pizza pockets (with hidden spinach & butternut squash)

These pizza pockets originated from my friend Shannon over at the grocery weekly. My sister loves to make them as well- and has been making them with a time-saving-short-cut, using crescent rolls in place of the *homemade dough (*although, the homemade dough is really good- and much more economically friendly). Then of course, I had to find a way to "bulk" up the nutrition by adding a few veggie puree's- that I hoped our children wouldn't notice. The results- a delicious, nutritious, cheesy, pizza pocket! Mr. M. even gave his label of approval for our regular menu rotation (even when he noticed the evidence of "puree adding" left in our sink- he's such a good sport with all my recipe "alterations").

Recipe:
Pizza Pockets (with hidden spinach & butternut squash puree)
2 cans of 8 crescent rolls (dinner style)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 lb. cooked lean hamburger
2 tbs. spinach puree*
2 tbs. butternut squash puree*
2-3 tbs of pizza sauce
leftover pizza sauce for dipping

Purees:
Make purees (or thaw if already made and frozen), please see the above link(s) for suggestions on puree making. *A note on purees- for this recipe you'll want to make sure your 2 tbs of spinach and 2 tbs of butternut squash are very dry. You'll need to squeeze them gently, in a wad of paper towels, to get rid of excess moisture. If you don't get them dry enough- they will make the inside of your pizza pockets soggy, while they bake. The dry puree will be "moisturized" again, once you add it to the hamburger mixture.

Pizza Pockets:
Brown hamburger, drain, season with salt and pepper, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 375. Grate cheddar cheese, set aside. Drain and squeeze purees, set aside.

Using a wooden spoon, add together 1/2 lb of hamburger with the 2 tbs. of butternut squash and 2 tbs. of spinach puree. Add 2-3 tbs. of pizza sauce to your taste. Stir till just mixed.

Spray baking sheet lightly with oil. Open one can of crescent rolls, create "squares" from the triangle pieces by tearing parts and squishing them together again in a square shape.

Spoon a generous portion of hamburger mixture onto each crescent roll "square." Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Open second can of crescent rolls and tear to fit, place on top, pinch together at seams. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, till brown and no longer doughy in the middle.

Serve with leftover pizza sauce for dipping!

ps. next time I'm totally going to add 1tbs of ground flaxseed meal to this! That will really bulk up the fiber- and stay "hidden" in the meat texture!