Hey-Nay

A place to be enlightened, encouraged & inspired

Left Over Ham & Potato Soup

ham and potato soup
Left over ham and potato soup                                    

Is it just me or does anyone else seem to always have a ton of ham left over after a holiday? Over the years I have come up with several creative ways to repurpose the leftover’s into yummy dishes.  I make:

  • Ham and cheese Quiche
  • Croque Monsieur
  • Ham in scrambled eggs 
  • Ham and cheese Omelets
  • Ham and black bean soup
  • Ham Fried Rice

Just to name a few!  I also make a soup that has become a favorite of my hubs.  It’s super easy and super delish but more importantly it’s a stick to your ribs kind of dish.  Quick tip, if you have left over mash potatoes you can add it to this dish to thicken it while getting rid of left overs.  Winning!

 

If you try this recipe, let me know how you liked it by tagging me at #heynayhey

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The BEST marinara sauce you will ever make

Marinara Sauce
Lazy Girl’s Marinara Sauce

In the past 2 years I have discovered something new about myself.  At my age this is quite an accomplishment, btw!  I have learned that I love Italian food.  One of my favorite dishes my late father in law use to make was Eggplant Parmesan.  Whenever we would visit the in-laws on the East coast, that was a dish I could always count on him making me because he knew I loved it.  We ate it one of two ways, in a sandwich between nice crusty bread or with pasta tossed in butter.

He would also pack a soft cooler of frozen Eggplant Parmesan for me to take back home.  Or when he visited, he would make tons for me to freeze.  He cooked, I cleaned that was the deal. Yet while I loved his cooking,  he would use almost every stinkin’ pot and pan we had in the house.  Needless to say, cleaning up after him was no easy task but well worth it!  I swear on my tutu’s grave, I have yet to find an Eggplant Parmesan dish out there that would rival my father in laws & yet the irony of it all is he was Cuban and not Italian. 

My father in law taught me that one of the mainstays of good Italian dishes is a killer marinara sauce.  He had an awesome recipe for marinara sauce which I used on dishes like:

  • Bracciole
  • Meatballs
  • Lasagna
  • Stuffed Tomatoes
  • Mussels Marinara
  • Sausage and Peppers
  • Pizza

For years, I used his recipe and loved it but it was time consuming to make.  It required lots of fresh ingredients and hours of simmering. Which working mom out there has hours to simmer?  Certainly not this one *point to self*  The only time I ever simmer for hours is when I’m angry about something.  Long story short, after a little bit of tweaking, I came up with my own recipe. One that tastes, IMHO, better then his and takes a fraction of the time!  In my book that’s what I call WINNING!

 My friends across the inter webs who have made this recipe have all said they loved it. I hope you love it as much as we all do!  If you happen to try it, tag me on social media with #heynayhey

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My meatball obsession is so real

Meatballs in handI have a love for meatballs! Have I told you that?  It’s not something someone admits openly but because we’re friends, I think you can handle knowing this about me.

Swear on the bible, I always thought meatballs were suppose to be small & golf ball size at the most. Then I saw the movie “The Wedding Singer” with Adam Sandler. When the little old lady slapped some palm sized meatballs in his hand as payment for her singing lessons, I was like “Holyyyyyy hell”!  My meatball loving heart almost burst with excitement. 

 

For years, I have tried various recipes but none of them hit the spot.  We use to have meatballs every other week as I tried out different recipes.  My hubster said they were all good but I wasn’t blown away by any of them.

To be completely honest, I actually gave up trying to make them for a few years and started buying them from Sbarro because, in my humble opinion, Sbarro’s meatballs are super bomb dot com.  I had forgotten just how good they were until after an alcohol induced night with friends in Vegas, I stumbled upon a Sbarro in the food court of our hotel.  It was like finding a lost love! I truly believe in my heart of hearts that Sbarro meatballs saved me from a mean hang over the next day though my hubster says there’s no scientific proof to my theory.  

When we got back home, I was determined to figure out a good meatball recipe and decided to combine things I liked from other failed attempts into a recipe that I loved.

 Here are the things I knew I needed my meatballs to be:

  • Palm size, no less and no more. Less is pointless & more doesn’t hold up well when cooked.
  • A mixture of meats for taste and texture
  • Well seasoned
  • Tender so you could cut it with a fork while still holding it’s shape
  • Hearty…I wanted to be able to eat them by themselves in sauce with some crusty bread!
  • LOVED…when friends & family tasted them, I wanted them to love meatballs as much as I did.

I came up with the following recipe!  siggy-2

 

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