Ham and Cheese Pockets

We served ham for Easter, and so we have lots of it left over! I had to come up with some way to use it, and thought these sounded pretty good. They are very similar to the Hamburger and Onion Stuffed Bread recipe I already have on here. Really, there are lots of variations on this same theme. What’s your favorite?

This recipe makes a large amount. I usually use two or three pans, cook one and freeze the rest. That way you get two or three dinners out of your work!

• French Bread Dough (I used this recipe and substituted a bit of whole wheat flour for the white. Any of your favorite pizza dough would work equally as well.)
• 3-5 cups diced ham (Leftover ham is great, but deli ham would work, too.)
• 6-8 cups cheese, shredded (Swiss, sharp cheddar, mozarella, parmesean, etc.)

Prepare the French Bread dough through the first rising step.

Spray a clean surface with cooking spray, or coat with flour. Roll out your dough (about 1/4 inch thick) and it cut into 2-3 inch squares with a pizza cutter. Coat two 8×8 pans (or a 9×13) with cooking spray. Place about 1-2 tablespoons ham in the middle of each square and top with 1-2 tablespoons of cheese. Pull the four corners together. Seal the seams by pressing them together, and place the bread seam side down in the pan.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Check the rolls after 18-20 minutes and then continue cooking until they are browned on the top. Spread a little butter on the top of the baked bread, if desired.

Serve with some homemade ranch dressing.

No Rise Pizza Dough

I am a bit lazy, so I’ll take any shortcuts that I can find. Case in point: it was 4:30pm before I decieded what to make for dinner, so there’s no time for waiting for pizza dough to rise. I found this recipe, and my family really liked it. We prefer thinner crusts, so this was perfect for us.

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (About 100 degrees. Stick your finger in, and if it feels about like a hot tub, you’re good to go.)
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2-1 3/4 cup flour (Add 1 1/2 cups first, and then more if the dough is too sticky.)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix together warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir well and let stand for 2-3 minutes.

In a food processor or stand mixer, combine flour, salt and olive oil. While the machine is running, slowly add yeast mixture. mix until the dough starts to form a ball. Check the consistency, if it is too sticky add some flour (the dough should feel soft, but not overly sticky).  Once the texture is accurate, knead the dough with the machine for another 30 seconds or so.

Roll out the dough on a pizza pan and brush with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove from oven and add your favorite toppings (mine are crushed red pepper, carmelized onions, pepperoni, fresh mozarella cheese, parmesean cheese, oregano and basil. Yum!).

Bake another 10-15 minutes, or until browned.

Hamburger and Onion Stuffed Bread

We have lots of onions around here since my mom has connections in her small farming town where onions are profuse! She was able to glean some onion fields last summer (go pick up the leftovers after the farmers get what they want to sell), and she passed on at least three big boxes of onions. So between the free onions and the  1/4 cow in this freezer, this recipe is perfect for my challenge!! It turned out pretty well and we ate them dipped in ranch. Yum! What isn’t delicious dipped in ranch?! This would be a great freezer meal. You can prepare is all the way through to the end, and then cover it with plastic wrap and foil. When you are ready to bake it, you can let it defrost in the refrigerator over night and then bake it just as you would from the fresh state.

• 1 pizza dough (refrigerated or this recipe that I use. If you use the homemade recipe, you’ll only use half the dough for this recipe–you can either freeze the extra dough for pizza later or double your ground beef to make two pans of stuffed bread.)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
• 1 tsp thyme, dried

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a skillet, over medium high heat, combine olive oil, ground beef, onion, and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I put in about 1-2 tsp salt and about 1/2 tsp pepper). Brown the meat. Stir in the worchestshire sauce and thyme. Taste to see if you need to add more salt.

Roll out your dough on a clean surface and cut into 2-3 inch squares. Coat a 8×8 pan with cooking spray. Place about 2 tablespoons meat mixture in the middle of each square and pull the four corners together. Seal the seams by pressing them together, and place the bread seam side down in the pan.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes. Check the rolls after 18-20 minutes and then continue cooking until they are browned on the top. Spread a little butter on the top of the baked bread, if desired.

Sausage, Tomato and Carmelized Onion Pizza

We’re big pizza fans around here, and we have several combinations of toppings that are stand-bys for us. This is a favorite for sure (and I’m not even a huge sausage fan!). I don’t really like tomato pizza sauce, though, so we usually go with an olive oil or pesto base for our pizza. Here’s the recipe:

• 1 pizza crust (Making your own is easy–this recipe makes two crusts–and the Pillbury refrigerated pizza crust is good, too. We also like the Betty Crocker mix that you find in the pizza aisle.)
• 1/3 cup sausage, browned (I usually buy one spicy Jimmy Dean sausage and one Jimmy Dean reduced fat version, brown them together and then freeze them in smaller amounts to use later.)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 4-6 ounces fresh mozarella cheese, thinly sliced (Really. It needs to be the fresh variety…the other is just NOT NEARLY as good!)
• 3-4 ounces parmesean cheese, grated
• 2-3 tsp oregano, dried
• Olive oil
• crushed red pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 375.

Saute the onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Stir frequently. Once the onions have softened a bit, reduce the heat to medium-low and let carmelize.

Roll out your dough on a pizza peel or baking stone. Spread about 1 tablespoon olive oil over the dough, pierce with a fork a few times, and bake the crust for 5-6 minutes.

Remove crust from the oven. Spread sausage and carmelized onions over the pizza. Top with tomatoes, mozarella and shredded parmesean. Sprinkle oregano and crushed red pepper on the top. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until the crust is browned a cheese is bubbly.

Tandoori Chicken Pitas

Can you tell I’m trying to lose a few pounds this month? Day 9 and I am well on my way to fulfilling my goal of losing weight in January. I’ve cut out most sugars and a lot of fats, and have been searching for low-calorie, low-fat healthy recipes. Don’t worry, once February rolls around I’ll be back to normal eating. I can’t wait for some CHEESE! Yes, that is a hard one to let go of in my book.

Anyway, I’m going to put together some Tandoori Chicken Pitas for dinner this week. Enjoy!

Chicken Marinade:

• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp hot paprika
• pinch of ground cloves
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 piece of ginger about the size of a thumb, finely chopped (around 15-20g)
• 2-3 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch of pepper

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

8 whole grain pitas

assorted fresh veggies (bell peppers, cucumbers, sprouts, tomatoes, etc)

Cilantro Yogurt Dressing

In a food processor, mix together all the ingredients of the marinade. Marinate the chicken for several hours. Bring the chicken to room temperature before you grill or bake it. Bake for about 20-30 min at 350 (internal temp of 165) or throw the grill for about 5-7 minutes per side over medium heat (again, internal temp of 165). Stuff some whole grain pitas with the chicken, sliced veggies and a little cilantro yogurt sauce and you’ve got a yummy, good for you meal.