Meal in a Roll

Last week a friend and I went to lunch and starting talking about prepping food at home and trying to save money.  I told her about the pepperoni rolls (basically like cinnamon rolls except filled with pepperoni and cheese) that I make and freeze before baking them.  I can then pop them in the oven and bake them for a quick lunch or meal.  Well, our creative juices started flowing and we came up with all kinds of ideas of what you could put in a roll...and then this post was born!

We use this roll recipe.  This will make about 60 rolls!  I freeze most of them unbaked without doing the final 2 hour rise that the recipe calls for.  You can use your favorite dough recipe if you like.  I like this one because it makes a ton all at once.

First let the dough rise the first two times according to the recipe.  Then take a chunk of the dough and roll it out into a rectangle.

Put your toppings on it.  The picture above are Hawaiian pizza rolls.

Here is a cinnamon roll-type filling that tastes like pineapple upside down cake. More on that later.

{Two types of rolls above-Hawaiian and Pepperoni}

You then roll the dough starting at the long end.  Seal the end to the roll.  I cut these rolls with dental floss.  You put the dental floss around the "log" and cross the two end to pinch and cut off a roll.  This works much better than a knife.  I place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and then put them in the freezer.  Once they are frozen solid I bag them in Ziploc bags.

{Two types of rolls- more pepperoni and jam and sugar}

When you want to eat them, just pull them out and put them in the oven and bake according to the directions.  You may have to bake longer if the rolls are frozen.

Ideas for Meals in Rolls

{Here are some filling ideas}

Pepperoni-chopped pepperoni, shredded mozzarella, italian spices.  Serve the rolls with pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce.

Hawaiian Pizza-chopped Canadian bacon, shredded mozzarella, drained crushed pineapple (works better than the tidbits for rolling up the dough), italian spices. Serve with pizza sauce.

Ham and Cheese-shredded cheddar and chopped ham.

Cheese and Broccoli-shredded cheddar and chopped, cooked broccoli

Cinnamon rolls-butter, brown sugar, cinnamon

Pineapple upside down cake filling-butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, drained crushed pineapple.

Jam-leftover jam and a sprinkle of sugar.

Pumpkin Pie-pumpkin pie filling.