Budget Friendly Dinner Series - Tex-Mex Calzones

What do you think of when someone says, "calzone"?  Italian... pepperoni, mozzarella cheese stretching out from the piece in your hand to the piece now in your mouth?  Seinfeld perhaps?

I highly doubt you think of Tex-Mex when it comes to calzones.  Truth be told, neither did I.  Until I found this recipe that is.  I actually adapted this recipe from a recipe I found in Cooking Light.  I'm not the biggest fan salsa verde or ground chicken so I wanted to change it up a bit.  I made this recipe a few times until I finally found the recipe I make today!  And now I share it with you so you can make it tonight.

Tex-Mex Calzones
original recipe by Cooking Light, adapted by me!

1 Pillsbury Ready-Made Pie Crust (use the kind in the box in the biscuit section of your grocery store)
Bottle of your favorite Salsa (I use Pace Restaurant Style)
1/4 - 1/3 c. Shredded Mexican Cheese
1/2 pound Ground Chicken
Tortilla Chips

Cook your ground chicken until no longer pink.
While your chicken is cooking, preheat your oven and allow your pie crust to come to room temp as per the directions on the pie crust box.
Add in half a cup of salsa.
Roll out your pie crust.
Pour your salsa-chicken mixture onto one half of the pie crust, leaving a one inch space between the edge of the pie crust and the chicken.
Top with cheese (add as much or as little as you'd like).
Fold the other half of the pie crust over the chicken mixture.
Seal closed with a fork or your fingers.
Cut three vent holes into the top of the pie crust with a knife.
Bake in your preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
Serve with the remainder of the salsa and chips and enjoy!

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

Show of hands - who goes to Red Lobster just for their garlic-cheddar biscuits?  Wow, lots of hands went up.  Not surprising, those biscuits are awesome!  Ryan said these biscuits taste just like the biscuits at Red Lobster, minus the garlic.  Don't worry, I'm trying to figure out how much garlic to put in these biscuits to make them taste like those from Red Lobster.  But for now, let's just be happy with the overwhelming delicious-ness of these biscuits and their cheese-y-ness!

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits
(from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, recipe courtesy of foodnetwork.com, adapted slightly by me!)

2 c. All Purpose Flour (KAF)
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder (no, that's not a typo)
1/2 tsp. Kosher or Sea Salt
12 Tbsp. Butter, diced
1/2 c. Buttermilk (Pet Fat Free)
1 Egg
1 c. Sharp Cheddar Cheese (Kraft Reduced Fat)

Preheat oven to 425.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and mix with an electric mixer.
With the mixer on low, add butter and combine until the butter is the size of peas.  (This takes quite some time and arm strength to keep your handheld mixer going while the butter gets smaller.  Do not despair - keep going because it can be done!)
Combine buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork.
Add buttermilk and egg to flour and butter mixture and combine.  (Now, there is a good chance that your batter is going to stick to your beaters on your mixer.  When that happens, use your hands to get all the batter off - you won't be using your mixer anymore anyway.)
Add cheese and, using your hands, mix until well blended.
Still using your hands, break the dough into 9 pieces and roll in your hands until they're nice and round.
Place biscuits onto a cookie sheet that's been lined with parchment paper and flatten slightly.
Bake for 17 to 20 minutes.
Serve hot or warm and enjoy!

Calories - 280 per biscuits (makes 9)