2013-01-08

Homemade Hot Pocket Lunchbox


Last night I had some pizza dough left over from making dinner, so I decided to put together a few homemade "hot pockets" for the kiddo's lunch.  I wrapped one in a paper towel to prevent sogginess, then put it in a Chinese carryout box and sent it straight from the fridge this morning with grapes and juice on the side.  (The rest are in the freezer waiting their turn.)  So, technically not hot, but since the filling was hot pocket-esque rather than calzone-ish, I'm standing by the name.


To make them, I sauteed up some onions in olive oil with a few seassonings, then mixed in a some cooked chicken and frozen peas.  I rolled out small balls of dough (about 2 inches in diameter) into ovals on a cutting board covered in corn meal.  After docking the dough, I put a shmear of Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese on the bottom half of each oval, placed about half a cup of the chicken mixture on it, then threw a handful of daiya chedder shreds into the filling.

After folding the ovals over to close them, I sealed the edges with a fork and cut some slits with a bread knife to let steam out.  They spent 10 minutes at 450F on a preheated pizza stone and came out a lovely golden brown.


Extra dough is kind of rare around here, since everyone gets all Thunderdome about their share as soon as I start heating up the pizza stone, so I suspect that I'll need to mix up a separate batch if I decide to make them again after I use up the ones in the freezer.  If so, I'll write up an actual recipe, but really, if you can make a calzone, your can easily stuff yourself some of these babies.  Just keep the dimensions of your lunch container in mind when rolling out the dough, and you'll have one happy, well stuffed kid.

Update: You can find the recipe here.

12 comments:

Kathryn @ Mamacado said...

This looks like a wonderful idea! I'd love to try it someday.

Libby said...

Thanks! Let me know if you do!

Dr. Graeme Gibson, D.C. said...

I really have to commend your efforts to give your son food he WANTS...not just what he CAN eat.

It seems most people don't go to such extraordinary lengths when a child has so many allergies, but the payoffs must be immeasurable.

Particularly in feeling like they can eat "normal" food...and in this case far better than normal.

I look forward to following your blog.

All the best,

Dr. Graeme Gibson
Seattle Chiropractor

Hannah said...

Brilliant! I've never actually had Hot Pockets because the sheer number of ingredients always freaked me out, even before I was vegan or health-conscious, but I have no doubt that these would be a million times better. Since I'm still working on my pie book, I always have extra dough lying around here too... Perfect!

Alana said...

Hi,

This is a great idea for a fast and easy school lunch for the kids. I have a quick observation and question for you ; is it possible to make the dough, shape it and freeze it for later, so that you're able to make these a couple of times in a week? And what's the perfect oven setting to achieve that gorgeous golden brown color?

Alana

Margot @ Coffee & Vanilla said...

It looks amazing! Happy New Year Libby :)

Libby said...

@Graeme thanks for such a sweet comment.

@Hannah I can't wait to see your new cookbook! Yum, pies....

@Alana You CAN freeze pizza dough, but due to the time to defrost, prep the filling and bake, I'd suggest making a batch, then defrost each one as needed. They were baked at 450F for 10 min. If you don't have a pizza stone, I strongly suggest one, they make a huge difference.

@Margot Happy New Year and hugs to you and your family!

Unknown said...

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Marcus said...

Homemade hot pockets, what a great idea! Definitely a lot more portable for a bag than pizza.

Manny said...

Thank you for this great idea. We have been making our pizza dough from 100% whole grain flour and it's a great alternative to white flour, have you tried this?
Thanks again, very interestingly different blog too!

Maria Centeno said...

First of all, thanks for the ideas you have shared in this post. They are very helpful...That is true, kids really learn from what their parents do. If parents lead a healthy life, kids take note of every step they make and replicate it just like reading the food labels and nutrition facts.

Albert R. said...

It’s a wonderful idea for preparing an outstanding breakfast. My hubby will definitely like this recipe and enjoy his breakfast. Please share some more interesting recipes so I can take the advantage of various varieties of breakfast meals. It's really interesting and innovate way make such breakfast recipes.