Pepperoni and Cheese Stromboli Slices for the freezer

I used to love hot pockets during my college days. They were so convenient and tasted good–to a college student. Have you ever noticed no matter what variety you buy, it still tastes the same? Maybe it’s the crust or the same ingredients except for the meat that made them taste similar. Regardless, they were convenient and I bought them for quick lunches.

Now that I’ve grown up a bit, I’m venturing out to make adult convenience lunches with whole foods. I’ve adapted this idea using the artisan dough made with olive or canola oil-you choose your own bread base. Preheat oven to 350. Dust a stone or unrimmed cookie sheet with cornmeal. 

I spread tomato sauce sprinkled with italian seasoning-about 1 tsp. and garlic powder-about 1/2 tsp.( you can use 1/2 cup of your favorite pizza or pasta sauce) down the middle and top it with 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, turkey pepperoni slices and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Next comes the fun part. It looks complicated, but it’s not. It looks prettier than folding over the entire crust and pinching it closed and it’s just as easy. I cut strips on both sides of the filling trying to keep the cuts even on both sides. A large pizza wheel works like a charm for this procedure.

Then you angle each strip over the filling crossing the opposite strip as you go. Keep alternating strips until you are at the end. Doesn’t it look fancy? Bake this stromboli for about 30 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from stone/pan and place slice into 2-inch slices with the pizza wheel.

Transfer to a cooling rack and allow the slices to completely cool. This may take up to thirty minutes.

Wrap each slice in plastic wrap and place in a gallon size bag for your freezer. I throw one in husband’s lunch when we’ve eaten out the night before or we don’t have any leftovers. It’s thawed enough by lunch to microwave one to two minutes (without plastic wrap)

You could double this recipe and make two stromboli- for dinner and one for convenient lunches or make an adult version with black olives, thinly sliced Roma tomatoes, diced peppers and onions or mushrooms and save the plain one for the kiddos. Think pizza toppings. I made two loaves of cinnamon bread at the same time so I was still double bubbling in my oven.

Printable Pepperoni and Cheese Stromboli is linked to Tasty Tuesday. Don’t forget to print your dough recipe-olive oil or canola and use it for more delicious items besides stromboli. Try pizza, cinnamon rolls or bread, sandwich thins, calzones or flatbread.

Imagine receiving a homemade stromboli at your door with a bag salad. What is your favorite stromboli? Maybe someone will bring you one now that they know how easy it is.

Meatball Calzones

There’s nothing like hot fresh pizza once a week, but how about a twist and make a calzone dipped in marinara? How about another variation, use homemade meatballs (or store-bought) and make your own.

I used my 100% Artisan white whole wheat dough (which I make in 5 minutes, stir and refrigerate). Check it out here. Or you can use Pillsbury dough crust in the refrigerated section of the store.

Because I freezer cook, I have the meatballs already cooked in my freezer.  I just thaw the night before and I’ve stirred the dough the day before.   I came up with this whole foods recipe.

I also make my pizza sauce ahead of time and freeze, but store-bought marinara or pizza sauce works too.

Nothing, but goodness inside these sweeties.

I begin by rolling the dough into a 9×13 rectangle (notice mines not perfect).

 

Then I cut the dough into rectangles with a pizza wheel. I just love this thing because it’s not just for pizza (waffles and sandwiches)

I spread a spoonful of ricotta cheese on the dough and then cut up meatballs (I just cut them into small pieces) as you see. I cut the tip of my thawed pizza sauce freezer bag and squeeze a small amount of sauce on top and sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on top of that.

 

Then I gently fold over the opposite side of the rectangle stretching as necessary. Once it’s folded over, you take a kitchen fork and press the edges together. Isn’t that fun?

I pick these beauties up and put them on top of my prepared pan/stone dusted with cornmeal (for easier removal). Bake at 450 for 15ish minutes and brush them with melted butter and sprinkle garlic salt on top if you like (that’s what I did).  Serve hot with additional marinara. 

Warning: These are very hot. Be careful with children. I advise cutting into triangles with a pizza wheel and allow it to cool to the touch. You don’t want to burn those babies!

I made a double batch and the others cooled on the cooling rack until they were cool to the touch. I labeled quart size freezer bags and slid our extras into them for future lunches or perhaps a quick dinner. I defrosted one from the frozen state and it required about 2 minutes on 30% power and then I microwaved on high for about 1 1/2 minutes. If I know David needs a lunch the next day, I’ll throw a bag in the fridge the night before for the next day.

This recipe idea is very versatile with ham and cheese, pepperoni and cheese, shredded chicken and cheese, spinach and don’t forget to add veges (use ones that don’t produce a lot of water content-chop finely so they will cook).

My favorite was from Mellow Mushroom in college. They were huge and so good, but these taste good and healthy for you. Have you ever had a calzone? It’s basically a hot-pocket. Go down the freezer section and check out the varities and try making your own with these easy ideas.

Pizza Sauce for the freezer

Here are some suggestions for saving money on pizza sauce:

• stock up when you see a sale price or better, yet, use coupons paired with a sale. Muir Glen (organic tomato products) often has coupons on their website or coupons.com
• Purchase a #10 can from a wholesale store (yes, the huge, enormous can and divide the can into small 1-2 cup portions)
• Make homemade pizza sauce below and divide portions into freezer bags (this is the most economical and whole foods way)

Another tip: freeze leftover jar spaghetti or pizza sauce rather than letting it sit in your fridge and go bad (unless you have it on next week’s menu). Don’t forget to add it to your freezer inventory sheet so you know you have it.

How to make homemade pizza sauce:

I tripled the following ingredients and froze 5-1 cup portions (approximate)

-adapted from Our Best Bites

1 6-oz. can tomato paste
6 oz. water (just use the empty tomato paste can)
3 Tablespoons garlic bread seasoning (you could substitute parmesan cheese and italian seasoning)                                                                             1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

I prepare my freezer bags by labeling contents and date.

I have an “old school” can opener and I open both sides of the can. I can push one side through the entire can and remove the paste easily. Make sure you remove the lid first and leave no lids in your product.  Empty tomato paste and water in a bowl stirring constantly until combined (a whisk works the best).  Add remaining ingredients, stir to combine, and allow to stand until ready to use or freeze OR use a food processor like I did.

Stand your freezer bag in a glass measuring cup or large coffee cup to give it stability. Use a measuring scoop (1/4 or 1/3 or 1 cup if you are scooping from a bowl. Use this scoop to transfer the sauce to the bag more easily.

Don’t forget to use a rubber scraper to get the last bit of sauce from your processor bowl. You will be surprised how much you can still get when you think you’ve got it all with a spoon.

After filling a bag, lay it on its side and gently squeeze air out being careful not to squeeze sauce to the zipper.  Gently close and make sure it’s sealed completely.  Lay the bags on top of one another and freeze. Add this to your freezer inventory sheet.

When you want a quick meal (or forget to thaw), the smaller 1 to 2 cup portion bags thaw easily on the counter for a couple of hours or swirled in warm water in a bowl. I will slice the zipper off and cut open a frozen bag and place in a microwave safe bowl and nuke for 3-5 minutes on 30% power when I need it NOW. It’s almost as easy as a jar or can.

As you can see, homemade pizza sauce is very frugal on your pocketbook because tomato paste is inexpensive. It’s easy to make and you can make a lot of it at one time if you use pizza sauce a lot.

We use ours for homemade pizza, of course. But how about calzones, meatball subs, pitta pizza, homemade bagel bites or french bread pizza and dipping sauce for breadsticks? If you are having a pizza night once a week, it’s worth giving it a try. What ways do you use pizza sauce?

Visit Tasty Tuesday for other inspirations.

Taco and Tomato Basil Pizza-Creative Leftovers

I love it when I don’t waste food. In my toddler world, I feel like I throw enough food away when the 2 1/2 year-old doesn’t eat his baby carrots or tilapia. Still, I expose it to him the recommended ten times hoping he will try it on the sixth or seventh presentation. Oddly enough, Caleb does eat carrots and tilapia on occasion, especially when he sees us eating it:)

Moving onto leftovers. I had some leftover taco meat in my refrigerator and I thought I should present it in a new way so I made taco pizza on fresh flatbread I had made from scratch, but store-bought pita or flatbread will work too. I sprinkled taco meat and cheese on top of the bread and baked it on 350 until the cheese was melted, about 10 minutes. It would work well with refried beans as the base, but I left it off for the kid’s sake. It would also be fantastic with salsa and sour cream on top.

In addition to the taco pizza, I made tomato basil. I started with pizza sauce, layered provolone on top and thinly sliced Roma tomatoes, sprinkled it with sweet basil and parmesan cheese. I baked these along with the taco pizza for the kids. Pesto would also be a nice substitution for the pizza sauce.

After eating the tomato basil pizza, I would recommend either leaving off the pizza sauce or using pesto as the sauce, because it’s quite strong with Roma tomatoes and sauce.

Be Creative with your leftover holiday meat

 

I often borrow ideas from take-out pizza. For example, California Pizza Kitchen has a website full of creative pizza ideas to get you excited about creating your own pizza at home. The next time you eat out, take note of the ingredients and make one at home using leftovers.

It is easy to plan pizza and purchase frozen dough in the freezer section or purchase a ready-made crust in the bakery /bread isle.  It’s even more fun and delicious if you plan a pizza night with enough time to make your own homemade crust. Most of us think we need lots of time to allow dough to rise, but I started out with a no rise crust recipe from Moneysavingmom. It is extremely easy to whip up and the best part is there is no extra time involved with kneading or rising. I’ve modified this recipe with my favorite white whole wheat flour.  

Since the holidays are here, be sure to save extra 1-cup portions of leftover ham or turkey to make quick, frugal pizzas at home. Refrigerate leftover meat and measure out portions of shredded, diced or chopped meat and place in a quart size bag. Label and date bags to ensure oldest leftovers are eaten first.  Roll excess air from bag and seal.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (115 degrees)
2 teaspoons salt

2 t teaspoons sugar

4 tablespoons olive or canola oil
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (we use King Arthur)

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 T. yeast (purchase in bulk at Sams or Wal-Mart for best value)

Yield: 4-12 inch crusts

Directions:

Measure water using a liquid measuring cup at eye level.  Mix dry ingredients and mix using with a dough kneading hook or stir by hand about 3 minutes, making sure there are no dry patches of flour.  No rising is necessary!  Plan to use this dough in 2 days or freeze. 

Freezer Preparation: 

Lightly flour hands and dough and divide into four equal portions.  Slightly flatten and place in gallon size freezer bags and seal.  Allow dough to thaw for 24 hours prior to use. Allow dough to come to room temperature (about 40 minutes) before baking.

Naan made with Artisan Dough

 Have you checked out the price of naan in the grocery store? Naan or flatbread is the perfect base for quick pizza.The price in NC is close to $4 for three large naan. That is over a $1 each! No wonder I’m making my own using the artisan dough method from the cookbook, Artisan Bread In Five Minutes a day. There is a wonderful tutorial along with great photos and explanation on the authors’ website, Artisanbreadinfive

I love hot bread fresh from the oven, who doesn’t? When it comes to frugality, turning on my oven for one loaf of bread is costly and hot now that spring is here, so I do batch or bulk cooking. Instead of making one or two naan at a time, I make a double batch of dough and make all the naan at once. I allow the naan to cool on cooling racks and package them in freezer bags for the two recipes we use most.

Naan or flatbread is the perfect base for quick pizza. I thaw a package of five and top them with pizza sauce, convenience chicken, feta and mozzarella and black olives for a delicious greek pizza in 15 minutes.

I was able to make 13 naan by DOUBLING the following recipe:

Olive Oil Dough

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water

 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or other neutral tasting oil)

6 1/2 cups unbleached flour (I use 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour and 3 cups King Arthur or Eagle Mills brand white whole wheat flour)

Mix all ingredients in a plastic 5 quart shoebox with lid and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours. I highly recommend viewing the detailed instructions for cooking at Artisan Bread In Five. I did not use quite as much butter, nor did I use clarified butter. However, they still come out wonderfully soft due to the olive oil. Experiment with one batch of dough and tell me what you think.

I used one cast iron skillet and it took a little while. Next time I think I’m going to use two skillets at one time to speed up the process. During the spring and summer I could do this on my outside grill burner so it’s not quite so hot in the house (just a thought).