Saturday, January 09, 2016

Meal Planning #5
Starring Peach and Bacon wrapped Chicken and Jacques Pepin Penne and Ham Gratin

Meal Planning #5 will cover the week after Christmas. The meal plans are super simple and I make good use of leftovers. When we go to Jones Country Meats in Climax Georgia we always get beef, pork and vegetables. All of this is bought in bulk and we use a vacuum sealer to freeze the meats.

This last run we bought a 12 pound ham. It was for our Christmas dinner (I wrote about it HERE). Well, not being a country girl for the first 20+ years of my life I had not been introduced to ham hocks.

Holy cow, where have these things been all my life!

The woman who waited on us at Jones said we could get a ham cut in half and wondered which half we wanted. The lower half had a bonus of boiling meat. What my ears heard, phonetically, was Bowlin’ Meat. So I’m puzzled and she’s explaining the hock may be cut into sections….I’m wondering what on earth I will do with scrap pieces of a hog. Long story short – I have little chunks of hock which get boiled with green beans.

Wow – just wow! I could eat a ton of beans cooked with hock. Doug may be getting tired of their appearance on the table.


Okay – here was the meal plan for a week.


Sunday: Spaghetti with homemade sauce and garlic toast
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Monday: Jacques Pepin Penne, Ham and Vegetable Gratin

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Tuesday: Leftover casserole

Wednesday: Peach and Bacon wrapped Chicken thighs, pole beans cooked with ham hocks and rice.

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Thursday: Leftover Bacon wrapped Chicken

Friday (New Year’s Day): Grilled pork chops, roasted root vegetables and beans with….you guessed it….ham hocks.

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Saturday and Sunday: Roasted Rosemary Chicken with lime, leftover root vegetables.

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A little bit of gravy on the rice and chicken....great meal.

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Working on recording the next meal plan. Want to play along and post your own? Let me know!

I am sharing this with Beth Fish's Weekend Cooking Series.



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9 comments:

  1. Awesome menus. Many years ago I had a boyfriend whose mother made green beans and ham hocks. Those were mighty tasty ... Now I have a craving.

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  2. I've been making beans with ham hocks for, oh my gosh, 40 years. I've never used them in green beans though. Guess what I'll be making next week.

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  3. Black bean soup is another great use for ham hocks! Your choices sound great.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  4. Thank you, ladies! I will surely have more hock-centric posts upcoming.

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  5. Wow, there are some great meals here! I love the Jacque Pepin gratin.

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  6. Diane, it's one of my favorites!

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  7. Love beans with ham hocks!! and you are still going strong with your meal plans!!

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  8. Debbie, I am so far! I have been diligently taking a photo a day. We always have a rough meal plan but I never thought about keeping a copy.

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