Dash & Dine: Pizza Pockets

Since there are only the three of us (Nathan eating as much as 1/2 a person), we always seem to have spaghetti sauce left over. Sure, we try to have pasta a few times for each jar but you get to the point where you can only eat so much of it! We also seem to have black olives and cheese left over from tacos. If I am not paying attention to what's in the fridge, I'll sadly have to throw these out!

Since I've become a big fan of my sandwich maker machine, I thought I'd try to make some pizza pockets for Nathan and I with these leftovers. (We would usually try to make "mini-pizzas" on English Muffins but we don't seem to eat enough of them to make it worth the extra cost.) I wasn't sure if the spaghetti sauce would make the bread too soggy but it worked, and tasted great!

Bread
Shredded Cheese
Spaghetti Sauce
Black Olives
Pepperoni Slices (if you have them-they keep in the fridge for quite awhile!)

Simply stack the ingredients on your bread and top with an extra layer of cheese. The sandwiches are great, as the sides seal and the toppings don't fall out as much.

So if you have some leftovers, try to think of a creative way to make a new sandwich pocket! If you come up with a good one, make sure to leave it in the comments for us!

Enjoy!

Dash and Dine: Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches

Dash and Dine are quick little recipes. I make these with my little sandwich maker machine. I bought mine on clearance at JCPenney but Amazon has a similar one here I also have the three plates but have never tried the griddle pieces.

Here's the recipe:
Bread
Shredded Cheese
Chicken Chunks
Bacon Ranch Salad Dressing

I add a little butter to my sandwich plates and place the bread on. I toss on some shredded cheese, the chicken chunks, salad dressing and more shredded cheese and top with the second piece of bread. Great sandwiches in minutes. The best part is, toddlers can pick them up so easy! (after cooling!)

For a healthier version, be sure to use Whole Wheat bread and low/no fat cheese and salad dressing.

For the chicken chunks: Whenever I buy boneless/skinless chicken breasts, I cook some up right away. I spray a cookie sheet, set the oven to 350 and cook the chicken for 1 hour, flipping halfway through. I allow them to cool and then cut them up in either chunks or strips and store them in Ziploc freezer bags. They are great to quickly add to pastas, salads and sandwiches. Either defrost in the fridge in the morning or use your microwave to defrost.

Enjoy!