Homemade Hot Pockets

Recipe

Pizza crust dough 

Ham

Cheese

Pepperoni

Pizza sauce

Break off a ball of pizza dough about 2 inches in diameter.  Roll out pizza dough, fill with meat and cheese. Fold over, pinch sides to seal.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  

To freeze, let them cool completely and then freeze.  Reheat at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Our Review

I made the pizza dough from scratch and then made ham and cheese versions as well as pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese versions.  While they are good, they were still too dry.  The next time I make these, I will add more sauce to the pizza versions, perhaps 3-5 tablespoons, and I will also look at adding something moist to the ham and cheese versions, although I haven't decided what would be the best thing to add.

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Mexican Lasagna

Recipe

1.5 lbs ground beef

1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

6 oz tomato paste

1 Tbls chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

dash of ground cayenne pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

24 oz tomato sauce

14.5 oz diced tomatoes, drained

15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained

1.5c frozen corn kernels

6 oz chopped olives, canned

9-12 no-boil lasagna noodles

2c shredded mozzarella cheese

1c shredded cheddar cheese

1c sour cream

8oz cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease 9x13 pan.

Cook ground beef with the onion, drain the grease.  Add the garlic and tomato paste, stir to combine and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in chili powder, cumin, cayenne, oregano, salt, and pepper and mix well.  Add diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, stir to combine, and then add beans, corn, and olives.  Mix well and heat for about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Spread 1/2 cup of the mix into the bottom of the 9x13 pan.  Layer noodles over the sauce, then spread 1/3 of the mix on top of the noodles.  Dollop 1/3 of the sour cream and 1/3 of the cream cheese across the mix and then sprinkle 1/3 of the cheeses on top.  Repeat the layers two more times until all ingredients are used.

Cover lasagna with foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 10-15 more minutes until lasagna is hot and bubbly.

Our Review

This was pretty good, everyone liked it, but I couldn't get past the strange taste of noodles with the mexican ingredients.  I'd like to try it again with a few changes.  Next time I will use tortillas instead of the lasagna noodles.  I think it would also be a good idea to mix the sour cream and cream cheese together so they would be easier to spread around.  We didn't use a lot of cayenne pepper and we didn't have the olives, I think it would be fine with the olives too.

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Navy Bean Soup

Recipe

1 lb dried navy beans, soaked overnight and then drained

1/4c bacon, chopped, cooked, and drained

1/2c onion, chopped

1/2c carrots, chopped

1/2c celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1lb ham bone or ham hocks (we used the leftover ham from our holiday dinner)

8c water

1/4tsp dried oregano

1/4tsp paprika

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp parsley, chopped

In a slow cooker, add all ingredients.  Let cook for 8 hours.

Our Review

This recipe was longer and was not cooked in a slow cooker, I put it all in a slow cooker but can not remember if it was on low or high, I'm guessing low.  It was very good.  Next time I may add more bacon, but otherwise it was already good.

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Fish Tacos

Ingredients

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 small red cabbage, thinly shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)
4 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 jalapeno chile, halved lengthwise, one half minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound tilapia fillets (or other firm white fish), cut into 16 equal strips
8 flour tortillas (6-inch)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

In a large bowl, combine sour cream and lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Transfer half the mixture to another container; set aside for serving. Toss cabbage, scallions, and minced jalapeno with remaining sour-cream mixture. Season again with salt and pepper.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil and remaining jalapeno half over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan. Season fish on both sides with salt and pepper. In two batches (starting with larger pieces), cook fish until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 6 minutes. Discard jalapeno.

Meanwhile, warm tortillas according to package instructions.

To make tacos, fill tortillas with slaw, fish, and fresh cilantro leaves. Drizzle with reserved sour-cream mixture. Serve immediately.

Our Review

We liked them.  I thought the sauce with the cabbage was really good.  One child ate six or seven and one ate three.  He said he didn't like fish, but he ate them all.  We did not add jalapenos into ours though and we made more sauce.  Next time, I'd make more sauce.

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Lemon Greek Chicken

Ingredients

2 tsp lemon zest

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Tbs olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 Tsp oregano

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

6-8 medium red potatoes (the size of a lemon)

1 green pepper, cut into strips

1 red onion, wedged

8 oz mushrooms, cleaned

4 bone in chicken breasts OR 24 oz boneless chicken breasts

Combine the first seven ingredients and set aside.  Spray a 10x13 dish with cooking spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Clean potatoes, cut into fourths, place in pan.  Add bell pepper strips, onion wedges, and mushrooms.

Drizzle half of the seasoning mix over the veggies and toss.  Place chicken on top and drizzle the rest of the seasoning mix.  Brush or rub the mix into the chicken.  Bake until chicken is no longer pink in the center, basting after 15 minutes.  (Bone-in chicken takes 1 hour.)  

Note:  If potatoes aren't done when the chicken is, remove the chicken and cover it with foil.  

Our Review

Another recipe that didn't cook the potatoes all of the way.  I ended up pulling out the chicken with veggies to serve that while the potatoes stayed in the oven.  Overall it was good.  Left overs the next day, not so much.  

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Southern Green Beans

Ingredients

6 slices of bacon

3 Tsp butter

1 red onion

2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped

8 small new potatoes, diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 and 1/2 tsp white balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Cook bacon, and drain on paper towels.

Melt butter in a skillet with a lid over medium-low heat with onion, until onion is translucent.  Stir in the bacon, green beans, potatoes, garlic, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat until the green beans are tender (about 10 minutes.)  Sprinkle with vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Our Review

I'm not sure why I keep finding recipes that claim potatoes will cook quickly.  I ended up cooking it for over 20 minutes and even then, some potatoes weren't done.  Overall, it was good, it just needs to have much smaller potato pieces or to cook longer so they are finished.

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Roasted Butternut Squash with Rosemary, Pecans, and Gorgonzola

Ingredients

1 butternut squash of about 2.5 pounds (peeled and cubed)

1 tbsp olive oil

Fresh rosemary (2 tsp, finely chopped)

Salt

Pepper

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese (or blue cheese)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Toss the squash, oil, rosemary, salt and pepper together.  Grease the baking sheet and then arrange squash in a single layer and roast for 20 minutes.  Turn squash over and then bake for 15 more minutes.

Turn the squash again and spring pecans over the top.  Roast for 10-15 more minutes until the nuts are fragrant and the squash is soft and caramelized.  Put squash into a bowl and toss with the cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.

Our Review

Overall, it was good.  No complaints.

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