Spinach and Ham Strata

This smells so good while it's baking. We made it for dinner, using up leftover Christmas dinner ham the first time I made it. The sourdough bread is a must to make this recipe really stand out!

1 large loaf fresh sourdough bread, cut into 1" chunks

1 glug of oil (I use canola)

1 pkg (10oz) frozen spinach, thawed and drained very well

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1+ cup ham, cut into small bite size pieces

7 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

2 handfuls Italian mix shredded cheese (parmesan & mozarella mix)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 shakes of ground nutmeg

In a saute pan, add oil, red bell pepper and onion. Cook until just tender. Add spinach and ham and cook for about 3 minutes on med-high heat. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Then whisk in milk. Set aside.

In another very large bowl, combine bread chunks with the spinach/ham mixture with 1 handful of cheese. Spread mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.

Pour egg mixture evenly ontop of bread/spinach in pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake at 350F degrees for 45-55 minutes or until set. YUMMY!

New York Cheesecake

photo by me
Recipe by Kraft

This is a delicious recipe and wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be! I'm definitely going to be making more cheesecakes in the future...which is good for my mouth but not for my waistline!

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (smash in a plastic ziplock for no mess)

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp butter, melted

5 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese, softened (take out of pkg and microwave for a few seconds)

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

1 tbsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream (I use light)

4 eggs

1 can (21oz) cherry pie filling

Mix crumbs, 3 tbsp sugar and butter; press firmly onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 325 F degrees for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake at 325 F degrees for 1 hour 5 minutes, or until center is ALMOST set if using a silver springform pan. (Or bake at 300 F for 1 hour 5 minutes if using a dark non stick springform pan). The cake will look really tall in the oven, right when you remove it. It will gradually settle down a few inches while cooling.

Loosen cake from side of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Refridgerate 4 hours or overnight.

Top with pie filling right before serving. Store leftovers in fridge.

Makes 16 servings.