Hidden Food Treasure

I continue to try to find easy-peasy meals that are are high in yield (I am feeding three famished boys, after all), low in cost and still are considered yummy and nutritional.  My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and I trade recipes back and forth all the time.  Especially if they meet at least three of the four criteria listed above!

I uncovered a jackpot of recipes containing several very yummy, cost efficient, nutritional and ample servings... have I mentioned that these are all the things I dearly love now-a-days in food preparation!?

I have done the necessary daughter and sister-in-law duties of fulfilling the trade quota, so now I will share them with you!

Meat/Veggie (Your Choice) & Cheese Calzone

2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup fresh broccoli florets
1 8oz deli meat, sliced about 1/2 inch thick
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
8 oz Swiss cheese, grated, divided
1 tbsp vegetable/olive oil, divided
2 pkg refrigerated pizza crust (13.8 oz each)
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 450F. Combine mayonnaise and mustard in bowl and mix well.  Cut broccoli into small florets; dice meat.  Combine broccoli, meat, onion and half of the Swiss cheese into mustard mixture; mix well.

Lightly brush large cookie sheet with 1 tsp of oil using basting brush.  Unroll one package of dough onto bottom of cookie sheet, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom.  Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese to within 1 in. of edges; spoon meat mixture over cheese.  Unroll remaining dough directly over filling; matching edges of dough and shaping to fit as dough is unrolled.  Trim 1/2 in. off sides of dough.  Press edges to seal.  Brush remaining oil over dough.  Using knife, make 12 slits, in three rows of four each, into top crust.

Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over calzone.  Return calzone to oven; bake 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is deep golden brown.  Yield: 8 servings

My boys LOVED it!

Here's another one that became a favorite in our home within 30 seconds of dishing it up - which is the time it took for Andrew to ask for seconds!  (By the way, this recipe has also received rave reviews from the mother-in-law - so you know it is a WINNER!)

Cheese Ravioli with Zest

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 cups loosely packed fresh baby spinach leaves

6 oz Provolone cheese, grated

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

3 garlic cloves

2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes with onions, undrained

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

1 pkg (24 oz) small frozen cheese ravioli

halved grape tomatoes (optional)

Add oil to 12 in. skillet, heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add jalapeno to skillet; cook and stir 1 minute or until crisp-tender. Press garlic into skillet; cook and stir 15-20 seconds or until fragrant.

Add tomatoes, salt and black pepper to skillet; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until simmering. Add ravioli; stir to coat. Cook, uncovered, 4-5 minutes or until tender. Stir in cream. Cook, uncovered, 1-2 minutes or until simmering. Sprinkle spinach over ravioli; cook, covered, 1 minute or until spinach starts to wilt.

Remove skillet from heat. Top with cheese; cover skillet and let stand 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish with grape tomatoes, if desired.  Yield: 8 servings

I hope you and your family enjoy these dishes as much as we have! 

I'm glad I uncovered that little recipe book!  I'm sure there will be more to come!

(Not to brag on myself...but I am pretty impressed with my camera skills in capturing these two bon appetit dishes!  Sadly, they turned out so good only because I stumbled on to the "food" setting on our camera.  We have only had it for about two years now, and yes, I had NO idea it could do such marvelous things!)