Think of Hangry Pockets as your TH frozen dinners. When you are Hangry, let these pockets
come to your rescue. They’ll keep you from grabbing the potato chips or stopping for fast food
on the way home. Come home, pop them in the oven and in a short while you’ll sit down to
a tasty, filling, blood sugar friendly meal. They literally blow up with steam and lock in all
the goodness of your food while quick cooking a moist and succulent gourmet fest of flavors
in a pouch. We know this chapter is full of 5–10-minute meals but even though these take a
little longer to heat up in the oven, they fit here because once you have a bunch of them in the
fridge or freezer, you have absolutely no prep to worry about.
It is a great idea to take a Saturday once a month and fill some large gallon zippies
with these pouches to put in your freezer. Just throw a couple in the fridge to thaw the night
before and you will have a Hangry meal or two ready to go the next day. While baking
with aluminum foil seems to be all the rage these days, we try to avoid heating food with foil
due to the health hazards of metal toxicity. Parchment paper does not pose the same
potential health issues and this pocket idea allows for beautiful, moist, flavorful oven-steamed
meals. The Fish and Rice Hangry Pocket is found on page 147 of TH Start, Refresh, Carry On.
Fish and Rice Hangry Pocket
Description
Think of Hangry Pockets as your TH frozen dinners. When you are Hangry, let these pockets come to your rescue. They’ll keep you from grabbing the potato chips or stopping for fast food on the way home. Come home, pop them in the oven and in a short while you’ll sit down to a tasty, filling, blood sugar friendly meal. They literally blow up with steam and lock in all the goodness of your food while quick cooking a moist and succulent gourmet fest of flavors
in a pouch. We know this chapter is full of 5–10-minute meals but even though these take a little longer to heat up in the oven, they fit here because once you have a bunch of them in the fridge or freezer, you have absolutely no prep to worry about. The Fish and Rice Hangry Pocket recipe is found on page 147 of TH Start, Refresh, Carry On.
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Fold a 15-inch square of parchment paper in half and place it in front of you like a book, spine side facing left. Using scissors, cut a half heart shape around the open right side (like the wing of a butterfly), rounding the corner at the top and cutting down to a point to the spine at the bottom of your book shape. Open up your heart (or butterfly wings) and lightly coat it with coconut oil cooking spray.
-
Place the meat protein choice at the right side of the crease in the middle. Now add all the other ingredients into one huddle on the right side of the crease. Fold the left parchment page over the right, then working from the top open end, begin tightly folding the edges of the paper. Continue folding the edge, working downward to form a seal until you get to the bottom point, which you will tuck underneath the pouch. This is super quick and easy; just make sure it is tight so no air can escape. Use the examples to make a whole bunch of pouches and then put them in the freezer for future use, keeping a few in the refrigerator that you’ll want to use during the next few days.
-
Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes for thawed pocket or 35-45 minutes for frozen. Once baked place pouch on a dinner plate and let it steam for a few minutes before opening.
Note
Super Helpful Hangry Pocket Notes:
STEP 1: CHOOSE YOUR PROTEIN OPTIONS frozen or fresh white fish or salmon; frozen or fresh chicken tenderloins; frozen or fresh ground beef for S or at minimum 96% ground lean turkey; venison or grass-fed beef for E or FP; frozen or fresh diced stew meat for S.
STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR VEGGIES AND OPTIONAL GRAIN OR SWEET POTATO
NOTE:Choose quick-cooking veggies. If you’d like to include some veggies that are a bit tougher, you can do a quick steam to get a head start.
- VEGGIE OPTIONS: thinly sliced or diced zucchini or summer squash; handfuls of fresh or frozen spinach, kale, or other FRIENDLY dark leafy greens; julienned bell peppers; sliced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes; diced green onions; thinly sliced cabbage (or bagged shredded cabbage or coleslaw); sliced mushrooms; sliced onion; green beans; or cauli rice (or broccoli or cauli florets cut into much smaller pieces)
- GRAIN/SWEET POTATO OPTIONS (FOR E): ½ to ¾ cup cooked brown rice, wild rice, or quinoa; or a small to medium sweet potato, thinly sliced or diced
STEP 3: CHOOSE YOUR FLAVORINGS AND HEALTHY FATS
- FAT OPTIONS: 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil or MCT oil for S (use only 1 teaspoon for FP and E)
- FLAVORING OPTIONS: ¼ teaspoon Mineral Salt (go down from here if using other salty spices); soy sauce, tamari, Bragg liquid aminos or coconut aminos; dried parsley flakes or minced fresh parsley; minced fresh cilantro; minced garlic or a sprinkling of dried garlic; feta or other favorite cheeses for S (you can use a sprinkling of Parmesan for FP and E); diced chili peppers, cayenne pepper, or red pepper flakes; hot sauce; chipotle powder; Cajun seasoning; Nutritional Yeast; liquid smoke; cumin; lemon slices; apple cider vinegar; mustard; Italian seasoning or oregano.
_____________________
HANGRY POCKET "Fuel Pull" MEAL EXAMPLE: Easy, just build your E pocket but leave out the carb option.
