Beef Empanadas with Homemade Dough

Happy Saturday!

I was supposed to be in Arizona right now enjoying the heat, pool and family, but I am on week 4 of my cough (I had COVID for two weeks and a cough almost the entire time) so I decided to stay home for a few days while Kevin and Jace went. Let me tell you, it is SO weird having the house to myself for even a day. I don't know if I like it or not. Since they are gone, I decided to catch up on a blog post (and putting housework on hold 🤪)

I'll admit, I have not been eating the healthiest and, although I should have stayed home and rested, I did promise Jace the fair and between appointments, and me not wanting to cook, I've gained more weight the past 4 weeks than I would like to admit. 

Before Kevin and Jace left, Jace help me make this somewhat healthy empanada dinner with homemade dough - which is made of cheese. I used 90/10 ground beef as a healthier option and then three different cheeses since we are running out of food quickly in our house. The full recipe is below. I know it doesn't look that great and of course it had a unique taste because it's a cheese dough instead of regular dough, but I actually liked it. I had two of them and dipped them in ranch and Jace had the other two. If you make it, let me know what you think!  

Ingredients for empanada:
1 pound ground beef 90/10
1 tsp taco seasoning
1 tsp ranch seasoning
1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Ingredients for homemade dough:
1 1/2 cups combined - cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, pepper jack cheese
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp taco seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder

Cook ground beef, taco seasoning, and ranch seasoning on the stove, 5-7 minutes until meat is no longer pink. Take off the burner and add cheddar cheese. 

In a large bowl, stir together the ingredients for homemade dough. Microwave 60-90 seconds. Stir together until dough forms. Add more cheese if needed and if dough doesn't form immediately, microwave in 30 second increments until it turns into dough.

For us, this made four decently sized empanadas. Roll out the dough, add meat in between, fold over and seal edges with a fork. Poke a few holes in the empanada and bake for 12 minutes, 400 degrees.