Filled Rolls recipe, more freezer meals

Yesterday was baking day - I put away:

• Orange Carrot Oatmeal muffins (from Muffin Mania),
  
• Bran Muffins (from Muffins and More),
• Oatmeal Energy Bars (the same ones I made for Christmas tins here; the recipe, from Canadian Living, is here)
  
• Filled Rolls (recipe follows)

And then made pizza for dinner. Lots of cooking, it's very satisfying to see that freezer filling up with meals for after baby's arrival! If there's a theme to the day's meals, aside from 'baking', it's fiber... I hear that's pretty important for post-natal mamas! ;)

Filled Rolls
(Vegetarian - but they don't have to be. Read the options!)

• Your favourite bread or roll dough. You could use frozen (thawed) pre-made here. I used the whole-wheat mix-and-match dough recipe (from Canadian Bread Machine Baking) and added 1/4 tsp thyme. This was a small recipe, using only 1 cup of flour (a dough ball about 6" in diameter).
• cooking oil
  
• 1 onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped zucchini
• 1/2 cup finely chopped button mushrooms
• vegetarian "ground round" - I used about 1/3 cup of "plain" because that's all I had on hand. You could substitute the spiced versions, or cooked meat if you prefer). I think 3/4 cup would be a good amount.
  
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp chipotle sauce (or Worcestershire sauce, to taste, if you eat fish - it contains anchovies)
  
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• milk
  

Saute the onions, mushrooms and zucchini in a little cooking oil for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Let cool. Taste it - you may wish to add more seasoning.

Divide the dough into dough balls about 3" (my dough made eight, your dough recipe may make more) and roll them out to about 1 cm. Fill with 2-3 Tbsp of the filling, gather and pinch the edges together firmly to seal. Place the rolls, seam down, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or greased). Brush the tops with milk (to help them brown).

Bake in a 375* oven for 25-30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.

Makes about 8 buns that are a decent size for lunch, but the amount does depend on how much dough you start with, and how much filling you allocate per roll. Freeze them baked, and pop in the microwave when you want a hot, filling lunch.

Options (you know I love options!):
You could really fill rolls with anything. Here are some ideas:

• Peanut butter and jam. Seriously... this would be so yummy.
  
• Pizza fillings (1 Tbsp of sauce, cheese, and your favourite toppings)
• Spinach and ricotta (use your favourite recipe for manicotti or shell filling (leave out egg); or simply mix frozen, thawed & drained spinach, a tub of ricotta, a pinch each of nutmeg and salt, maybe some sun-dried tomatoes). Serve buns with tomato or marinara sauce for dipping.
• Taco filling (bean-based or meat-based), serve with salsa.
• Chili (vegetarian or meat)
• Cinnamon bun filling (use a plain white or sweet dough): butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, walnuts.
  

for the carnivores:

• Swiss cheese and ham with a bechamel sauce
• Saucy barbequed chicken or pork
• Sloppy Joe meat (here's a good looking recipe - vegetarians can, of course, sub in veggie ground round for the beef!)
  

You could put tons of tasty things in there, all starting with just a batch of dough and some imagination.

BTW, for you foodies, there's a Vitamix giveaway going down at Chocolate Covered Katie...