Crockpot Ham

Nitrate Free Ham
1 can pineapple tidbits
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup water

Slice ham into smaller pieces as this allows the flavors to permeate into each piece and cooks the meat faster. Place ham in slow cooker, pour in the can of pineapple, vegetable stock and water. Mix in crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. 

Remember no peeking! Each time you lift the lid, enough heat will escape that the cooking time should be extended by 20 minutes to half an hour. To check progress without lifting the lid, spin the cover until the condensation falls off. Then it's easy to see inside!

Ham Bone Soup

We had a ham for Easter and decided that we couldn't let the ham bone go to waste. So I threw it in the crockpot and made this soup.

One ham bone (mine still had some meat on it)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

4 large carrots, chopped

1 large head cauliflower, chopped

1 1/2 cups sweet potato, chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

2 bay leaves

water to fill your crockpot

leftover ham, diced

Place all chopped vegetables in crockpot and top with ham bone. I had to rearrange the vegetables a bit to actually get the lid to close on my crock pot. Add water until almost full. Add spices and mix around. Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 6-8 hours. Take ham bone out with tongs and use a slotted spoon to pick out any fragments that may have fallen off the bone. Put back any usable meat off the bone. Toss in cubed leftover ham for more meat.