Curried Beef Empanadas

My brother has a theory that every culture has a dish where meat is cooked inside some kind of dough. I think he might be onto something.

Today I went for curried beef empanadas! Aka, another Bisquick recipe (feels like I haven’t had one in a while, no?)

Ingredients:

• ¼ lb beef
• 1 potato
• ½ onion
• 2 gloves garlic
• 1 ½ tablespoons curry powder
• 1/8 small head of napa cabbage
• 1/3 cup milk (not pictured)
• 2 cups Bisquick
• ½ cup of boiling water

Side note I: I forgot I was going to use some shiitake mushroom, so I didn’t. It’d probably be good though.

1) Peel and slice potato into small cubes.

2) Mince onion and garlic.

3) Shred cabbage.

4) In a small skillet, cook garlic, onion, and garlic. Cook until potatoes are cooked through.

5) Add beef.

6) Add cabbage.

7) Add curry powder.

8) Add milk (to smooth out the flavor of the curry mixture).

9) Set beef mixture aside and allow to cool.

10) Mix Bisquick with hot water. Roll into a ball. Add more bisquick if too watery.

11) Cut into about six equal parts. I had a little of stuffing left over so I would try and get seven parts.

12) Spread dough out into about 2 ½~ 3 inch diameters.

13) Fill each with a heaping tablespoon or so of the meat mixture.

14) Seal off each empanada.

15) Coat the bottom of a pan with oil/butter/cooking spray to prevent stickage. I also brushed each empanada with some melted butter to make them brown pretty.

16) Cook for about 20~30 minutes at 375 degrees or until golden brown.

Cost breakdown:

• ¼ lb beef: $2.69/2= $1.34
• 1 potato: $0.06
• ½ onion: $0.20/2= $0.10
• 2 gloves garlic: $0.03x2= $0.06
• 1 ½ tablespoons curry powder: $0.05
• 1/8 small head of napa cabbage: $0.52/8= $0.07
• 1/3 cup milk (not pictured): $0.30/3= $0.10
• 2 cups Bisquick: $0.15x6= $0.90

Total: $1.34+$0.06+$0.10+$0.06+$0.05+$0.07+$0.10+$0.90= $2.68
Total per empanada: $2.68/6= $0.45 each

Citrus Slaw with Chicken

I wanted something easy and fresh. This is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

• Cooked Chicken (about ½ cup- ¾ cup)
• 1/8 of a head of cabbage
• 1 carrot
• ½ lime
• 1 orange
• 2 block of cilantro
• Salt and Pepper

Side note I: I hate that when I buy a bunch of cilantro I always end up throwing a way a bunch. I saw online that you can take cilantro and freeze it in water so that’s what I did with all of it. It ended up filling two ice trays.

1) Unfreeze cilantro and drain (or use fresh).

2) Shred cabbage and carrot.

3) Toss together cilantro, cabbage, carrot, and chicken together.

4) Add salt and pepper.

5) Squeeze lime juice over mixture.
Side note II: Before you cut your lime, apply pressure and roll over a counter to increase juice. You can also microwave it for about 15 seconds. You can also use a juicer/poke the flesh of the lime to increase juice yield.

6) Segment orange and toss with the rest.

7) Serve.

Cost breakdown:

• Chicken: We’ve been over my chicken meat picked from my broth carcass. I’m not doing that math. Lol.
• Cabbage: $0.78/8= $0.10
• Carrots: $0.59/8= $0.07
• Lime: $0.15/2= $0.08
• Orange: $1.19/5= $0.24
• Cilantro: $0.39/28= $0.015 
• $0.015x2= $0.03

Total: $0.10+$0.07+$0.08+$0.24+$0.03=$0.52