Cheeseburger calzones

this recipe came to be today as the result of a combination of a couple other things i made in the past, and some internet research from the doughboy's website....

here's how it starts...i used TWO tubes of crescent rolls...to make 8 cheeseburger calzones...

i separated the crescents into quarters, and sealed the seam in between two triangles to make a total of 8 rectangles, which i pressed out to be a bit thinner and larger.

while i was doing that, i was also browning 1.5lbs of ground beef, that i added some tastefully simple 'onion onion' seasoning blend to...

to create good cheeseburger flavor, i added mustard and ketchup right to the browned ground beef, after it was fully cooked (grease drained as well) and no longer pink...

i laid out the crescent rectangles on my baking stone, such that half of the rectangle was hanging off, ready to be folded over...and then i piled on the meat mixture.  (given that i was making 8 calzones, and they didn't fit, i did have to use two baking stones...)

 

my next step was some dill relish...my kidlets LOVE dill pickles and dill relish...the best part of a burger from the golden arches is biting into that pickle...except that...well, you usually don't just 'bite' into the pickle..the whole thing comes out at once, and, since the usual 'kid-sized' burgers only come with ONE magical disk of dillness, you get ONE bite that includes your favorite element.  SO - i could have just sliced up some pickles and put one little disk on each pile of cheeseburger mix....instead, i opted to pile on some dill relish, to help spread the love.  also - i opted not to mix this in like the ketchup and mustard, so that i could better control the dill flavor and distribution.

next up...the cheese part of the cheeseburger calzone...i used a 1/2 of a slice of good 'ol american cheese...

then i folded over the other half of the calzone dough and pressed each one closed, as best i could, with a fork...prevents leakage, of course...in theory....

next, i popped them in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, until they were golden brown and HOT

yum!  ready to eat!

let's face it....it's a very 'kid' meal...so i accompanied it with some homemade mac & cheese from a box and corn...

and can i just say...that my son, who does not really like anything new, turns his nose up at everything but mac & cheese...took one bite of this and said it was "awesome"...do you hear that, folks?!  he said it tastes just like the double cheeseburgers he gets from mcdonalds....while it's not the healthiest meal i make, i will take that as a huge compliment, and a great replacement for a meal from the arches!

Everybody loves pie!

And Shepherd's Pie is no different! This fantastic all-in-one meal is SO easy, it's crazy - and very tasty to the hubby and the yahoos. It hearkens us back to England and our pub-fare days (though we would typically order the bangers and mash or fish and chips, the shepherd's pie is good, too!)

So here's how i make it...

Many of the above pictured ingredients COULD be made from scratch - nice, creamy, homemade mashed potatoes...gravy leftover from last night's pot roast...and for that matter, last night's pot roast. I, however, VERY rarely cook like that. This meal is much more processed (and I'm sure high in sodium), but it's easy and it's not fast food.


So - a box (or two) of steak-um like meat things. Cook these up in a frying pan. I have made this with ground beef before, but we prefer the steak-ums.

This becomes layer Number One in your baking dish.

Layer Number Two is your frozen vegetables. I've used the carrot/pea/corn/green bean mixture, which is the most popular, or just corn and green beans. There's some out there with lima beans in them (which i despise) but I'm sure would be enjoyable to some of you.

Layer Number Three is the gravy. I have been known to add TOO much gravy, and then it ends up boiling over. Really one and a half of these jars would be perfect.

Make up the mashed potatoes according to the directions on the box. Sometimes I've gotten fancy with how I put Layer Number Four on there - with my Pampered Chef Accent Decorator, making pretty little swirls. Sometimes I just spread (and I use that term loosely) the potatoes on the top - it's not easy, I don't recommend that method. On this night, I used a scoop, which worked beautifully.

Now it's ready to hit the 425 degree oven for about half an hour, til it looks like this.

And because it's got your meat, veggie and starch all in one, you can serve with just a salad, or a breadstick and feel good about yourself. So that's what I did.