Ham Chowder

Chowders have become my current favourite frugal meal. These potato based dishes are thinner than a stew, thicker than a soup yet are so easy to make. They quickly become winter comfort meals with their rich, . I recently wrote a Frugal Kitchen 101 on soups, stews and chowders. I've also posted on a few chowders: cheesburger chowder; pea meal bacon chowder; and corn chowder. As with soups, left-over chowder can be reinvented into a new meal for the following night's dinner.

Ham Chowder

One of the grocery store chains has shank or butt hams on for $1 per pound which is an excellent price. My husband picked up one for $10.48 so we had ham for dinner Saturday night (4 adults, 1 toddler) and sent ham home with the kids. Sunday I cut the rest of the meat from the bone then made ham stock. Ham stock is made the same as any other stock, using the bone with small bits of meat, onion, carrots, celery, a bay leaf then water to cover well. Once the stock was made I removed the bone and added peeled cubed potatoes then brought to a boil to cook the potatoes. When the potatoes were tender I stirred in pieces of ham, the reserved carrots slightly mashed and frozen corn. A bit of Worchestershire sauce and garlic pepper added the finishing touches. It was a quick, easy yet frugal meal.