Hawaiian Pizza

Posted on 01/30/2014 by Walter Blevins

Here it is the first of February and I’m still sitting on leftover Christmas Ham.  That’s one of the challenges of baking a 9 lb. spiral cut ham at Christmas to feed 3 people.  There’s lots of leftovers.

Funny though, we sure seemed to chow down on the mashed potatoes and gravy along with the pan-roasted Brussels sprouts followed by homemade cherry pie but there’s still a bag of frozen left over ham in the freezer. 

Christmas ham

So it’s pizza night and I’ve got the dough proofing.  We’re on a Wal-Mart run looking for new stuff for in the bathroom.  Hey, while we’re here, let’s pick up a can of pineapple and then make Hawaiian pizza was my big idea.  Mrs. CB jumped all over that.  We love homemade pizza and we’re always looking to try something a bit different.

So, I cut up some ham and drained a can of pineapple chunks in its own juice, carefully cutting each chunk in half so it wouldn’t be too thick on the pizza (how’s that for just a bit anal retentive?).  And I cut up a fresh jalapeno for just a bit of kick.

Then I built the Hawaiian pizza and popped it into the oven.  The result was fantastic.  And the cost was pretty cheap.  The only extra expense was a buck for the can of pineapple.  I keep everything else on hand.

Here’s a link to my pizza crust recipe:  http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/homemade-pizza/

Hawaiian Pizza

Homemade crust, ham, pineapple and some fresh jalapeno for a little kick. Fantastic!

Yeah, I’m bragging a bit but I’m also suggesting that you stretch your food budget by getting just a bit creative.  In today’s world the popular word is “re-purpose”.  So yeah, leftovers can be “re-purposed” into something altogether different.  In this case a Hawaiian pizza which was really, really tasty.  And which would be about $18 at a pizza joint.

Just wait.  I’ve still got a big old ham bone in the freezer with a whole bunch of ham bits on it.  It’s going to get chilly and damp here in SoCal sometime soon and then I’m going to make a big old pot of “Beans” with cornbread—that’s ham and bean soup.

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way:  Eat Good. Eat Cheap.  Be Grateful!

About Walter Blevins

My wife started to call me Cheap Bastid a while back because I enjoyed coming up with dinners that cost next to nothing--and making them taste good. Yeah, I love to cook. And I love to cook good food cheap. I'm not a chef and I'm definitely not anything close to a gourmet. I'm just a home cook who grew up in a home where cooking was from scratch and was a little bit Midwest and a little bit country. That's because my Mom was from Michigan and my Dad was from Kentucky. I started sharing recipes when my daughter called me in 2006 and asked for my recipe for Swiss Steak. That year for Christmas I put together a cookbook for my 2 kids called "Dad's Everyday Cookbook and Kitchen Survival Guide". And I heard back that they both use it regularly. It was full of basic recipes that I had cooked for them when they were growing up. I work hard at creating recipes that are original and creative and inexpensive. You won't find a foo-foo foodie approach to my recipes and style. I believe that it's OK for food to go up the side of a plate. Food is for eating--it doesn't have to be pretty. And I write about my cooking and my recipes so that I can share them. I hope you enjoy these posts. Leave me a comment--that you liked something or that you didn't, it doesn't matter. I'd love to hear from you.
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