containers. Reheat in a 350° F oven until warm.

Yield: Makes 4 servings NUTRITION PER SERVING CALORIES 561(36% from fat); FAT 22g (sat 7g); PROTEIN 28g; CHOLESTEROL 48mg; SODIUM 1346mg; FIBER 3g; CARBOHYDRATE 60g