Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken Calzones

Aloha Amico/Amica Mio/Mia!! (for those who aren’t in the know, that’s Hello my friend! In a slur of Hawaiian and Italian….yes, I am that awesome, lol)

What do you get when you combine Italian, Hawaiian, and the good ol’ south? YES! YUMMYNESS!!!!! There is a possibility I am way more excited about this than I should be, but I’m ok with that. :D

Tonight for dinner I made Bar-b-q Hawaiian Chicken Calzones, and as I sit here and type, I’m as plump as a tick, as they say in the good ol’ south. :D 

Barbecue Chicken Calzone, with a side of fresh pineapple and spring greens with tomato and feta.  that is some extra barbecue sauce and ranch in the middle.

Couple things to note as we begin; I made 4 calzones out of this recipe, however you may prefer to make just 2.  I am listing the nutritional info for using this recipe to make 4 and 2. The crust is already included in that nutritional information. However I am listing the crust’s nutritional information so if you want to make other flavors, you have a base nutritional value to build on.

The other thing, I cooked enough chicken (6oz)/onion/bar-b-q sauce mixture, that it made 1 cup when shredded. For this recipe, I only used ½ cup. BUT FEAR NOT!!! *spoiler alert!!!!* I’m going to be using the other ½ for a salad later this week, which I’ll probably post tomorrow.

For those who have had weight loss surgery, keep in mind, EVERYONE is different. I have one friend that is bothered by half of what she eats, I on the other hand, escaped with a stomach of steel, and nothing bothers me. Use your discretion when making these recipes, while I may be able to tolerate these recipes, you may not. Follow your stomach on this one, and don’t push if you can’t eat it.

Also, I am aware that traditional calzones are just meat and cheese stuffed into pizza crust; I however like to add a little sauce inside to help keep everything moist. OK! ONWARD!!!


Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken Calzones:

Nutrional Info:
 If using this recipe to make 4 servings, 1 serving is:
Calories: 133       Fat: 3.5       Protein:9.5        Sugars:7       Fiber:0

If using this recipe to make 2 servings, 1 serving is:
Calories: 265     Fat: 7     Protein: 19     Sugars: 14       Fiber: 1

Martha White Pizza Crust (I only used ¼ of the package for this recipe)
If using 1/4 package and making 4 servings, then 1 serving is:
Calories: 40      Fat: .25     Protein: 1.5     Sugars: .5     Fiber: .25

If using 1/4 package for 2 servings, then 1 serving is:
Calories: 80        Fat: .5      Protein: 3     Sugars: 1     Fiber: .5

Ingredients:

Crust:
1/3 c Martha White Thin Crust pizza mix (That is ¼ of the package)
2 TBSP. Hot Water

Calzone Stuffing:
3 oz chicken, shredded
¼ c Barbecue sauce (Kraft, Thick and Spicy Honey Barbecue Sauce)
¼ small onion, chopped
¼ c mozzarella (Wal-mart brand)
¼ c shredded parmesan (wal-mart brand)
3 oz pineapple cut into little pieces (I used fresh pinapple, but you can use the little single serving size, and chop them up) 

1 egg/egg white (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven 400

2. Cook chicken and onions until done; if cooking on the stove top, stir in barbecue sauce at the end. Set off to the side and let cool. (I doubled mine, 6 oz chicken (which was one chicken breast), ½ small onion, ½ c barbecue sauce, and cooked it in the oven the night before, shredded it and just threw it all in the fridge. It made about 1 cup shredded, you only need ½ of the mixture for this recipe.)

3. Mix Pizza dough mix and water following the direction on the back of the package, omitting the oil. 

4. After Pizza dough has stood for 5 mins., flour your surface and cut the ball of dough into 4 (or 2) equal sections. 

5. Roll each section into a round shape. Mine were about 5 inches across, and it was very thin. If just making 2, you may not want to go as thin as I did. 

6. Go back to your chicken!!!! It’s probably cool by now. Chop your pinapple into little tidbits, and add cheese to the chicken mixture, and stir. 

7. Place about ¼ c (4 TBSP) of the above mixture on half of the calzone. Fold over, and seal edges with a fork. 

8. Place on a cookie sheet, sprayed with non-stick spray. 

9. Brush tops with egg white. (I know what you’re thinking, you want me to use an egg, just to brush 4 little tops? I think it adds a nice shine and look to it, however, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want. I plan to make *SPOILER ALERT!!!!* mini-meatloaf, so I saved the remainder of the egg for that.) 

10. Bake Calzones in the oven for 10-14 mins. Until they are the color you want them to be.

11. ENJOY!!!! 

Tips:

When making this recipe as 4 calzones, your dough will be rather thin. During the cooking you may notice some leakage of the internal ingredients….don’t worry, its ok!

I use a binder clip to reseal my pizza dough mix, and just pull it out and use ¼ of a package whenever I want mini pizzas, calzones, or breadsticks (to go with pizza soup!)

You can also forgo the calzone and just leave it flat making a mini pizza.

Variations:

1. I realize most people will read this and say, DUH! But I will say it just incase, It’s a calazone, which means, use your imagination and stuff it with whatever you like!

2. I have actually made these before with canned biscuits, using a rolling pin to flatten out the biscuit. This works pretty well, although the biscuits tend to add more fat/calories to your total.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Ham Cups of AWESOMENESS.....

HAM CUP OF AWESOMENESS!

If you look closely and listen carefully, you can see the light shining down on it and angels singing,
AH-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!....yeah, i'm pretty sure that's what i hear.

Today’s recipe started with my friend Emily. She found a recipe that was simply a piece of ham placed in a muffin tin, with an egg cracked into it, little salt, little pepper, and a little parmesan cheese. Me, being me, needed more, so after some experimentation I came up with “Ham Cups of AWESOMENESS”. Ironically, today I’m actually using turkey, ….it’s what I have in the fridge....and I'm only making 1.    You can use any deli meat that you like, but, “Deli Meat Cups of AWESOMENESS” just doesn’t have the same feel…..i think it’s the number of syllables (you know you just said the name again in your mind while mentally clapping along counting syllables….or maybe that was just me….but I digress….)

One thing I find really important in any recipe, is flexibility. Ham Cups of AWESOMENESS is a great example of a very flexible recipe. You can remove just about any ingredient (except probably the egg) or add just about anything to it, and it works. For future FYI, all recipes will have a variation section and a tips section that go specifically with that recipe. I will also list the brand I’m using in parentheses, so that you know where my nutritional information is coming from. Be aware that nutritional values will change, usually only a little though, depending on the different brands you use.

Nutritional info:
Calories: 255      Fat:12      Protein: 18.5      Sugars: 5      Fiber: 1ish

Prep time: 10 mins Cook Time: 18-22 mins.

Ingredients: 

1 Reduced Fat Croissant
2 slices of thin sliced deli meat [today I’m using turkey] (Hillshire Farms Turkey)
1 wedge spreadable Light Cheese (Laughing cow Light Garlic and Herb)
1.5 TBSP sautéed peppers and onions
1 TBSP spinach (again you can do frozen, but I prefer fresh that I wilt in the microwave, or throw in while sautéing veggies, it just tastes better to me)
.25 oz Fat Free Feta (Trader Joe’s)
.25 oz reduced fat cheese shreds (Weight Watchers)
1 Egg
Dash of Salt, Pepper, ground mustard, or whatever other spices you like.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Spray nonstick spray into the container you will be using. Take 1 RF Croissant and press into the cup making a crust. (You can use a muffin tin if you don't have the little ramekin, i've found though that it works better with the jumbo muffin tin, or this lovely glass ramekin i got from target for $.99.  Yes, it is oven safe, up to 450 degrees.)

3. Place meat on top of the croissant, making it into a bowl shape. 

4. Spread wedge of cheese around the bottom of your bowl shaped meat 

5. Sprinkle, peppers, onions, spinach, feta, and shredded cheese on top of this. 

Peppers, onions, and spinach.

See, it's just a little sprinkle of Feta.

And a little sprinkle of cheese!

6. Crack egg on top of the above ingredients. Season with pepper, salt, and ground mustard. 

7. Place in oven and bake 18 mins. if you like your egg a little runny, 20-22 if you like a firmer egg.

8. Eat! (and hopefully enjoy!)

I had mine with a side of cherry tomatoes, mainly b/c i'm addicted to them, and I will use any excuse to eat them, and a clementine......they are soooooooooooo stinkin' good right now!

Variations:

1. You can use any meat you like, ham, turkey, chicken, turkey bacon (which I usually pre-cook in the microwave and crumble it), or sausage crumbles.  You can also change out the spreadable cheese.  Laughing Cow has a lot of flavors, the Garlic and Herb happens to be my favorite of the one's I've tried.  I've also tried cream cheese, but it can be a little bland if you don't add some seasoning.

2. My dad doesn’t like his egg looking like an eyeball, so for him, I whip the egg with a little milk and pour it in.

3. You can add anything you want to the cup (before baking), or on top once it’s out of the oven. Some ideas, slasa, picco, avocado, sour cream, nonfat plain greek yogurt mixed with some ranch powder, fresh tomatoes…..just use your imagination.

Tips:

1. You might be thinking, this will take awhile to make, but it actually doesn’t. There have been many mornings I roll out of bed, throw one together in about 5 mins, and put it in the oven while I shower.

2. I do 2 different things when it comes to sautéed veggies. If I know I’m going to make several things that week that will use veggies, I’ll make a good sized batch and store it in a bowl and use what I need across the week. For times when I don’t foresee using much, I’ll just pull out my bag from the freezer and pull out a few strips, chop and sauté. I also keep a box of chicken broth (the kind with a pour spout that is re-sealable) in the fridge, and use that, instead of oil, to sauté the veggies. 

Aren't they cute little pepper pieces, and my super cute little frying pan......CUTENESS!!!!

3. You can actually make a couple at a time, they do refrigerate pretty well.

4. The RF croissants come 8 to a tube, which for me is a lot to go through in 1 week. So I place one rectangle (which is 2 croissants) on a piece of press and seal, fold the press and seal over it (so the rectangle is basically sandwiched between 2 pieces of press and seal), roll it up and store in the freezer. Then when I go to bed, I just pull out a little pack and put it in the fridge. I’ve even pulled them out the same day and left it on the counter, and usually within 20 mins, it’s thawed. 

Just in case you need a visual aid....b/c i usually do, here it is sandwiched between the press and seal.

And now, rolled up, ready to freeze!

Helpful Hints....at least I think they are. :D

Learning to cook for 1, or in my case, less than 1, has been a challenge, but I love to cook, so I deem it a good challenge.  Here are a few  “helpful hints” that have made my life a little easier.

1.   1.  To help control portion sizes, use small cooking containers.  I took a trip to my local World Market and found a bunch of fun, small cooking containers for a fairly inexpensive amount. They are all oven to table.  I think the most I paid was $6.99, everything else was $2-3.  Here’s a picture of some of what I use, and I’ve tried to give you a good description/cost each dish.

a. Round baking dish (World Market $4.99)
b. Yellow 8 in. baking dish (World Market $6.99)
c. Mini loaf pan (World Market $1.49)
d. Wavey Edges Ramekin-that’s probably not the right description, but it’s the best I’ve got! (World Market $1.99)
e. 4 oz Ramekin (World Market, 4 pack $2.99)
f. 6 oz Ramekin (World market, 2 pack $2.99)
g. 4.5 in tart mold, which reminds me of a mini pie pan (World Market $2.99)
h. Glass Ramekin (Target $.99)
i. Mini Dutch Oven (World Market $3.99)
j. Silicone Muffin cups (World Market, 6 pack $2.49)


2. Eat off small, fun plates. If you have something the size of a muffin on a huge dinner plate, it can look almost tragic. Using small plates can help keep it entertaining. I love places like World Market and Pier 1 b/c you can find a lot of unique and fun little plates.  Here are the ones I use, they are about 6" or less, except for the long one, it's about 5"x 10".  I find that sushi plates, and dessert plates are usually a good size.  (Also please forgive my photography skills.  I've misplaced my camera....and the cell phone......well, it is what it is.  Hopefully some day i can afford a nice camera that will give me those artsie shots I like.)

3.  I like to add sautéed veggies to a lot of what I do b/c it adds texture, flavor and filler without adding a lot fat or calories, but trying to use up fresh veggies before they go bad can be difficult. You can buy packs of frozen veggies, but I personally prefer to buy fresh and freeze them myself, they don’t seem to be as watery. For instance I will buy red, yellow, orange, green bell peppers and onions, cut them into strips and then store them in zip lock bags in the freezer. I pull out a few and chop them up, and sauté them when i need them.


4.  And finally, a word about measurements of the ingredients in the recipes that are to come. You will often see measurements like, .25 oz of cheese. I know this seems crazy. I fortunately have a digital scale, which helps figuring that out super easy, but in reality who has time to measure that minuet an amount. But for the sake of trying to give you some fairly accurate nutritional information I have measured the ingredients for the sake of the blog, but typically I’m just getting a little pinch of cheese, or a few crumbles of feta. So don’t over stress the measurements too much. If you’re working with little containers, it helps to thwart over usage. :D


5. O! I thought of something! So I'm editing it in.  Keep some basic ingredients on hand.  You don't have to go all out, and buy out the the grocery store, but its good to keep around some basic things.  I always say go with the stuff you like, so for me that looks like: Spices: salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne or red pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, ranch seasoning (packaged or homemade), cumin, and ground mustard.  In the fridge: Eggs, minced garlic, milk, mustard (brown and yellow), ketchup, lite mayo, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, bar-b-q sauce, salad dressing.  In the cabinets or on counter tops: Chicken broth, Lipton soup mix (onion or any other variety), canned-flavored tomatoes (there are lots of varieties out there), jar of tomato sauce, canned veggies, powdered milk (goes great in my coffee, and is good for those times when the milk has.......begun its life transition.) Non-stick cooking spray


6.  I have a George Foreman Toaster Oven that has been HUGELY helpful when trying to cook smaller. I don’t have to heat up my huge oven for one little recipe. They cost about $70, but if you are going to do a lot of “small” cooking, it is a worthwhile investment.


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, that's it for now.  i might think of some more hints on down the road, so i reserve the right to revisit this subject, :D.

IT'S ALIVE!!....ALLLLIIIIVVVVVEEE!!!!

Nov. 17, 2011 I began a new journey in life when I had gastric bypass.  A friend of mine, who also had the surgery, commented to me that just because she had lost weight, and can't eat as much, doesn't mean she isn't still a foodie. AND IT'S SO TRUE!!!! 


Let's pause for a moment and address reality.  I bought the cook book for people who had weight loss surgery and its got a lot of good recipes.  But, before surgery I NEVER ate Braised lamb's leg with a reduced blueberry wine sauce, with a side of kale....and while it might sound yummy (if you like eating poor innocent Lambchop (weirdo!) and something that sounds like it came from the sludge of the ocean....well, the blueberry sauce doesn't sound too bad) the reality is:
1. WHO SERIOUSLY HAS TIME TO COOK LIKE THAT?!  
2. WHO SERIOUSLY HAS THAT KIND OF MONEY?!
3. WHO SERIOUSLY EATS LIKE THAT IN REAL LIFE?!


Before surgery I found cooking for 1 person to be quite the challenge, and post surgery its even more of a challenge!  You follow a recipe and it makes more than you can eat in a month.  I've also learned that just b/c i can't each much doesn't mean that i'm ok with bland, unexciting, monotonous dishes.  (i.e.  today i think i'll eat 1/2c of pinto beans....mmmm, tantalizing!)


And as my friend so eloquently put, I'M STILL A FOODIE!!!!  Out of a desire to still have fun and enjoy what i eat, eat well and healthy, and to waste as little food as possible (food/groceries are expensive!) this blog has been born.....IT'S ALIVE!!!!  ALLLLIIIIIVVVVE!  (think "Young Frankenstein" when you read that).  My hope is to help other people who are on the same journey with me, or even people who are just trying to figure out how to cook smaller meals (for 1-2 people) who want to still enjoy their food, while working to become more healthy.


With that said, the food that I eat has to met several criteria:
1. Protein rich
2. low fat, low carb, low sugar
3. Yummy!
4. Easy or moderately easy.  (I'm a single woman on the go!  I don't have time to cook for 3 hours a day!)
5. Yummy!!
6. Small portions, i.e 2-3 meals worth.  (I get bored easily, so if i have to eat the same thing 5 days in a row, I have a problem.)
7. Easy and YUMMY!!!!!
8.  Healthy


Right, so, as i experiment, reduce recipes sizes, and cook, these are the things I'm looking for.  Now reality says not ALL recipes can be reduced to smaller size, and sometimes you'll see a big recipe on here, for instance, when I post the "Taco Soup" Recipe, it will make a crockpot  full.  But it freezes well.  


So come along for the journey if you want.  My goal is not only to post the "perfectly portioned" recipes but also their nutritional information.  If you have suggestions, comments, questions, or looking for a good alternative to an old favorite recipe, let me know.  i'm always up for a food challenge!