"I'm strong to the finish, 'cause I eats me spinach..."

Ok, so I'm not Popeye and would never eat spinach straight from a can, but I do love spinach! I could eat it every day. In salads, in wraps, on pizza, you name it. Luckily, it's also one of the few vegetables my husband will eat too. So when I found this calzone recipe online I knew I had to put it on my menu for the week. It combines two of my favorite foods-calzones and spinach! Along with some other tasty ingredients too.

Well I was so tired today after getting home so late last night from the first college football game of the season (War eagle!), I thought this might be a good night to try it since it doesn't take much time to make. I'm going on record as saying this was the best calzone I've ever had. The creamy ricotta and fresh taste of the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes went so well with the smokey ham and mozzarella. If you are at a loss for new pizza or calzone ingredient ideas, give this one a try. You won't be sorry.

Oh and check back later this week for more recipes with spinach. I've got a whole bag to use up!



Ham, Spinach, and Sun-Dried Tomato Calzones
(recipe with my alterations)

3/4 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups baby spinach
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 oz sliced ham
6 sun-dried tomatoes
salt and pepper
1 can refrigerated pizza dough
2 Tbsp olive oil
Cooking spray

Preheat oven as directed on pizza dough. Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic. Cook for a minute and then add the spinach. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is wilted down and remove from heat. In a bowl combine ricotta, mozzarella, italian seasoning, ham, sun-dried tomatoes, and cooked spinach and garlic. Divide the pizza dough in half and stretch each half into a circle. Spoon half of the mixture onto half of each circle and fold the other side over, pinching edges to seal. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and place calzones on the sheet. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil. Bake as directed on the pizza dough. Serve with marinara for dipping.

Original source of inspiration for these calzones: Cooking Light

Bustin' Out the George Foreman

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've used our George Foreman grill. Someone gave it to my husband before we got married almost 3 yrs ago. Since we moved in our house it's been shoved in the back of a bottom cabinet in my kitchen collecting dust along with all the other random small appliances I have and don't use like our milkshake maker. Well I finally found a use for the old Foreman grill tonight. I had some leftover grilled chicken from a couple nights ago when I attempted, unsuccessfully, to make chicken alfredo. The alfredo part turned out just awful but the grilled chicken was actually very good so I managed to salvage part of that dinner. Anyway, I also had half a loaf of Italian bread leftover as well. I decided grilled chicken paninis might be a good way to use up those two things. Since I don't have a panini press, I thought the George Foreman might do a good job. It worked quite well actually. The bread toasted very nicely and the cheese got all melty and gooey. It turned out to be a really good dinner. I made some oven fries to go along with our paninis too.

Here's how I made the paninis.


Grilled Chicken Paninis with Smoked Ham, Provolone, and Honey Mustard

1 chicken breast, grilled and cut into slices (I had seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder when I grilled them)
2 slices smoked ham
4 pieces provolone cheese (swiss would be great on this too)
4 pieces day old Italian bread, about 1/2" thick
2 Tbsp honey mustard (recipe follows)
a couple pats of butter

Honey Mustard

1/3 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
6 dashes worcestershire sauce

Whisk to combine.

Begin by spreading a little of the honey mustard on one piece of the Italian bread. Layer one piece of cheese, 1/2 of the grilled chicken, one piece of ham, and another piece of cheese on the bread. Spread more honey mustard on a second piece of bread and place on top of the layers of meat and cheese. Butter both pieces of bread on the outside and place in the grill, panini press, or on your stove top griddle. When both sides are toasted and the cheese is melted, remove from the grill. Repeat to make another sandwich. Cut on a diagonal and serve warm.