On a budget: Pizza pockets make prime game day snack

By Katie Abdilla | Originally Published: 02/20/12 8:16pm |Modified: 02/21/12 9:59am |

To some, this season of Spartan basketball means an awesome pair of Izzone tickets and a guaranteed fun experience — but for most of us, it means cramming into our friends’ dorm room with 10 other people to watch the game and snack on whatever happens to be right in front of you. Money to order food can be hard to come by among college students, and an empty fridge can leave a room of hungry friends hanging.

Instead of waiting until the last minute and eating the food scraps at the back of the fridge or emptying your bank account to have pizza delivered, plan to make a simple alternative yourself — pepperoni pizza pockets.

These jumbo pizza rolls, which include pepperonis and mozzarella cheese, offer the option of eating pizza without having to leave your dorm or apartment. Although the dorms don’t have their own kitchens, many residence halls have community kitchens that students can reserve for one-hour time slots. You can also fill it with other ingredients, such as mushrooms or bacon bits if you’re feeling adventurous.

This homemade snack is inexpensive, takes less than an hour to make and can feed up to 10 people. Most students will have some of the ingredients on hand, and the rest can be purchased at your local grocery store. I bought mine at Meijer, 2055 W. Grand River Ave., in Okemos. I prefer to shop there because they give great coupon deals and offer cheaper alternatives to name-brand products, plus I can take the CATA Route 1 bus straight there and back.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter or shortening ($4.99 for 4 sticks)

3 cups all-purpose flour ($1.68 for 5 lb. bag)

1 teaspoon salt ($0.49 per canister)

2 teaspoons baking powder ($0.99)

8 tablespoons ice water

4 ounces sliced pepperoni ($1.49 for 45 slices)

1 cup pizza sauce ($1.40 per jar)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese ($3.49 )

My total: $14.53

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cut butter into small chunks and put to the side. You can also put it in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it and make it easier to stir.

3. Mix flour, salt and baking powder, then add the butter and water and mix with your hands until a dough is formed.

4. Flatten the dough into a rectangle. Cut into 10 squares.

5. Spread one side of each square with a tablespoon of sauce. Top with cheese and pepperoni so that all squares contain the same amount of ingredients.

6. Fold each square in half horizontally over the other side of the dough and pinch edges to seal.

7. Bake on parchment-lined baking sheets for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle each pocket with a bit more cheese and return to the oven for five minutes longer or until your pizza pockets are cooked thoroughly.

Source: family.go.com