Chicken Pockets

My mom used to make these when my brother and I were growing up. We used to LOVE them and now I make them for my family, after having made a few small changes of course! You can also change these up a million different ways. Sometimes I do taco pockets, sometimes salmon pockets, and sometimes pizza pockets. As always, I add pureed veggies to the filling and serve them with veggies as a side as well. I served these with broccoli tonight (because you know we love broccoli)!

Chicken Pockets

• 1 cup cooked chicken, cubed
• 1 bag of small mixed vegetables (like peas, carrots, corn, green beans)
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar and parmesan but you can use whatever you like)
• 1 tbsp. italian herbs
• 1 cup pureed cauliflower (or squash- optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tubes refrigerator crescent rolls (I make my own dough in my bread machine but you can certainly use store bought.)
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix the chicken, veggies, cream cheese, shredded cheese, italian herbs, and salt and pepper, and set aside. With the crescent roll dough, unroll and form into squares. Place about 1/4 cup of the filling into the middle of each square and fold dough over and seal. Coat pocket with butter and then roll in the bread crumbs. Place pockets on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until pockets are golden brown.

Crescent Roll Dough

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 and 1/2 sticks butter, cut up
• 4 cups all purpose flour (or bread flour is slightly better)
• 2 tbsp. dry active yeast

Place all ingredients in the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Set to dough cycle. When cycle is finished, remove the dough from the machine, punch down and place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours up to 24 hours (you may have to punch it down two to three times). When you are ready to use it, remove it from the fridge and roll out into a large circle. To use for chicken pockets, cut into squares. If you want to make crescent rolls, cut into wedges (triangles), spread with softened butter and roll up starting with the wide end. Place the rolls on a greased baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

This meal does have a good amount of butter. I am not afraid of butter, it comes from natural sources and it is fine in moderation (and certainly WAY better for you than margarine), so enjoy everyone!

One last thing about this meal is that it makes 8-10 pockets. Many times I will freeze the leftover pockets, then all I have to do is remove them from the freezer, cut the corner of the foodsaver bag and stick them in the microwave and I have an easy lunch.

On that note, until next time, happy and HEALTHY cooking and eating!