Calzones

While looking around on Frugal Upstate, I came across a bread machine recipe for a clone of Pizza Huts' pizza crust. I must say that I am not a fan of Pizza Hut's pizza at all, but this recipe was getting rave reviews. She uses this dough to make pizza, bread sticks and calzones. This is one of those recipes that was found on yet another blog and it was tweaked to their liking. And on...and on... The more I read about it, the more my curiosity was peaking.

There's just a handful of ingredients involved in making this dough and since I had everything in the cupboards to make it, I decided to get it a try. Five minutes is all that it took to layer everything into my bread machine. I set it on the "dough" setting and then 1 hr. and 50 minutes later I had a really nice, pliable dough waiting on me.

It's been a while since we've eaten really good calzones. It's hard to find good Italian food around our area so we were really hoping that these would turn out great. I'll let the cat out of the bag early.....this recipe didn't disappoint!

Here is the recipe:

Pizza Hut Style Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cups water
2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp cornmeal
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Add ingredients to bread machine, according to manufacturer’s settings, and run dough setting. After the machine beeps, roll out the dough.

You can roll the dough into two 9×13″ pizzas (great for kid’s lunches!) or into two medium pizzas or a large pizza and an order of breadsticks (as instructed above).

Parbake the crust with a drizzle of olive oil on it at 450 degrees for ten minutes. Remove the crust and add sauce and toppings.

If making breadsticks, add your breadsticks at this time. Place into the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes or until golden and bubbly.

What I did to make calzones:

I cooked red sauce* and sauteed the sausage and mushrooms* and then set them up, along with shredded mozzarella cheese, assembly style on the table, along with 2 large baking sheets.

Recipe for Sauce:
2 lg. cans of crushed tomatoes with basil
1/4 C. olive oil
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder

In a medium-sized pot, warm olive oil and seasoning. Stir in crushed tomatoes. Cook over medium heat until heated through and then turn heat down to low. Continue to simmer while preparing the rest of the meal. Do not cover with a lid.

Recipe for sausage and mushroom filling:
1 16oz. container of sliced button mushrooms, chopped
3 links hot sausage
3 links Emeril's chicken sausage with spinach

You will need two frying pans for this.

In one pan, heat 1/4 C. olive oil until hot. Add mushrooms and sautee until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove the casings from the hot sausages. Add 2 TBSP oil to the second pan. Cook sausage, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Do not brown sausage, cook until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain off any excess grease. Add the sausage to a bowl, along with half of the mushrooms. Stir together to mix.

Wipe out frying pan and repeat process with chicken sausage. Stir remaining mushrooms into the bowl with the chicken sausage.


Assembly:

Dough

This recipe will make 4 large calzones or 8 mini calzones.

I turned the dough out onto a lightly floured table and rolled it into a log with my hands. I cut the log in half. With one half, I cut it into 4 pieces. I made 4 mini calzones out of this dough - 2 hot sausage, mushroom and cheese and 2 chicken/spinach sausage, mushroom and cheese. These were for my husband and me.

I cut the other log into 2 pieces. One hot sausage calzone for each of them. At the time, they wanted no part of chicken/spinach sausage in their calzones.

On the table, line up sauce, hot sausage and mushrooms, shredded mozzerella cheese and chicken sausage.

Roll out dough, fill and close, making sure to seal the ends.

I placed the two larger calzones on one baking sheet and the 4 minis on another baking sheet.

Brush the top of each calzone with olive oil .

Bake at 425*

Large calzones baked for 20 minutes.

Minis baked for 25 minutes.

Serve with a side of sauce for dipping.

**notes** We like red sauce in our calzones, as well as, for dipping into. Along with the hot sausage, mushrooms and cheese, I added some sauce.


I did not add any sauce to the insides of the chicken/spinach sausage calzones.


I served a simple green salad alongside the calzones. Everyone was really happy with the way these turned out. I will definitely make this recipe again.


This is also a great way to clean out the frig. You can fill this dough with just about anything that you like to mix together.

The mini calzones are the perfect size for lunchboxes, too!

You can easily freeze any leftovers by wrapping them with plastic wrap and then again in foil. Make sure to label them so that you can remember what's inside them.

Thrifty Thursdays - Whole Roasted Chickens Provide Multiple Meals

For this week's Thrifty Thursday, let's talk about chicken....

We eat a lot of chicken. I'm always hoping to see a good sale pop up in the weekly sales ads. This week, I found whole chickens on sale for 59 cents a pound. For under $12.00, I was able to buy 10 lbs of chicken. Granted, that ten pounds is not all chicken but I will get enough off of it for 4 meals....and I hear that you can cook up some great chicken stock if you cook the carcasses. I cannot bring myself to cook the bones and other parts to make broth. The thought is revolting to me so I do lose out a bit on that.

It seems that everyone has their favorite way to roast a chicken. My way is simple: rinse the bird inside and out and then pat dry with some paper towels. I rub a little butter under the skin of the chicken and then all over the top and sides of it. Then I sprinkle it with garlic powder, poultry seasoning and onion powder. Pop it into a baking dish and bake at 375* for 1 1/2 -2 1/2 hrs -depending on the size of the chickens.



MMM! Crispy on the outside, yet very moist on the inside.

The 4 meals that I will be making are:

Chicken and Noodles - tonight's dinner
Chicken Tacos
Chicken Stir Fry
Chicken Barley Soup

After picking every last bit of chicken from the bones, I mixed the white meat and dark meat together and then divided them among three freezer bags.

I hope that you've had a wonderful, thrifty week. Check out Amanda's Cookin' for more thrifty ideas.

All Day Crockpot Macaroni & Cheese

My daughter LOVES mac 'n cheese. Since I've been cooking some dishes lately that have certainly not been here favorites, I decided to cook mac 'n cheese for her to make her really happy.

If you follow the directions to this recipe, you will end up with a delicious meal. Even my husband, who is VERY picky about mac 'n cheese, really liked it.

Here is what it looks like in the crock once it has finished cooking


One tip that I will add before you get started.... Make sure to undercook the macaroni before you add it to the crockpot, otherwise I believe that you would end up with mushy macaroni.

All Day Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz cooked and drained Pasta - Elbows are classic, but you can use anything.
4 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Can (12 oz) Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 C Milk - I used powdered skim milk that had been reconstituted into 11/2 C. of milk
2 Eggs
2 TBS Flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Spray crockpot with nonstick spray.

Mix everything together and pour into crockpot.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours**-Do not stir, it will cook and firm up.

I found this crockpot mac 'n cheese recipe on a blog called Frugal Upstate. I don't know the owner, Jen, personally but her blog is really nice.

**notes**

This recipe cooked for 5 hours and was completely done. I haven't tried leaving on longer but I don't think that I would leave it for more than 6 hours without being afraid that it would be overcooked.

I used regular cheddar cheese in this recipe. I'm using sharp cheddar next time for more flavor. I also add 1 tsp of red pepper to it. I don't think that it made a difference so I will leave it out next time.


I served this with broiled Talapia fillets and a side of green beans.


Broiled Citrus Talapia

6 - 8 Talapia fillets, thawed if frozen
Citrus Seasoning
butter flavored baking spray
lemon juice

Turn on broiler. Spray a baking sheet with butter flavored baking spray.

Rinse and pat dry the Talapia fillets and then lay them on the baking tray. Lightly spray the tops of the fillets with baking spray. Sprinkle liberally with citrus seasoning. Flip fish over and sprinkle again with the citrus seasoning. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Broil for 5 -8 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.

We like an extra sprinkle of lemon juice on our fish before eating it.


I'm happy to report that everyone in my family really enjoyed this meal.

Fried Pickles

My family and I never knew what fried pickles were before moving to North Carolina. Here, it seems, they like to deep fry everything. Some things are really good, while others are a bit out there.

In this case, if you like dill pickles, these deep fried nuggets are a tasty treat. Depending on who is making them, the pickles might be coated in a batter coating (think fish batter) or they might be coated in a cornmeal and flour mix. We prefer the crispy cornmeal and flour breading.


They are really easy to make at home and it's much cheaper, too. The price of one appetizer of fried pickles in a restaurant usually costs $5. - $7.

Fried Pickles

2 C. of dill pickle chips, drained well on paper towels
1 C. flour
1/2 C. corn meal
1 tsp. creole seasoning (optional but it adds a nice kick)
1/2 tsp. Hot Shot pepper (red and black pepper) - if you
don't want the spice, use all black pepper
1/2 C. milk or buttermilk
1 gallon-sized plastic bag

Lay pickles on layers of paper towels to drain.

Heat your deep fryer to 400*

Pour the milk or buttermilk into a small bowl. I used milk with this batch and it worked out fine. I'm going to try buttermilk for a thicker coating the next time that I make them.

Mix the flour, corn meal, and seasonings in the plastic bag.

Working with a few pickles at a time, dip them into the milk and then add them to the flour mixture. Shake well to completely cover the pickles.

Remove the coated pickles from the bag and drop them into the deep fryer basket. Deep fry for 1-2 minutes or until light brown and crispy. Drain well in a single layer on paper towels before serving.

Serve with a side of tangy ranch dressing.


Tangy Ranch Dressing

1/4 C. of your favorite ranch dressing
1 - 2 tsp of Frank's Red Hot hot sauce

Mix together right before serving.

**note** The white specks that you see on the pickles in these pictures as a result of using white cornmeal. That's what I had on hand so that's what I used.

Kids Bake! Watermelon Poke Cupcakes

Watermelon recipes remind me of the sweet tastes of summer. Whether it's for a picnic, birthday or just a family barbecue, these watermelon poke cupcakes are easy for kids to make and look fabulous on your cookout table!


What You Need

1 box white cake mix
1 C. boiling water
1 small box of watermelon Jell-O -- or any red Jell-O
1 - 8oz container of Cool Whip, thawed
red & green liquid food coloring
mini chocolate chips

Getting Ready

Cover table with a plastic table cloth, or even an old shower curtain.

Gather supplies and have everything ready at the work table and within reach.

Make sure that children use pot holders and have some handy wipes or a sink nearby to
wash hands.

Now you are ready to start making watermelon poke cupcakes...


What You Do

Mix cupcakes and bake as directed on box, using cupcake liners. Cool cupcakes.

Stir boiling water into powdered Jell-O until dissolved. Pierce tops of cupcakes several times
with a meat fork or straw. Spoon Jell-O over cupcakes, making sure that the liquid is going
down into the holes. Refrigerate 30 min. Remove from pans.

Tint Cool Whip with red and green food coloring. Using plastic baggies to hold the whipped
topping, pipe a green circle around the outside rim of each cupcake. Fill in the middle with
pink whipped topping. Add mini chocolate chips to represent watermelon seeds.

Store in refrigerator. These cupcakes taste best if eaten the same day as they are made.

Linking up to:

Cupcake Tuesdays @ Hoosier Homemade


Gooseberry Patch Kids Recipe Round Up