Clay Cooked One Pot Ham and Cheese Comfort Casserole

For me, ham and cheese is one of the ultimate comfort foods. I'm not sure why, but the combination gets me every time.

It's warm, satisfying and delicious, and just makes me feel good. I like to look for recipes that are comforting without being unhealthy or fattening, and I find that usually the primary flavors in comfort foods aren't bad; it's just the things that go along with them (like the breads, pastas, etc) that are our undoing.

Often I can find a comfort food recipe and adapt it so that most of the offending (processed or carb­ heavy) ingredients are eliminated or at least reduced by a lot. Then I can enjoy this favorite relatively guilt-free, at least every once in awhile.

One great substitution for processed cheese blocks ("pasteurized prepared cheese"-what does that mean, anyway?) is a combination of cream cheese and real cheese.

If I can make aforementioned comfort food in VitaClay, even better! Because VitaClay makes everything easier, and everything tastes better too!

Ingredients for VitaClay Ham and Cheese Comfort Casserole:

• 4 cups cooked ham, diced
• 1 lb green beans, trimmed
• 5-6 small potatoes, diced into large chunks
• 8 oz cream cheese, cubed
• 8 oz cheese, shredded
• 1 ½ C milk
• 2 T flour or other starch (tapioca or arrowroot are good substitutes)
• ½stick(¼ c) grass-fed butter
• 1 t onion powder
• ½ t sea salt
• ½ t black pepper

Directions for VitaClay Ham and Cheese Comfort Casserole:

1. Melt butter and mix in starch until it forms a paste, then stir in milk until smooth
2. Add all ingredients to VitaClay pot, stirring to
3. Close and cook on "fast" setting for 30-45 minutes