Conference Prep & Lazy Foods...

Lately, I have had zero desire after working all day either away from home or at home, to cook dinner. And mainly just cleaning up after. So I made burritos and ham and cheese pizza hot pockets to freeze. I started around 8pm (not the best decision) and I think I made it to bed around 2 am. But while waiting for the hot pockets dough to rise I decided it was a good decision to make zucchini bread.

We had made brown rice that night for dinner so I took the leftover and mixed diced tomatoes, onions, and spices with it. I spread a mix of hot sauce/greek yogurt down on the tortilla and then the rice mixture, refried beans, black beans, bell peppers, and cilantro. Folded them and then wrapped them in aluminum foil, labeled them with markers and in the freezer they went.

The hot pocket recipe I found off of this blog

Hot Pocket Dough- makes six 6 inch pockets
1 C. Luke Warm Water
2 T. Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 t. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
3 C. Flour (I usually do Half all-purpose and half whole wheat or all whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 t. Yeast

Dough by Hand:
Dissolve Yeast in warm water. Add Oil, Sugar, and salt. Slowly mix in flour and knead. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.
Dough in Bread Machine: (this is my favorite because you can throw all the ingredients in and set the dough cycle and get some other things done while it’s doing the work for you!)
Add ingredients in order your bread machine specifys (for example: for mine I need to add the liquid first, then dry ingredients, and then form a well and pour my yeast in). You don’t want your dough to raise for more than one hour. Most bread machine dough cycles will “beat” down the dough and you’ll want to take the dough out before it does that. Consult your users manual for timing and instructions on how to put the ingredients in.
1. Pre-heat oven to 375
2. When dough is ready, separate it in to 6 portions. If you want to be really exact, you can weigh the dough. I usually just eye ball it.
3. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick circles.
4. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.
5. Put 1/4-1/2 cup worth of filling. If you’re making all the same kind of hot pockets mix all your filling items together and use a scoop to fill the pockets.
6. Fold dough in half over the filling and clamp edges with fork.
7. You can brush the tops with an egg white wash (1 egg white beaten with 1-2 T. water) if you want them to look really professional! (I usually don’t because I think they look delicious with out the hassle. Besides I can’t ever figure out anything to use that one egg yolk in and I hate to waste it!)
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375.

I had just canned home made marinara sauce so I mixed some with pizza cheese blend, cubed ham, and bell peppers. Yum! We reheat them in the microwave and then throw them in the oven to make them crispy on the outside.

I also made a handout for the YW to remind them of conference. I printed them and then dip dyed the top in food coloring. I dried them in the microwave for about a minute and then dipped again to get an ombre effect. I made these at 11 pm the night before and only had card stock, so next time I would use "real" paper to dip in liquid. Once they dried I actually flattened them a little in a paper towel with my flat iron. Probably not what my flat iron was designed for, but it also probably wasn't designed to iron my clothes or Quincy's... but I do it. I use a real iron for Zach's because he has to look like a grown up.

And we were able to plant flowers at the Draper Temple and Quincy got to accompany the YW. I always stress about having to take her to things like this wondering how it will end up and 90% of the time she is flawless, this being one of those times. She just sat in her stroller watching us and then I took her for a little stroll while the girls were listening to one of the temple workers. Conference Weekend here we come!