Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Cheesy Ham and Potato Pockets

I'm not usually one to make freezer meals, but there are a few recipes here that are ideal for freezing and eating later. My cousin just had her fifth child (under the age of 7!), and little Liam was a preemie. I decided I would take the family a few freezer meals to hopefully help out mom and dad in the early weeks. I tried to find things that would be kid friendly and easy to heat up, and these sounded like they fit the bill. (You'll have to excuse all the pictures... I didn't actually get to eat these!)
Cheesy Ham and Potato Pockets
from Tricia at Once a Month Mom; makes 8 pockets (I halved the recipe)

3/4 lb cooked ham, diced (I just chopped up some ham lunchmeat slices)
1 c. Swiss cheese, shredded (I used cheddar)
1/2 c. ranch dressing
2 c. frozen hash brown potatoes (I used shredded hash browns)
1/2 c. onion, diced
2 Tbsp margarine or butter
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 cans refrigerator crescent rolls

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place 2 cups of frozen hash brown potatoes in microwaveable safe bowl and defrost for approximately 3 minutes.
2. In a small skillet, cook onions and hash brown potatoes in butter until warmed and slightly browned. Add garlic powder.
3. In a separate small bowl, mix together ham, Swiss cheese and ranch dressing.
4. On a cookie sheets spread out refrigerated crescent dough and pinch together triangle perforations to make 4 squares (if you using the non-perforated dough cut into 4 large squares).
5. Place 1/4 cup of potato mixture and 1/4 cup of ham mixture into the center of the crescent squares. (I just mixed the potato and ham mixtures together before adding it to the rolls.)6. Fold over dough and seal with a fork or pinch seams together with your fingers.
7. Place in 350 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.

At this point, you can enjoy them, or...

FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS:
Let cool and then flash freeze (or place each in a small zipper sandwich bag) and place in a gallon size freezer bag. Freeze. To Serve: Place in microwave for 2-4 minutes OR in oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through.

REVIEW:
Well, these were very easy to make. Josh ate the extra filling and said it was good. I'll have to follow up and see if the kids liked them. I liked the fact that the pockets can be microwaved from frozen for a quick lunch or dinner without a lot of pre-planning.

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