36.2 AND 36.3 Try 50 new recipes - Broccoli Calzones in Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Alex is working days.

This is good. Mostly. BUT. Well, dinner time sucks. Before J started at her new daycare, when Alex worked days (which means he starts at noon), he would take J to daycare and I would go to work early. I'd leave work early so that I could pick her up. Which meant I'd pick her up around 4:00 or 4:30. And we'd get home no later than 5:00. And because she went in with Alex and not me, she didn't have to get up until 7:00 or 7:30. Not just after six like she is now.

Which means she's tired and cranky and hungry and just wants to play, read and cuddle with Mommy. But if Mommy does that, well, when will we eat???

So, I decided to hunt down some recipes I could make ahead and freeze.

And the first one was Martha's Broccoli Calzones. They require pizza dough, so I used Martha's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe as well.

I stupidly started just before nine on Sunday night. A Sunday night when I really should have been in bed by about 8:30!

I haven't baked anything requiring yeast for a few years, but I still wasn't happy with how much this foamed.

But, since I didn't have any more yeast to start that part again, I said to heck with it and soldiered on. We needed something for dinner for Monday night.

Saute this up a little (more Avtar garlic. That stuff is good!)

Mix up three kinds of cheese (as long as your husband hasn't made a snack of them)

Mix the two together to get this yummy filling.

Oh, and the dough doubled, just like it was supposed to. Maybe the yeast *was* foamy enough...

Make little calzone parcels and freeze or bake (or stick in the fridge for tomorrow. Don't forget to tell your husband not to take them in his lunch. They're not quite done...hello, still raw!)

Toss them in the oven when you get home and spend the next half hour or so playing with your toddler. Your toddler will be thrilled that you're not in the kitchen!

Cheat a bit with the sauce and use your favourite bottled marinara because you just want to spend time with your kid.

Alex and I loved it. J, not so much. She had steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. She told me about sixty-eight times "Jocie no like soup!" and "Red soup yuck!" I even served hers in one of those plates with compartments and the sauce wasn't touching the calzone. Oh, and "Yucky white broccoli. Yucky green broccoli. Jocie no want cheese. Yucky."

Oh well. This kid isn't a fan of pizza either. And really, that's all a calzone is - a folded up pizza.

So, the calzones were definitely a grown up hit (I'll try again with J in a few months) - tasty, filling, and with secret vegetable servings for he who eats no green. I'll be making this again - I'm looking for other filling suggestions, so if you have any, please let me know!