I know that everyone thinks of ham as a springtime meal, but what's better than a ham in the fall? Of course here in Las Vegas, we have nothing close to fall weather yet, so I combined some summertime sides for our first meal. The other great thing about a ham is that it can be used for so many other meals, making it an economical choice. Having the protein already prepared also makes weeknight meal planning quick and easy.


I chose a bone-in ham so that we would be able to have ham hocks and beans for one of our meals, and for our first meal served the sliced home with a variation on German potato salad and deviled eggs.


For the second meal, I cubed the ham and made scalloped potatoes and ham for the family and


scalloped cauliflower and ham for me.


Not the most appealing in pictures, but this easy deviled ham is just ham pureed with a cube of cream cheese and some seasoning. It makes an excellent lunch as a sandwich or with low-carb crackers.


Of course, the family needed something sweet, so I baked them a quick white cake with buttercream frosting. Making the cake in a layer pan went along with the homey vibe of our meals this week.


And finally, that succulent ham hock and beans cooked in the crockpot all day. I splurged and ate it too even though I did regret the high carb count the next day. But so, so good.