Turtle Tacos!

[ThunderLund78]

It's not what you think... But it is the creative name we came up with for these - as you can see below, they kind of look like turtles.  We LOVE tacos in our house but the kids want them once a week and it gets a little repetitious.  So I found a fun recipe online.

1 lb ground beef

1 envelope taco seasoning (or make your own)

1 can of pinto beans (mostly drained - leave a little liquid)

1 cup shredded cheese of your preference

2 packages of ready made pie crust (two to a pack)

1 egg

Brown the ground beef and add the seasoning per the instruction on the packet. Then add the beans and mash them up a bit into the meat with a fork.  Finally, mix in the cheese and set aside.  Then roll-out the pie crust and cut 4" rounds - as many as you can get (I used a small tupperware bowl as a cutter).  You'll have to ball-up the trimmings and roll them out until you run out of dough.  I ended up with enough for 8 "turtles."  Lay half of them out on a cookie sheet - Put about 2 TBS of the meat mixture on each and add the top crusts.  Go around the edges, pressing with a fork to seal them, then poke each one once with the fork to vent.  Finally, beat the egg and give each one a brush of egg wash.  Bake for 15-20 min at 400 deg.

I had a little extra filling left over and I dipped tortilla chips in it - I'm going to make my taco meat with beans and cheese mixed in like this from now on.  It's AWESOME and it's a good way to sneak in some fiber for my kids who won't eat the beans plain.

Kids went crazy on these!

[lovebigbluegills]

Looks great TL!!! Great idea to get away from regular tacos!!

[Boar]

nice change up!!

[delcecchi]

Hey, great job.  You invented the empanada.   Better late than never, I always say.   (normally the dough is folded over to make a half moon shape, rather than using two pieces of dough.  ) 

Quote

An empanada (Spanish pronunciation: [empaˈnaða]; also called pastel in Portuguese and pate in Haitian Creole) is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin Europe, Latin America, the Southwestern United States, and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread.

Empanadas are made by folding dough or bread with stuffing consisting of a variety of meat, cheese, huitlacoche, vegetables, fruits, and others.

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by delcecchi

[reinhard1]

Makes eating a little more fun.  I'll have to try this [when we get of our diet plan].  good luck.

[RebelSS]

Say, now there's a winner!!! Good job!  I could handle a few of six of those....