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'.

Exploring the Ballad of Mulan through cooking

This year Miss K is using Reading Rewards, Level 3 . Last week's Literature Unit was centered around the retelling of Ancient poem The Ballad of Mulan* by Author Song Nan Zhang. As well as the activities in the lesson plan we decided to try and cook something that went with our theme.

Miss K asked to try Crab Ragoons. While not traditional Chinese cuisine that are on the Menu at many Asian style Restaurants. Piwi Daddy  had just watched an America's Test Kitchen episode about deep frying and decided to give it a go.

I made the filling and assembled the ragoons and then handed them over to be fried...
If you want to make this as an additional to your China Unit study then this is what you will need...

Ingredients:

• 20 wonton wrappers
• 1 brick of cream cheese (we used reduced fat)
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• Pinch of black pepper
• 4oz Flaked 'Krab'
• A cup of water for 'sealing the wrappers'
• Canola oil for deep frying

Add the cream cheese, Krab, sugar, onion powder, black pepper to a bowl and mix to combine.
Place a teaspoon of the mixture in the middle of each wonton wrapper. I made purse shaped Ragoons but you could make triangle shapes if you prefer. Either way just seal the edges by brushing a little water on the edges of the wrapper before folding it around the filling.

I wish I had a great tutorial for the frying part. I asked my husband how he did it and he said 'Keep the oil at 350 degrees and cook them until they turn golden, about 2 minutes'. If that makes as much sense to you as it did to me, I would suggest visiting a link at Americas' test Kitchen that explains how to deep fry a similar snack.

They turned out looking like 'real ones'. More Miss K and Piwi Daddy were pretty happy with the results.

* The Disney Movie 'Mulan' was loosely based on the Ancient Poem of Mulan by an unknown Author. We found several other books that had more information about Mulan.