Our family seems to be on the go a lot lately and not everyone seems to be home at the same time to eat dinner together.  There are occasions when a grab-and-go meal comes in handy.  We would often take advantage of the freezer-to-microwave foods, but these freshly prepared, meals in a bun are wonderful when right out of the oven and just as good when reheated. 

To make these hot pockets of chili cheese roll yumminess, you will need a package of either Rhodes Dinner Rolls or Rhodes Texas Rolls.

In addition, you will need:  1 – 15 ounce can thick chili (take it out of the can and stir it up); 8 ounces cheddar cheese (I used white cheddar), cut into 12 cubes; non-stick cooking spray, toothpicks and a 12-count muffin pan.  Pretty easy, right?

Spray the cookie sheet with a non-stick cooking spray; place the frozen rolls on the cookie sheet, and then cover with sprayed plastic wrap.  My little trick to do this is to put the plastic wrap over the rolls on the pan, then spray the top of  wrap, then take the plastic wrap and flip it over, covering the rolls with the now sprayed plastic.  It is easier to see exactly how large an area it is that needs to be sprayed.  Let the rolls thaw until they are room temperature.  Mine actually started rising before I caught them, but they worked just fine.

When you get to this point, spray the muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray, then spray your counter.  Combine 2 rolls (or 1 1/2 Texas rolls) together and flatten into a 5-6 inch circle – I used a rolling pin.  You will need to do this to for each stuffed roll. 

On the middle of each rolled out roll, place 1 cube of cheese and 1 – 2 tablespoons of the thick chili…yes, the thick chili part is important!  I did these for a friend who has a vegetarian daughter and it’s pretty tricky to do these with runny chili!

Next, fold the edges up and over the filling, securing the very top flap with a toothpick…or two, if needed.   I did side to side, then the third side, followed by the last side over all the other edges.  The only trick is to make sure that you get it covered by the bread dough well enough so that the chili doesn’t ooze through.

The bread is stretchy, so take advantage of that to pull that last edge up and over.  Place in the muffin pan.  You will have to move along quickly to get all 12 of these done before they start rising again.  Cover the stuffed rolls with sprayed plastic wrap; let rise 15 – 20 minutes.

Remove the plastic wrap.  The final step is to bake them in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Aren’t they pretty? 

I added a blob of sour cream and green onions for a garnish…now all you have left to do hope there’s enough to go around!  My kids liked the first batch so much that they are asking me to make Chili Cheese Rolls again…hopefully, right away!

The second time I made them, I let the rolls rise a little more – they were bigger than I would normally let the rolls get before baking them as a regular a dinner roll.

What I found was that I could get the rolls to roll out flatter and they would hold their shape better while working with them. 

The kids really liked the Chili Cheese Rolls, not only for the taste, but for the portability.  I was excited by how easy they were to make.  Do you think I could stay away from making these?  Heck no!  On to Chicken and Stuffing Cheesy Rolls.

I decided to try mixing things up a little, so I made the next batch with a heaping tablespoon of prepared StoveTop stuffing, diced cooked chichen, a little blob of gravy and a sprinkling of cheese…yep, yummy! 

This opens up a whole new world of possibilities, all conveniently tucked into a delicious Rhodes Roll!