Menu Plan for March 7 – March 13 and Banana-Cinnamon Dessert Empanadas Recipe

A friend of mine is moving to the other side of the country in a couple weeks, and Saturday was her going away party. I was going to supply some of the food, and we were doing a Mexican theme, so I made chorizo empanadas and a seven-layer dip, with banana-cinnamon empanadas for dessert. And then, as I was getting ready to go to the party, my back spasmed horribly and I ended up spending the evening on the couch with no remote (couldn’t bend to look for where the kids had left it) and Flexeril as my best buddy.

So for Sunday dinner, we had seven-layer dip and empanadas. I didn’t like how the chorizo empanadas came out (the filling was delicious, but the dough I used was too dry and flavorless), so I won’t share that recipe yet – but I’ll be trying them again soon.

I will share the recipes for the seven-layer dip and the dessert empanadas with banana-cinnamon filling. I’ll share the empanadas today, and the dip tomorrow.

Menu Plan

Dinners
Sunday: Seven-layer dip and banana-cinnamon empanadas (recipe below)
Monday: Dahl (recipe coming)
Tuesday: Grilled cheese and ham
Wednesday: Spaghetti with Italian sausage
Thursday: “Fend for yourself”
Friday: Breakfast for dinner
Saturday: The kids will be at their dad’s, and I’ll figure something out on the fly

Lunches: Leftovers, quesadillas, sandwiches

Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit, cold cereal, farina, cinnamon rolls, eggs and toast

Banana-Cinnamon Dessert Empanadas

Banana and Cinnamon Dessert Empanadas

4 medium bananas
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 cup brown sugar
5 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1/8 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup ice water
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Chop up the bananas. (I chopped them into thin slices and then cut the stack of banana slices into quarters.) Immediately squeeze the lemon over the banana pieces and toss to coat. Add the cinnamon and brown sugar and stir gently. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, shortening, and butter together with two knives or a pastry blender, until it is evenly blended and the clumps are the size of peas.  Stir in the yogurt and the water, and mix just enough to form a cohesive dough.

Divide the dough in 4 pieces and roll out one piece to about 1/8″ thick and cut into 3½ – 4″circles. I don’t have a larger cutter and I didn’t want to spend that much time cutting around a dessert plate with a knife, so I rolled the dough a little thicker and used my largest biscuit cutter, and then smooshed them flatter (and larger diameter) with my fingers.

Lay the circles out on a cookie sheet, and put a very small amount (about a teaspoon) of the filling in each circle.

Filling an empanada

Fold over the circles and pinch the edges together. Fold them again, and seal with the tines of a fork. Make sure they are well-sealed.

Bake for 30 minutes, until golden.  Let cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.

Makes about 36 empanadas.

I am glad I didn’t go the safe route I’d originally planned (apple empanadas) and tried bananas instead. Wow! These were incredibly delicious. I had just a little filling left over, and the boys and I will have that on our oatmeal in the morning (my 15 year-old daughter can’t eat raw bananas).

Linked to: Menu Plan Monday