Freezer-Friendly Calzones

I whipped these up the other night when I needed to use up a handful of leftover pizza ingredients in the fridge. I made my own dough, but you can usually buy some in the deli section of your grocery store. I didn't measure, so I am kind of guessing on the quantities here - that's the beautiful thing about these, though - you can just wing it with the filling, and it usually works out fine. Feel free to use what you have on hand, or get creative with your filling ingredients. I ran out to the garden and just grabbed a few handfuls of fresh herbs, so you can use what you have in your garden, too.

Either par-bake the calzones, and then wrap and freeze for another night (thaw and then bake until golden), or just throw them in the oven for dinner (even better, make a double batch if you have enough ingredients, and do one batch for dinner, and one for another night!).

Freezer-Friendly Calzones

1 recipe bread machine pizza dough (or whatever you prefer)
1/2 c. Mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 c. Ricotta cheese
2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh arugula, chopped
2 tbsp. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. chopped pepperoni and/or Italian sausage (browned and drained) - more is fine - whatever you like

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and set aside. Divide your dough into 4 smaller balls, and then roll each one out into a small circle. Place 1/4 of your topping onto one half of the dough, and fold over the dough to make a half-circle. Crimp edges with your fingers or a fork to seal, and poke a few slits in the top to let steam out. You can brush the tops with a little EVOO. If frozen, thaw par-baked calzones in the fridge before baking. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite marinara or pizza sauce on the side.

Layered Mexican Trifle Salad

So this is awesome. It's a lot of work, but it is awesome. Feeds a crowd, looks cool, tastes great. What more can you ask for? I first had this at a party, and then tracked down the recipe - I believe it was originally from Pampered Chef. You can mix it up, but I really like this combo. It's easy to double or whatever is needed, based on the serving dish. The one pictured was MASSIVE, and was basically a triple batch - so much work, and at the last minute! Layered Mexican Trifle Salad I ngredients: Beans: drain, rinse and mix together 1 15 oz. can pinto beans and 1 15 oz. can black beans 1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained (I've also used fresh) 1 large tomato, diced (I usually use several Roma tomatoes) 2 green bell peppers, diced 3 ripe avocadoes, diced and mashed with the juice of 1 lime and salt and pepper to taste 1 large onion, diced (red or white) 2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded 2 cups cheddar or jack cheese, shredded

Skillet Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti & Asiago Cheese

We ALL really love this recipe. This is based on a recipe from the good people at Cooks Illustrated - I am grateful to them for getting my kids to happily eat sundried tomatoes and broccoli! I've also made this in a huge batch and served it family-style for a dinner party (and got to use my giant Pampered Chef Simple Additions square pasta bowl (it's really big), and it was AWESOME). If people could have licked the bowl clean, they might have - there was NOTHING left. Try this, and love it: Chicken, Broccoli, Penne and Asiago Cheese Skillet 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares 2 tbsp. vegetable oil (or olive oil - just don't heat that to smoking) 1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup) 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp.) 1/4 tsp. dried oregano 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes 8 oz. ziti or penne (2 /12 cups) 3 c. water 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth 3-4 c. broccoli florets 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, rinsed and choppe

Another Take on Comfort Food

Sometimes there's nothing you can do but cook. I've had the displeasure of seeing 2 young moms in our school community recieve cancer diagnoses in the last 18 months. If you're like me, when someone you know is hurting, you want to help, but lots of times, there's not much you can do. If you can cook, you can take away some of the stress of getting the family fed and bring a meal or two. In fact, even if you can't cook, you can pick up a meal at a restaurant or a bag of groceries, or even a gift card for a local restaurant. I think it comes naturally to some - the church and school communities I grew up in always loved with food - church potlucks, school spaghetti dinners, and of course lots of meals for people who needed them. But not everyone has done this before, so it might be overwhelming. As in my "feeding a crowd" blurb, there are a few things to keep in mind. Don't try to impress - don't try new recipes. Find out if you're

A Cooking Baker

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