Chicken Empanadas

Mom is going to type the blog for now until we get into the swing of things, but Nell will be dictating. :)

The first recipe we chose was Chicken Empanadas. I've never had empanadas, and had never even heard of them, but they looked delicious!

You will need:
1 box refrigerated pie crusts (two 11-inch rounds)
4 ounces cream cheese
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
2 T. salsa
1/2 t. ground cumin (we left this out)
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken (make sure it's cooked before you start everything else)
1 egg, beaten
Additional salsa (we used ranch for dip instead of salsa)



First, cook the chicken.



Then take the pie crusts out of the box and let them thaw at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Use a glass or a round cookie cutter to create the "bed" for the empanada filling.





Heat the cream cheese, salsa, cumin, salt, and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir it until it's smooth. Stir in the chicken, and then remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 425*F. Place about 2 teaspoons chicken mixture in the middle of each round. Brush the edges with water. Pull one side of the dough over the filling. It will form a half circle. Pinch the edges to seal.



Place empanadas on foil-lined baking sheet and brush with egg.



Bake 16-18 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve with salsa (or ranch!).



Empanadas can be made ahead of time and frozen! Just wrap the unbaked empanadas with plastic wrap and freeze, and then bake for 18-22 minutes. These are good party favors but made a great dinner for us.

This is why it's important to check if there is anything in the oven before preheating. Mom stores her crayon molds inside! Woops!



This recipe got 5 out of 5 stars because everyone in the family gave it a thumbs up, even Gracelynn - who NEVER eats chicken. We tricked her, which is nearly impossible to do. That's me, my sisters, and my friend Zoe.



As soon as we were finished eating dinner, the electric went out!!! I am so glad it waited until we were finished. The oven would not have worked without electric, and I would have been mad. So thank God my first recipe was a success!

Please leave comments and let me know if you have any questions. If you make this dish, I'd love to know if you like it or if you add anything to it! Thanks for reading.

Love,
Nell

New direction

I am turning my blog into a cooking blog. I want to be a chef when I grow up. So I will be sharing recipes and pictures. Please follow me and leave comments! It makes me happy!

Dinosaur Diorama

I just finished a dinosaur project. I just wanted to share it with you.











I did a report on Tyrannosaurus Rex. I learned a lot about them. Like they were about 40 feet long and their jaws alone were over 4 feet long! They were HUGE! My favorite part of the whole project was making the dinosaurs bloody. :)

I got my haircut

I got a haircut.

I wanted a mohawk again but Mom said no. My school allows boys to have mohawks but not girls. I don't think that is fair. Mom said I could get one when school is out if I still really wanted one.

BEFORE



AFTER





What do you think?

Photo Shoot

I did a photo shoot for Nellie Bug's. Since it's named after me I think I should let my moms take some pictures. What do you think of them?

This is called ALOHA.




This is my sister, Sapphire.



My favorite tutu of ALL TIME - Camo.





And my favorite picture! I edited it myself.

Catching up

I have not blogged for a while so I am going to have my mom type four of them in one.

The New Girls
There are these new girls they are my neighbors. Their names are Lacy and Misty. Now they are my best friends ever made. I like them. And they like me. They let me come in their house and my mom is okay with it because she met their mom. It is fun. They have a hamster and a dog named Max. I do not know what the hamster's name is. It is fun having new friends!

About My Jobs
I cook, I clean, and I do the dishes. I am like the house cleaner. And food maker. I like having jobs it is fun being the house cleaner. But not so much fun cleaning. I like to cook the best.

About School
I am good at math and spelling and reading. I love reading. I hate school. I can't wait until summer. I miss being home schooled.

Book Fair
I went to the book fair today and my mom gave me $18 to spend. I got some pens and two cool new books. The first one is


and the second one is



I am so excited to read them. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner tonight

I cooked twice baked potatoes for dinner tonight. Well, except the bacon. Rachel cooked it. She said it was too dangerous. It is turkey bacon so it doesn't have hardly any grease. I made the cream cheese corn all by myself, and everyone liked it except my mommies. It wasn't my fault though it was a new brand of corn.

Now we are watching Wheel of Fortune. Our dinner was really good. Even Gracie ate it.

I'm going to show you how to make it.

Cook the ground turkey in a pan.


Done cooking the turkey!


Move the turkey out of the pan, add broccoli and a cup of water. Cover, steam for 4-5 minutes.


Pierce potatoes all over with a fork. Cook in microwave for about 15-20 minutes, turning them over every 3 minutes. Let them cool.


Gut the potatoes and mix the insides together with some fat free sour cream, the turkey, bacon, broccoli, and shredded cheese.


Cook the cream cheese corn - just mix 1/2 container of fat free cream cheese in with one can of drained corn.



Stop to clean the floor.


Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.


Dinner is served.


Grace ate seconds!

Sick

I cooked dinner tonight. I cooked a casserole with tomatoes, mushrooms, and noodles covered in alfredo sauce. I did not eat it because I am sick. I ate chicken noodle soup. I like being sick because I get to stay home and I get more attention than my other sisters. And I like it!

I had a school thing that I had to be Rosa Parks and I had to do a book report! I do not think that I have to do a book report. I was Rosa Parks. I was awesome! And sometimes when I am sick I might get more attention than my mommy Rachel! Wow, amazing!

You should check out my website nelliebugs.com. I like being on a website. You can check out our tutus they are so cute maybe sometime I will buy one (ehem..even though my mom made me one already). I love my website it is awesome do you like it?

My Presentation on Rosa Parks

I am sick, so my mom is typing for me instead of me writing. I have thrown up three times tonight, and I will probably miss school tomorrow. I'm glad I got to go today. I did my presentation. I really wanted to be Rosa Parks, but a few other people did, too. I got lucky and worked hard, and got to be Rosa Parks!!

Link to me

Here is my button. It is the first one I designed. I will design more. If you take it and add my address more people can find me. That would be really nice. Thank you.

Hi

Hi my name is Jenelle and I’m 8 years old. This is my first blog but it is for me to practice writing, spelling, and typing. Sometimes I write my blogs on notebook paper, and sometimes I type them in the computer’s notepad.

I love my family. In my family there is Gracie, Sapphire, SADIE, RACHEL and MAMMIE. Mammie does not live with me but she is important and I see her a lot.

I am going to tell you about my house. I live in an apartment. It has a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. I share a bedroom with my two sisters, and my moms have the other bedroom. Usually, I try to sleep on the couch. Sometimes my moms let me.

Tonight, I got to cook dinner. I made up a recipe. It was macaroni noodles, pizza sauce, garlic salt, pepperonis, and cheese. Mom helped me cook the noodles, and then we baked all of the stuff together in the oven (400 degrees) for ten minutes.





Here are our plates




It was so good that even my VERY picky sister Gracie ate it and asked for seconds. That never happens.



Let me know what you want me to blog about. I really want some ideas from friends. Thank you for reading my blog. I am going to do the dishes now.