Freezer Meals - Beef Roll-Ups

This is a momma original that I am sharing, with only minor alterations on my part. And, lucky for you, it is in the "freezes bee-u-tifully" section of my personal cookbook, so it came to mind in my fill-the-freezer frenzy. We call this deliciousness Beef Roll-Ups.

My brother and sister-in-law came up with their baby the other day, and since Charlie really likes this dish, I decided to make a double batch and put the three extras in the fridge. Just so you don't get confused by my math, the way Mom makes it puts it in a 9"x13" pan and bakes it that way. Since my little crew can't get through a whole pan, I divide it up into 8x8s and put one in the freezer. So, since I made a double batch, there were three for the freezer on this occasion. And, it really only took me an extra 10 minutes! Okay, enough background, here we go:

Dough - Mom uses biscuits. I like mine with bread dough, but I use Mom's Flat French Bread recipe. It goes like this:

2 c warm water
1 T yeast
1 T sugar
4 c flour
2 tsp salt
Combine warm water, yeast, and sugar- let dissolve. Combine the flour and salt. Stir in the yeast mixture. Mix until it feels like bread dough. Put on counter and roll out into a big circle. If you are a really fancy roller, you could do a rectangle, it would probably work better. I roll it out until it is about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. As thin as I can realistically get it. Since I was making a double batch, I doubled the recipe and split the dough in half. I think if you tried to do all the dough at once, it would just get too big to work with.

Now for the sauce. I mix 2 cans of tomato sauce (I think they are 14 oz) with about 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and 1/4" tsp garlic powder. However, you could just your favorite pizza sauce and that would work too. Spread your sauce thinly on your rolled out dough. If you get it too thick, it will be harder to get it cooked all the way through. I spread it out to about 1/2" from the edge.
Now, go to your stove and fry 2 lbs of hamburger and 1 chopped onion seasoned with salt and pepper. Drain and sprinkle half of your hamburger on the dough. If you have them on hand, you can also add a small can of mushroom pieces and some pepperoni. I wasn't that prepared this night.
Okay, this is the fun part. Roll. That's why they are beef roll-ups.
Once you get the whole thing rolled up, it should look something like this:
Now, slice that puppy. Since this is going to go into two pans, I start by cutting the roll approximately in half. I know some of you would expect me to get a ruler out, but I just eyeball it. Now, have you ever made cinnamon rolls? It is the same concept. You cut your roll into slices about 3/4" thick. Again, eyeball it.
Once you cut your piece, stick it in a greased pan. I use a 8" cake pan or a 8"x8" square, whichever I have on hand.

Continue cutting and placing in pan until it is filled.

Repeat the steps until you have filled all your pans. Take your remaining sauce (there should be most of it left) and spread on top of your rolls.

Sprinkle with grated cheese.

Cover your pans with aluminum foil and freeze. When you are ready to bake, take out of the freezer and thaw. Then, bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. The cheese will be golden brown, but more importantly, the bread will be golden brown too. You want to be sure they are done, because doughy rolls are not worth the time it takes to toss them.

Well, I hope that wasn't too confusing. Let me tell you, the end product is super-tasty! So tasty, in fact, that I couldn't even wait to take a picture before snarfing them down!