Easy Chicken Pot Pie Turnovers

I am on a mission to use up the contents of the fridge and freezer. My inspiration for this recipe was the 2 frozen precooked chicken breasts, sour cream and our stock pile of frozen empanada wrappers.

If you don't have this random set of ingredients lurking in your kitchen then you will need:

1 small onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 stick of celery, diced
1 teaspoon Olive oil
2 Table spoons parmesan cheese
1 Teaspoon garlic powder
4 Tablespoons Sour cream
2 packets of Goya empanada wrappers (find them in the freezer section), defrosted as per directions on Package
2 Grilled Chicken breast (I used the Tyson grilled ready cooked ones, defrosted as per directions on Package) and cubed
1 egg, whisked for egg wash.

Line two baking trays with parchment paper or grease well and heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Saute onions, carrots and celery until Onion is cooked through. Take off the heat and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl add chicken, parmesan, garlic powder, and sour cream and the sautéed veggies. Mix throughly.

Lay out the empanada wrapped on the trays and spoon approximately 3 tablespoons of filling onto each round. Close each wrapper by crimping the edges with a fork. Brush the empanadas with egg wash and bake for 15 mins or until golden brown.

The kids and Daddy enjoyed these with Cheese soup...which is a whole other set of random ingredients!

Well I'm off the pack some more but feel free to distract me by telling me what meals you have created lately to 'use up stuff'.

Crispy Tortilla fish burgers for Lent

Recently I saw a recipe for Southwestern Tuna cakes that used crushed tortilla chips instead of breadcrumbs. The original recipe looked  a bit spicy for the kids (and I didn't have any cheese). Here is my version.

Ingredients
5 Oz can or pouch of Tuna in Water
1 cup of crushed Tortilla corn chips (I used baked not fried)
2 T Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c diced red onion
2 T chopped Cilantro
1/4c salsa (I used a very mild one but you could use a spicier one)
2 Tbsp Canola oil

Combine all the ingredients except for the oil in a large bowl. Scoop out 1/4 cup portions of the mixture and form into patties. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a non stick pan over medium heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden. Transfer to paper towel to drain any excess oil. Serve hot with rice, salad and extra salsa.

Piwi Daddy really enjoyed these.As for the Piwi's -when they thought it wasn't fish they liked it, then after full disclosure, they didn't.

I also attempted to make a vegan version with beans....

Piwi approved: Maple Teriyaki chicken

Sometimes I dread the thought of cooking chicken. There are only so many ways I can cook Piwi kid friendly chicken. It isn't just my boredom either. If I cook one style of food too often, the kids won't eat it anymore. I blame the Food network for teaching kids that it is ok to critique meals :-).  We should have known this would happen though. Miss K's favorite shows, at age 4, were Good Eats and Iron Chef. Her Pillow pet is named Alton (Brown dog).

We have about four 'go-to' baked chicken  recipes. but this week we needed another option. My inspiration for this new recipe was Honey Mustard Chicken. I found this particular version on Pinterest a while back and the Piwi's loved it.

I mixed up the flavors to make Maple teriyaki chicken. It turned out sticky and golden. Piwi Dad was all complements and the Piwi's ate without any critiques. Score! (or as Mini Piwi says Skort!).

Mini Piwi  enjoyed helping me coat the chicken with the marinade. She took a long time working with the silicone pastry brush. She even announced to Daddy that we were having 'Paint Chicken'.

Here is the recipe I used to make 'Paint Chicken'

Ingredients
8 (2 1/2 ounces each) chicken drumsticks
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (I used Soy Vay very yaki teriyaki, see bottom of the post for picture)
1/8 cup maple syrup
1 table spoon olive oil
1 teaspoon  (could use lemon juice)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a shallow baking dish with foil –these stuff is pretty sticky. Place drumsticks, skin side up,  in pan. You can use a lined baking sheet, the pan just keeps your oven a bit cleaner from the splattering honey mix.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the sauce, syrup, oil, vinegar and black pepper. Brush the chicken with the mixture.

3. Bake about 45 mins, basting often with the remaining sauce mixture, until chicken is browned and juices run clear.

This sauce also works well on grilled Tilapia or Salmon.

You may also like:

Piwi Recipes: a collection of links to our favorite recipes and (in case any one is interested) an explanation of our eating habits.

Piwi Family approved recipes

Family recipes I want to try 

Plant based/vegetarian meals I love



Products I love in the kitchen

Vegan Breadmaker Hot Cross buns

There are some things I have learned to do without while following a plant based diet. Hot cross buns are not one of them! Growing up in New Zealand you could buy them at the store or your Grandma made them. Most people ate them on Good Friday, I ate them all through Easter (and I still do).

I had been using a bread maker to make them since we got to the US but the usual recipe uses eggs, butter and milk. A search of Internet, found several vegan versions that didn't seem to fit with any thing I had learned (the hard way) about 'bread science'. After some experimenting this is the recipe that worked for me...everyone loves them and they are no different to the regular recipe

3 1/2 bread flour (I used King Arthur Unbleached white bread flour)
1 Tbs flax seeds
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
2-4 Tbs Sugar (depending on the sweetness preferred)
2 Tbs Vegan Margarine (I used smart balance light)
1/2 c raisins
7g packet active yeast (I used Hodgson mills)
1/3 c Almond milk, warm
1/3 c water, warm
1/4 c warm water and 1/4tsp of sugar for proofing yeast

I used the bread maker on the dough setting and added the ingredients
except the raisins) in the order my Bread man model suggests. This was liquids, sugar, margarine, spices and then flour. The yeast I proofed in  1/4c warm water and 1/4 tsp sugar before pouring over the flour. The raisins were added at the pause after the first mixing. After the dough was finished in the bread maker turn it out onto a floured board and divide into 12 small roll shapes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to double in size. Add crosses and bake for 15-20 minutes.

To make the crosses mix 1 cup flour with 1/4c of water to make a heavy dough. With floured hands roll the dough into long 'worm shapes' and lay across buns.

To make them extra special you can glaze them: to make the glaze mix 1/4c confectioners sugar and 2 Tbs water, brush on the glaze onto the baked buns while they are hot out of the oven and let them cool.