Once A Month Cooking Adventure: Ham & Potato Pockets
These Ham & Potato pockets are just like a hot pocket only less expensive and healthier (without as many preservatives). So, when I saw the recipeon the April menu at Onceamonthmom.com, I thought I would give it another freezer cooking whirl :)
It really was quite simple. I estimate I spent around $8 to make 16 pockets, which is $.50 each. Not too bad! Plus, I'm saving time to prepare this when I'm in a time crunch for lunch. And, I'm hoping my hubs will take these to work too :) I did use Italian Cheese ONLY because I was out of Swiss. I think Swiss would taste much better, or possibly a Sharp Cheddar to give it a bite!
And, I've NEVER bought a ham like this before. There is an eye or something in the middle. Laugh all you want, but I think that's what it is and I had to cut around it. Is that what you're supposed to do?
Here's me working my magic:
And, the girls have the May Menu up now too! You can check it out here.
I’m not going to comment over they ‘eye’ other than to say, I cut around it also. :) I’m afraid I’m going to remember that description! Here is a somewhat similar recipe that my family loves. I believe I originally saw a link to this from The Mother Load, but I unfortunately only have the text of the recipe. If you have a bread machine, really this is almost as easy as the crescent rolls, and much less expensive. The one thing that I do not in the recipe is if the filling is ‘Italian’, I do brush the calzones with olive oil a few minutes before they are done baking. It just adds a nice flavor. Notice that there is no fat at all in dough recipe.
Calzones
To make the dough:
1 cup + 2 TB. of warm water
2 tsp. yeast
1-1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour
The easiest way to do this is to use your bread machine on the dough cycle, but if you don’t have one simply start by dissolving the yeast in the water. Next you will add the flour and the salt until you are able to handle the dough (it shouldn’t be extremely sticky, although a bit of stickiness is OK). Knead the dough on a lightly floured counter for 8 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl (covered with a cloth) for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
Gather your filling ingredients:
For these calzones I used meatballs and mozzarella cheese. For eight calzones I used approximately 16 meatballs (each one cut in half) and about 1 cup of cheese. You will also need spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce or ranch dressing, depending on your filling ingredients.
Once your dough is done, divide it into 8 pieces. Roll one piece into a small circle and place your fillings on one-half of that circle:
Fold one-half of the dough over the filling and seal the edges with a fork (kids love to do this!). Be sure to seal the edges well so that the cheese doesn’t leak out. Place these on a greased baking sheet:
Repeat with all of the dough pieces until you are done.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve and eat with your favorite sauce, or freeze in ziploc bags for later use.
Thanks, Sheila! I was contemplating making my own dough, but I wanted one less step with these and I got the crescent rolls on sale.
But, I love Amy @ MomAdvice so I know if she shared that it has to be good! After all, she’s the one who *taught* me how to make homemade bread!
My husband loved these. A friend and I braved the BIG DAY and cooked the entire April menu on the 25th. We have absolutely LOVED everything we’ve had so far. My hubby loves these and requests I make them more often. I got a ham for really cheap ($.87/lb = $9 for over 9 pounds of ham) and made 16 of these, plus all the other ham meals (hammy cheese, ham and potato bake, chicken cordon bleu, etc). What a bargain. I had never cooked a ham before, but it turned out super well, and was really easy! Thank you for sharing once a month mom. We’re already planning on next BIG DAY! :) And I bought a used upright freezer for my garage yesterday off craigslist for $125, its almost brand new!
Those look delicious and it’s definitely be nice to have some of those in the freezer for quick lunches. Thanks for the recipe and the links!
This is an odd question, but you do WW, right? Do you know how many points were in these? I’d love to make them. :) Thanks!
Mindy, I don’t do WW actually, I count calories. It is just ham, cheese, ranch dressing and crescent rolls. I did use reduced fat ranch and 2% cheese but so not sure on it.
Thank you! They look so yummy I could eat them now! :)
I love OAMC! That looks like a recipe Hubs would like, I might have to try it out. :)
I read this recipe yesterday at the office…and after I came home I started to prepare it. I was home alone, so I could make a test:)….it was delicious….for today I can unfreeze and to make a good impression for my family. Thanks
Dina, I’m so glad you liked them! Onceamonthmom has some great recipes. I just find that I need the uninterrupted time to do them too!