Cheesy Beef Empanadas with Avocado Cream Sauce

I love when I find a recipe and think, "I can do that, but maybe different," and it actually works out.  I found a recipe like this that was for broccoli and cheese stuffers.  I changed it and created some yummy empanadas that are baked instead of fried and I put together an avocado cream sauce to go with them.  Really easy and my family really liked them!


Baked Cheesy Beef Empanadas
1 egg with 1 tbsp. water for egg wash
2 cans french bread dough (I used Pillsbury dough in a can.)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup jarred cheese, like Cheese Wiz
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
1 tsp. cumin
1 packet Fiesta Ranch Hidden Valley dip/dressing mix


Preheat oven to 425.  Cook onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat.  Add meat and brown until done.  Sprinkle packet of Ranch mix and cumin over meat.  Stir to coat the meat in the spices.  Add cheese and stir until cheese is melted.


Flour a surface and rolling pin and roll the dough out to approximately 1/4 inch thick.  Cut the dough into 4" circles.  


Spoon approximately 2 tbsp. into the middle of the dough.  Fold the dough over and crease it with a fork. 


Place the empanadas on a greased cookie sheet and brush with the egg wash.


Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.


Avocado Cream Sauce


2 avocados
1/2 cup sour cream
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup cilantro
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp. Kosher salt
3-5 tbsp. water


Mix the ingredients in the blender, starting with 3 tbsp. of water and adding in small amounts of water until sauce is to the thickness of your liking.  It was delicious for dipping the empanadas in!

Garlic and Parmesan Bread Knots

Every so often, my husband and I feed the kids dinner, give them their baths, put them to bed, and then we cook together and eat with not even one bite being interrupted.  We usually make something we know the kids won't eat, but that we love, and then we sit in the living room to eat - something we try to never do with the kids.  Last night, we grilled steaks, roasted some asparagus, and made a new potato recipe that turned out great.  (I'll post the asparagus and potato recipes later.)  I also made these Garlic and Parmesan Bread Knots.  They were awesome.  I found the recipe on www.realmomkitchen.com, but changed it just a little for what I already had on hand.  I will definitely be making these again.  I'm thinking they would be great at Thanksgiving!

Garlic and Parmesan Bread Knots

1 can of 8 biscuits (I used Grands, Jr! Butter Flake)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese (I used the kind from the green can.)

Roll each biscuit into a rope (I just used my hands) then tie into a knot and tuck the ends under.  Place 2" apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  In a bowl, combine oil, seasonings and cheese.  Spoon mixture (or brush it) over the knots while they're still warm.  I made them ahead and then stuck them back in the oven for just a couple of minutes to warm back up.  They were so good!

Denise's Poppy Seed Cake

Carrying on with recipes from my friend Lauren's family, I'm sharing her mom Denise's Poppy Seed Cake recipe.  Lauren and I met during our first week as freshman at Texas A&M University and we've pretty much never been apart since, building what is now a wonderful friendship with lots of stories to tell - many of which I can't tell my mother.  Over the past 13 years that I've known Lauren and her family, I've never had anything Denise made that I didn't love.  My very favorite thing she makes is her potato salad.  But, this cake comes in a close second and is good pretty much anytime of day - including for breakfast!

Denise's Poppy Seed Cake

1 box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden Cake mix
1/2 cup sugar (baking Splenda works also)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 8oz. container sour cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
3 tbsp. poppy seeds

Mix well the cake mix, sugar, oil, sour cream, and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until batter is smooth.  Fold in poppy seeds.  Pour into a well greased (Crisco) and sugared Bundt pan.  (The sugared Bundt pan makes all the difference.)  Bake at 450 degrees for 45 minutes.  Allow to cool a few minutes before removing from the pan.  You can sprinkle powdered sugar on the top for fun.

Howie's Jalapeno Dip

Some of our very best friends, Lauren and Josh, are also our daughters' Godparents.  We try to get together with them often and that sometimes includes Lauren's family as well, who we consider our family.  We love spending time with them because they are true friends...friends that you can really be yourself around.  We love getting together to cook and hang out at Lauren and Josh's pool.  Last weekend, we enjoyed some Aggie football and fajitas together.  Lauren's dad, Howard, made a dip that was so good, a second batch had to be made because the first one was gone so fast.  It's super easy and so good with Fritos Scoops!

Howie's Jalapeno Dip

Two to Three days ahead of time - drain the juice off a glass jar of jalapenos.  Layer the jalapenos back into the jar with sugar.  Put a layer of jalapenos, a sprinkling of sugar to coat them, and repeat until the jar is full.  For two days, leave the jar on the counter and turn it back and forth until the sugar is completely dissolved.

To make the dip -
Let 2 blocks of cream cheese come to room temperature.  Whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer.  Add approximately 1/8 cup of the sugared jalapenos, chopped and mix well.  Howard likes to chop his in the food processor.  Add some juice from the jar until you get to the taste and texture that you want.  Put back in the fridge until ready to serve. 

MiMi's Famous Cheeseball

The fall brings a lot of things back to my house that are missing in the summer...back to school, back to routines, and back to a little bit of chaos.  For my husband, it means the return of football.  One of his favorite ways to spend a fall day is to watch a great game and have his favorite snacks.  I've been making this cheeseball for him since we met and it's probably his very favorite thing to eat while watching football.  My MiMi passed this recipe onto me and it has become one of my go-to party recipes.  The ingredients seem a little strange together when you see the recipe, but I promise it is so yummy that people will ask you what's in it.  Then they look at you with a strange face when you tell them.  The key to everything working is chopping the bell pepper and onion as finely as you can, and also draining the pineapple as much as possible.  (I put the pineapple in a strainer and I also squeeze more juice out with my hands.)  My MiMi had quite a gift for hosting our large family for holidays and gatherings and this was one of her staples.  I'm proud to have some of her recipes and be able to pass them on. 

MiMi's Famous Cheeseball
2 blocks of cream cheese (16 oz.)
8 oz. can crushed pineapple (drained very well)
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
2 tbsp. finely chopped onion (I usually add a little more than this.)
1 tbsp. of Lawry's Season Salt

Let the cream cheese come to room temperature.  Beat it with an electric mixer until smooth.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients.  Put the mixture back in the fridge until somewhat firm again.  Then, roll into a ball, or divide into 2 balls.  (I've made them into mini cheese balls too.)  Then, roll into more chopped pecans and wrap in plastic wrap.  Place back in the fridge until firm.  Serve with crackers.  We like it best with Wheat Thins. 

My Southern Grandma

Me and MiMi in her kitchen (probably in about 1988)

In the South, we rarely call our grandparents "Grandma" and "Grandpa".  My girls call their grandparents MiMi & PaPa and MeeMaw&PawPaw.  My grandma has been known as MiMi for the past thirty years, plus some.  This week we lost my MiMi to cancer.  It has been very sad for our family, but I have found myself coming to peace with it much faster than I expected to.  For one, she was very sick and no one wanted her to suffer or be in pain.  And secondly, because I have such a connection to her because of how much time I spent with her as a kid.  Because of all that time I got to spend with her cooking, I feel like some of the best parts of her live on in me.  I had a unique advantage of getting extra time with MiMi because we lived just a few minutes from her until I was 9.  During that time, my mom taught piano lessons after school and I got to spend that time learning how to cook things like homemade chicken and dumplins (not "dumplings" - MiMi said "dumplins") while MiMi prepared dinner.  She always found a way for me to help.  I find myself not being great about that with my own kids, but my mom has the same gift of always being able to find a way for my girls to be included in meal preparation - must be a grandma thing.   In the evenings, my dad would come by to pick me up on his way home and sometimes we would get to stay for dinner.  I would set the table and fill the glasses with ice for the iced tea and we would all sit down to dinner together.  My very favorite thing she made was fried chicken.  As an adult, I made a trip to see her just so she could show me how to take apart a whole fryer, bread it (always in a brown paper grocery sack), and fry it to crispy, juicy perfection. 
And so, as we all move on without her, I'm thankful that so many wonderful things about her are found in my mother and my aunt.  They too are incredibly strong Southern women who set such a wonderful example for the next generation of mothers in our family.  Watch for more postings about MiMi's recipes and stories of her cooking and entertaining like a true Southern Lady.

Fish Tacos with Mexican ColeSlaw

The meals we serve in our house are definitely a product of the heavy Mexican influence in Texas.  One of my two year old daughter's first words was "quesadilla" - no lie.  Because of how much I love Mexican food, my favorite spice to cook with is cumin.  I love when it gets warmed up and makes the whole house smell like something good is going on in the kitchen.  These two recipes both incorporate cumin. Fish tacos are so easy to make and are always impressive to serve.  This time, we used trout that my husband caught on a fishing trip, but you can use just about any white fish with a sturdy texture.  Even my 8 year old loved them!  It was a great way to have a grown up dinner that included fish that kids would happy to eat as well.

Grilled Fish Tacos:

Put 1 lb. white meat boned fish fillets into a Ziploc with the following marinade and let sit for 15-20 minutes:
Whisk 1/4 cup Canola oil, the juice of one lime, a couple of teaspoons of cumin, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves, one teaspoon of Kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. 

Grill the fish until done and flaky, about 5-6 minutes.  Let it sit for a few minutes and then flake with a fork.  Tip: Grill the fish on aluminum foil and the smaller pieces won't fall through the grates.

Mexican Cole Slaw:

Use one bag ready mix cole slaw with the dressing included.  Pour 3/4 of the dressing packet in the bottom of a mixing bowl.  To the ready made dressing, add a scoop of your favorite fresh salsa, juice from 1/2 lime, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/8 cup chopped green onions, and chili powder to taste (I just used a pinch).  Whisk the dressing and add in the cabbage slaw mixture.  Stir together and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.  *If you love spice, you could add chopped fresh jalapeno to this.  I didn't because I was serving my kids.

To assemble the tacos:

Warm tortillas and on top of each place grilled fish, Mexican Cole Slaw, sliced avocado, and thinly sliced purple onion.  My kids also like a small amount of shredded cheese on their fish tacos.  Really they like cheese on just about everything.

The grilled fish marinade comes from Bobby Flay on www.foodnetwork.com and I just changed it a little.  The Mexican Cole Slaw is my invention :o)