If your kids are anything like mine they love frozen pizza rolls. I've always felt a little guilty for allowing them to have them, though. So much of what my girls eat is completely homemade that I am hesitant to let them pull out some machine made, frozen concoction with questionable ingredients. This recipe is a healthier version of the traditional pizza rolls, but it will never be health food. :) Still, I controlled the ingredients and that helps my peace of mind.
I had a hard time finding wonton wrappers. Neither one of our local markets carried them. I finally found them at Wal-Mart in the produce section next to the oriental vegetables.
I put one teaspoon of pizza sauce on each wrapper, added a little cheese, and some chopped up pepperoni. I moistened all the edges with water and folded up from the bottom...
then the sides...
folded down the top, and sealed with a little more water.
I sprayed a foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray (Smart Balance) and placed the rolls folded-side down and then sprayed the tops with more cooking spray. I baked them at 400 for 15 minutes.
We did not have any leftovers, but if you did you could wrap them in foil, place them in a freezer bag, and freeze. Reheat in the microwave for a minute or so on high. My girls absolutely loved these pizza rolls. So did hubby!
This recipe was born of necessity. I am entirely too tired during the week to get up and start measuring flour, baking powder, etc for the kids' before-school pancakes. So, I made this mix and keep it in a plastic bag in the freezer. Then in the morning I scoop out some mix, add milk, an egg, and a little flax seed and viola! Perfect whole wheat pancakes. I usually drop blueberries onto the pancakes as they cook. But chocolate chips are an awesome addition, too.
6 cups flour (your choice of variety. I used 4 cups whole wheat, 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour) 2/3 cups sugar 2 T baking powder 1 T baking soda 1/2 tsp salt
Make sure you mix the ingredients thoroughly so that you evenly distribute the baking soda and powder.
For the pancake batter I whisk together one cup of mix, 3/4 cup skim milk, one egg, and 1 T ground flax seed.
1/3 cup of batter for each pancake is perfect for my frying pan...because I am also too tired to get out my electric griddle. While they are baking on the first side I drop a few blueberries (or mini chocolate chips, sliced bananas, strawberries) on top.
They deserve a closer look, don't you think?
The pancakes will bake up around the blueberries a bit. Flip them when they start to look done around the edges. I'm not sure how long you can keep this mix in the freezer. I would think a good long while, though. We never seem to keep it around for more than a week and a half. Tip: flour stays fresher in the freezer. I keep all of my flours there in their original bags with a plastic bag on the outside.
Sometimes I sneak sugar-free syrup onto the pancakes. My kids can't tell the difference. :)
If you are anything like me, you love Chinese take-out. Love it, could eat it every weekend, crave it during the week. But I don't love all the salt or all the grease and I especially don't love the next-day water retention. So, I created a recipe that uses a healthy oil and brown rice and that tastes even better than take-out, while not making me swell up like a puffer fish. The best part of this recipe is that you can add any vegetable you like, switch out the chicken for pork or beef, or leave out the meat entirely. It's all about finding recipes you like and making them your own. It's a rare occasion when I make a recipe exactly as written. For this recipe you will need: pre-cooked brown rice, about a cup oil (your choice: olive, canola, whatever) carrots onion frozen peas 2 eggs low-sodium soy sauce skinless, boneless chicken breasts (one per person)
Start by chopping up enough onion and carrots to feed your brood. I use two handfuls of baby carrots and one large onion and chop them into tiny bits in my Handi Chopper. (Good tip for feeding vegetables to kids is to chop them so tiny that they go unnoticed in the food.) Add about 2T of olive or canola oil to a skillet (doesn't have to be electric) and cook your veggies until they are almost, but not quite, tender.
Clean and chop boneless, skinless chicken breasts (one for each person) and add to pan. I use kitchen shears to chop up my chicken. It is easier than using a knife and you don't have to fool with sterilizing a cutting board after using. Cook the chicken until no pink remains in the middle. I usually put a top on the skillet for a good 5-10 minutes to help the chicken hurry up. But don't leave it on too long or all of the moisture will leave your meat.
When your chicken is mostly done add 2T (or more to taste) of a low-sodium soy sauce. The low-sodium is key to avoid the next-day bloat. To be honest, I don't really measure anything in this recipe. I shake on the soy sauce until the chicken looks halfway covered, but it feels like about 2-3T.
I don't measure the frozen peas either-about 3 handfuls. And maybe an extra one. I love peas. You definitely don't want to add them with the rest of your vegetables or you will have pea mash. Not tasty. Add your peas with your already cooked brown rice. About a cup. I like to cook my brown rice with a couple of low sodium chicken bullion cubes and 1T of olive or canola oil. (Smart Balance has an amazing new oil that is a mix of olive, canola, and soy oils--for those of us who think olive oil has an aftertaste.)
Now the fun part. The eggs! Look at these cuties...straight from our chickens in the backyard. Thank you Smores and Eragon!
If you don't have backyard chickens, store bought eggs will do. :) I use two, but you can leave out this part, add more eggs, or just use one. Cook to your taste! Whisk the eggs and either push the food to one side and cook them in the same skillet or use a clean frying pan and scramble them. I use the same skillet...I think it gives the eggs extra veggie and soy sauce flavor.
Once the eggs are cooked, mix them into the rest of the food and serve. This homemade fried rice is not the same thing you get from fast food Chinese. It has a softer texture and a lot more moisture. But my family chooses this dish over take-out every time and I love that they are getting healthier ingredients. The brown rice in particular is amazing. You could definitely substitute white in the recipe, but brown rice adds a nutty, extra layer of flavor that stomps all over white rice.
The most important thing is to tailor this recipe to your taste. If I was making it just for me, I would add snow peas, cabbage, green peppers, and maybe even some zucchini. I get outvoted on those ingredients when making it for the family, though. Although next time...maybe I could sneak in the cabbage...if it was really small....
I created this food blog when my two girls were young, I was a stay-at-home mom, and I had not yet attended culinary school. Now I'm a classically trained chef with two college-age daughters. This blog will always be so special to me and I hope you enjoy my old recipes.
