Have some "CHEEP" Easter fun!

An Easter Menu with Recipes!

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Our traditional Easter dinner consists of a baked ham, green beans, sweet potatoes, fresh bread or rolls, and maybe macaroni and cheese. I like to buy the spiral-sliced glazed hams that only require a few hours in the oven to warm up for eating. Hams are usually on sale this time of year, and so I'll often buy two, one to eat and one to freeze. This will give us some inexpensive meat until the hams go on sale again during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season.

Of course, the best value is to buy a plain ham and make your own glaze or sauce, using one of these recipes.

Basic Ham Glaze (enough for a large ham)

2 teaspoons dry mustard

ž cup vinegar

2˝ cups brown sugar

1 cup water

Mix together and pour over ham before baking. Baste while baking.

Easy Ham Sauce
˝ cup ketchup

1 cup raisins

1 cup orange juice

ź cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Mix in a saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer 2 minutes. Serve with slices of ham.

We also enjoy sweet potatoes baked in the oven, then topped with butter and cinnamon sugar. Here's a delicious sweet potato recipe. It may not be the most frugal recipe, but boy is it good!

Sweet Potato Casserole

(bake in a 9-inch pie dish)

3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes

2 eggs

ź cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all of these ingredients together and spread in a pie dish.

Topping:

˝ cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

˝ cup chopped pecans

Combine butter, sugar, and flour, and spread over sweet potato. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (Recipe may be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13 pan, but allow an additional 15 minutes for it to bake completely.)

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

(makes a 9 x 13 pan)

If you've never made homemade macaroni and cheese because you thought it too difficult, then you must try this easy recipe. This is a family recipe that every woman on my mom's side of the family bakes . . . no box mix for us! One idea is to bake the recipe below adding in leftover ham to the cheese layer for an easy Ham and Cheese Casserole!

16 ounces elbow macaroni (I use gluten-free elbows)

16-24 ounces shredded cheese

6 teaspoons butter, room temperature

milk

salt and pepper

Boil the macaroni according to box directions. Grate cheese while macaroni is cooking (or use shredded cheese). The amount of cheese you will use depends upon how cheesy your family likes their mac & cheese!

Drain the macaroni, and place half of the cooked pasta into the 9 x 13 pan. Cover with half of the shredded cheese. Top with the rest of cooked pasta and then the second layer of shredded cheese. Place six teaspoon-size dollops of butter on top of the cheese. Pour milk into the middle of the pan and watch for it to appear on the bottom of the pan. You only need about 1/4 inch of milk in the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the top with the salt and pepper. Cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and then check the top to see how the cheese is melting. We like our cheese to turn slightly brown and crispy on top, so we will cook our dish another 10-15 minutes.

Let the dish cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.