Munchkin Meals March Link Up

I’m still cruising, so I’m letting Kelly take over Munchkin Meals this month. She has two beautiful girls and feeds them delicious, healthy food. Today she is sharing one of her favorite recipes- Ham and Broccoli Calzones! Seriously, how good are calzones? The kiddos are going to love these!

Take it away, Kelly!

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Before my daughter Isla was born, I prepped and froze two week’s worth of dinners. It was amazing to have homemade meals on-hand while I was recovering and bonding with the newest member of my family.

Isla is 19 months old now and I still freeze simple and healthy recipes for days when I don’t have enough time (or energy) to cook. I even published a cookbook of my favorite freezer recipes titled, “15-Minute Freezer Recipes.”

Ham & Broccoli Calzones are one of the two calzone recipes in my cookbook (the other is “Mexican Calzones”). I love making calzones because they can be defrosted one at a time for a quick, homemade lunch or dinner. Plus my daughters love them and don’t seem to notice the meat and vegetables inside – two things that can otherwise be a struggle to get them to eat!

The directions in this Ham & Broccoli Calzone recipe explain how to freeze the calzones, but you can certainly skip that step and put them right into the oven instead!

Ham & Broccoli Calzones

Ingredients

· 2, 6.5oz packages pizza crust mix (I use Betty Crocker)

· 1/8 lb mild cheedar cheese (about 1/2 cup)

· 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

· 1/2 lb boneless ham, diced

· 1 cup frozen chopped broccoli

· 3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

· 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, divided

Directions

· Prepare pizza crust according to directions on package.

· Shred cheese (freshly shredded cheese tastes so much better than the pre-packaged stuff!).

· Use olive oil to oil hands and 2 baking sheets.

· Separate dough into 7 even-sized balls (3 on one baking sheet, 4 on the other).

· Flatten dough as thin as possible with hands.

· On one side of each flattened dough ball, add: 1/4 cup ham, 2 tablespoons of broccoli (for easy measuring, split 1/4 cup between 2 calzones), 1 tablespoon of cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon of ricotta cheese, 1/7teaspoon of Italian seasoning (sprinkle the full teaspoon across all 7 calzones)

· Fold the empty side of the flattened dough ball over the toppings and seal the edges with your fingers.

· Place baking sheets in freezer for an hour or until calzones are frozen firm.

· Wrap calzones in wax paper and foil and then place in gallon-sized plastic freezer bags.

· Freeze.

Cook

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

· Bake 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Dr. Kelly McNelis is the owner of New Leaf Wellness, LLC. Kelly offers classes and private wellness coaching to help moms get back in shape after having a new baby. She’s a social psychologist, certified wellness coach, runner, and mom of two little girls. Kelly lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband, Andy, and their two daughters, Cameran (3) and Isla (1).

For more recipes from Kelly, visit her blog or follow her on Pinterest (@kellymcnelis).

Now your turn- what are your kids eating?

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