Using up ham slices

[CluelessVegetarian]

My DD is the only one in the house who likes ham sandwiches. I know they aren't very healthy but since she's a very fussy eater and underweight I'm happy to give her anything she likes. I buy the smallest packs available but since they only last for two days we always have too many left over. Sometimes she might have only slice in a sandwich before I think we need to throw them away.

Any ideas what else I could do with them apart from sandwiches?

I've tried to Google recipes but can only find ones that actually seem to ask for ham pieces like pancetta. I've tried substituting the ham slices for pancetta, e.g.' Ive tried frying them lightly and putting them in pasta but neither of the kids liked that. I suppose similarly they wouldn't like them with eggs or rice either. Any other ideas?

Bonus question: do they really just last two days in the fridge as the storage instructions claim?

What about ready made sausage rolls? Do they also last strictly just for two days?

Thanks!!

Surely you split the packet in two and freeze half? Hams fine defrosted.

I hate ham too. I just freeze whatever doesn’t get eaten.

I thought ham lasted for ages! Is it not cured or something? Make her chunkier ham sandwiches seems like an easy solution - or on pizza?

Just freeze it and defrost by the slice

Definitely just freeze in portions and defrost as needed.

Yes I usually put in 3 slices. That's the most I can get away with. She likes ham but doesn't love it which is also why I can't just give her ham sandwiches thrice a day.

Thanks for the freezing idea. Never thought of that. So how do I defrost it? Just put it in the fridge the night before? Or do they need to be heated after defrosting?

I also thought the whole point of cured meat is for it to last ages but the storage instructions say to use within two days of opening.

Another bonus question: do the ham slices keep till lunch out of the fridge?

Generally combines well with cheese and different types of bread or puff pastry to make a whole host of lunch recipes.

• Cut up and put on pizza
• Ham and cheese toasties (Croque Monsieur)
• Ham and cheese wraps
• Sprinkle cut up ham and grated cheese on one half of a tortilla wrap, add herbs and salsa or chilli sauce (optional), fold in half and fry in frying pan to make quesadillas
• Cut up and put on a pre rolled sheet of puff pastry with cheese and whatever toppings you like (pesto, olives, veg, literally anything really) to make a nice easy puff pastry bake
• Nigella's ham and pea pasta, generally well liked by kids
• Roll up in puff pastry with tomato puree and grated cheese, sprinkle with herbs, slice up and bake to make puff pastry pinwheels/pizza wheels.

If freezing ham slices pop a bit of baking parchment between slices as a "portion divider" iyswim. Defrost in the fridge. Or in the microwave if eating straight away.
Ham is fine out of the fridge until lunchtime. But if it doesn't get eaten at that point, I wouldn't keep it any longer.

In answer to your bonus question - I pay very little attention to the dates on those packets for both ham and sausage rolls. I just wrap up the packets so their sealed in the fridge and will eat over 4/5 days as long as they look and smell ok.
I'm a robustly healthy adult with an iron stomach so your mileage may vary.

I'd try mixing the ham into eggs foe omelettes or little egg muffins.
Or chop and stir into quinoa/bulghar wheat along with some roast veg for a salad.

I don't think you actually have to use it up in 2 days- I certainly don't. Ham can be open in our fridge for maybe 5 days before I chuck it just in case. 2 days is ludicrous! You'll know if it's gone off as it goes grey and will smell, you've been throwing out perfectly good ham I'm afraid.

I would throw away a ham sandwich left in a lunchbox after school, but it's fine until lunchtime.

Sausage rolls also do not need to be eaten in 2 days, and they freeze fine and can be reheated. I'm not one of these scrape the mould off the cheese and eat out of date yoghurt people but throwing food out after 2 days for no reason is insane to me.

Cut them up and put into an omelette
Toasted sandwich with cheese
Feed to the cat

Yes just freeze it in portions to give three days’ worth of sandwiches. Three days is fine, not the two days the pack says.

Just defrost as you would anything else, so yes, in the fridge the night before is fine. They can expel a little liquid as they defrost, but a quick blot with kitchen roll sorts that out.

Fried ham doesn't sound very nice, you can chop it up and add it cold to cooked pasta, pizza, rice, stir frys even. It's a fairly neutral meat, and kids aren't fussy about what goes with what. You can put it in a pie, even if you buy pre-made pies, take off the lid and chuck some in.

Just think of it basically as just a source of protein- if a dish could do with some more protein, add it in.

I'll be honest, I don't pay much attention to the 'once open use within x days' thing. It was in the fridge before, it's in the fridge now, I'll carry on using it until the use by date. Never had anything bad happen, and hardly ever waste food.

Sorry, just read kids wouldn't like rice so feel free to ignore the below!

I use it in special fried rice and jambalaya, neither of which is a particularly authentic recipe.

Special fried rice - gently fry up chopped pepper, bits of ham, chicken if you have any, prawns, garlic, I do it in sesame oil, stir in Chinese spices, add boiled rice, stir in soy sauce, crack an egg on top and mix it through.

Jambalaya - very similar, fry up pepper, ham, sliced sausage, chicken, prawns, onions, garlic, crab if you can get away with it, add uncooked rice, add stock and tin of tomatoes some cayenne and some other herbs/spices

On the keeping cool til lunch, I think it’s fine, but no harm in chucking in a cool block. We had these as youngest didn’t like warm cucumber!

https://amzn.to/3GuzaKZ

I'd keep it for longer than 2 days. Especially if you've got a decent quality fridge with the newer zero-degree compartments - the "use before" data are geared towards the old-fashioned type.

One of my late cats would be beside herself with joy at eating left over ham. She could hear the rustle of it being unwrapped from the end of the garden. She knew the word as well ( we tested her by calling “ jam” and she didn’t bother to get up and race to the fridge)
Im sure my children had ham sandwiches from a packet that was open longer than 2 days - until they got to mid teens when a packet could be wolfed down as a snack
I m having a flashback now to a “ ham” moment. When eldest first came back from university, he opened the fridge door , gazed in rapture and said “ ahhhhhh nice ham”
Apparently their local supermarket sold loose “ ham ends” cheaply so he’d been having that.

I heard they go well with green eggs

I used to do the two day thing when DS was younger, now I use it over 4-5 days - within the Use By, obviously. No problems.

I'm not keen on ham, but DS is quite restricted in what he'll eat so I have to get it. Ham sandwiches, toasted sandwiches, potato skins, pitta bread pizzas are what it gets used for. Might try the quesadillas suggested above - DS won't eat any sauce generally but if I frame it as like pizza he may at least try it.

I usually chop mine up and add it to an omelette

My husband used some in stir fried noodles the other day.

I keep it longer than 2 days , or I would if I used ham . I have packets of lean wafer thin cooked chicken for my dog ( to take his blood pressure pills ) . He has 1 slice twice a day and the pack lasts 3/4 days and is still perfectly edible even for a human .

You don't need to fry left over ham before adding it to pasta, because it is cooked already, just cut up into small pieces and stir into the cooked pasta or add to the sauce towards the end of cooking time. Spaghetti carbonara would work well with made with left over ham.

Other ideas for using it up....

In an omelette.

Wrap a slice of ham around 2 or 3 stems of asparagus, repeat to fill a small shallow dish, cover with cheese sauce and bake until golden. You can also use young cooked leeks, braised celery or small courgettes for this. Makes a nice light lunch or supper dish.

Chop the ham into matchstick sized pieces, then add to soups such as leek & potato, minestrone, pea & ham, thick vegetable soup etc etc.

Chop up and use with cream cheese to stuff chicken breasts then bake, or wrap around chicken breads before braising in tomato sauce.

Google 'wife saver recipe'. It's delicious.

I use them in pasta or rice dishes in place of pancetta, also you can’t freeze sandwiches. Or freeze the ham once it’s opened. Use grease proof paper to separate the slices and freeze in a ziplock bag.