Argentine Empanadas- meat filling (ground beef- "picadollo")

I recently posted a recipe for the empanada shells, but what are empanadas without a filling?!? I was waiting on the recipe from my Mom, in Argentina, since my cookbooks are packed away in storage and we are on the road, traveling. As a result, I have not been able to make empanadas in a while. The last time I did, I made it from "memory" or "taste", so I wanted a recipe to give to you... Here goes! 

Meat Filling

 

1 pound of ground beef

3 medium to large-sized onions chopped  (there is usually an equal ratio of meat poundage to onions!)

1/4 c. Chopped red pepper (optional)

1 beef bullion cube

1-2 tsp. paprika

1-2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. cumin

2 T. flour 

1/2 c. chopped  green olives 

2 chopped, hard-boiled eggs

Directions:

sauté onions with chopped red peppers. Add beef and brown it. Add seasonings and flour. When taste is to your liking, add olives and boiled eggs.

Directions for making empanadas: 

Fill a small cup or bowl with warm water. Lay out empanada shells on counter/table. Fill shells with a couple of spoonfuls (depending on how large the shells are) of meat filling. Dip finger in water and run around edge of a shell. Fold shell in half, and either press and seal with fork tines (easiest way), or do a fold and press method as in the top picture. 

Bake: place on cookie sheets an inch apart. Break and egg in a bowl and mix. Brush on empanadas when they are ready to go in the oven. Bake in 375* oven until golden brown (about 20-25 minutes). Let cool for 5 minutes, and enjoy! 

Photos used from: 

Www.foodfreak.net

Www.buckelistjourney.net

Www.buenostours.com

Scrapbooking- Seeing Mike!!!!!

I was so excited to see my brother, Mike after 4 years! So, here's my scrapbook page about it....

Journaling:

Oh, how I had missed my brother, Mike! It had been four years since I had seen him when we visited Argentina. So, when I heard he was coming to the U.S. to work for a few months I couldn’t wait to see him. Since we were on deputation, we traveled close to where he was  staying on two different occasions! Yay!

We had a lot of fun together, and the kids claimed “Uncle Mike” as one of their regular tickle/wrestle buddies. We went a few fun places in Charlotte, NC with Mike when we visited, like a special learning library and a Discovery Center. We also hung out at Aunt Robin’s house and ate and played games. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Mike and having a few good chats. I’m so glad it worked out to see him again, and on more than one occasion!

Digital kit used:

"more or less" collaboration for INSD (International Scrapbooking Day). It was a freebie kit in a blog hop (you get multiple mini kits from each blog to form one large kit) on that day. You can google it, but I'm not sure it is still available.

Digital Template: found at http://meaganscreations.com

Argentine Empanadas- making the shells

Empanadas

Empanadas are a traditional small pie (usually filled with meat) found in many latin- American countries. I will be posting recipies for ones traditionally from Argentina. Here is the recipe I use (from: http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/02/06/how-to-make-empanada-dough/) to make my shells for the empanadas. The basic filling, which doesn't need a recipe is ham and cheese (mozarella cheese). The meat and chicken filling will be in later recipies I post.

How to Make Empanada Shells

Making empanada dough is not as hard as it sounds, especially if you have a food processor, and even if you don’t it is still pretty easy because the dough should not be overworked and requires minimal kneading. Also, these days it is very easy to find the empanada discs already made (frozen) in Latin grocery store, and even though I was skeptical at first they are actually quite good, but it also always fun to have them homemade and you can also customize the dough by adding spices, herbs, etc that will complement or contrast with the fillings.

Ingredients for 15 medium size or 25 small empanada discs:

3 cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

6 oz unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), cold and cut into 12 pieces

1 egg

4-5 tbs water

Preparation:

1. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor.
2. Add the butter, egg and water until a clumpy dough forms.
3. Form a ball and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
4. Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out round disc shapes for empanadas (use round molds or a small plate).
5. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator or freezer to use later.  
    

Scrapbooking- Lucas' 7th Birthday!

July 3rd, 2013- Hoppy Birthday, Lucas!

I know the logical thing is to scrapbook life in order, but I'm not logical, so I scrapbook in a very random way. Sometimes I scrapbook photos that I love, sometimes stories that I can't wait to get into a layout, sometimes I do a page for one of my kids that wants a new page done about them, and- yes- sometimes I actually go chronologically! So, I felt like doing Lucas' most recent Birthday photos taken last month. Here they are!

Digital Kit used: 

"hoppy birthday" by www.the-lilypad.com

Digital Template:

by http://elle-designs.weebly.com/

On the road visiting.... FRIENDS!

I scrapbooked again after weeks of being to busy/not into it. So, I went back to October of last year and did a photo of when we visited our dear friend, Susan Self! We had a blast with her! 

Journaling: 

One huge blessing of deputation has been to see family and friends that we normally don't see.

We were in Florida, and going to be close to where Sus lives so we couldn't pass without seeing her! We spent a couple of nights at her duplex and it was a blast!

Ben and I hadn't seen Sus since our wedding in 2001. It was great catching up with her. 

We also had fun at the beach, visiting her church, and eating out.

In January we ate at an Argentine restaurant on our way back through.

Alphabet verses

A friend of mine had alphabet verses (one verse beginning with each letter of the alphabet) for homeschool and I thought it was a great idea! (Thank you, Lara Harrison!) 

We really want to do better about memorizing verses with our children since we are on the road now and as a result they are not involved in Awana.

So, I went online and found these cute verses already made up on this website: http://chasingsupermom.com

Directions: 

1. Print

2. Cut out flashcards 

3. Cut out cardstock in coordinating colors

4. Glue verses to cardstock and organize alphabetically 

5. Punch a hole in the upper left hand corner

6. Add a ring and you are set! We will be memorizing one a week.

 

Prayer journal

I have been wanting a prayer journal lately so I can dig deeper into my prayer life, but wanted it customized with categories. So, in order to do this I picked out a small notebook (to fit in my bag when we travel).

 I found some category page headings online on this site: http://dailydwelling.com/personalized-prayer-journal and I shrunk them to fit the size of my pages. They are great because they include a variety of things to pray for under some of the headings. The intent is to pray for one specific thing of the numbered items each day besides your regular written out requests.

Then I cut them out, and glued them in at various intervals throughout the notebook. 

and punched out some circles out of matching card stock to make the category tabs. 

So, now I can fill each category with specific requests and answers!