Mexican Taco Empanadas

Taco Empanadas

 

This recipe is just too easy not to share with you...and the best part is our kids love it (and love to help make it)!  I made these one day last week for a play-date and the kids thought they were pretty neat.  You can improvise the filling with anything you think would be good...I have made them with chicken, ground turkey, and the traditional beef empanadas. 

 

 

Ingredients:

Mexican pastry shells

1-1.5lb ground beef

One package Taco Mix

6oz salsa of your choice

 

 

Start out with these pastry shells, I get them in the local Mexican store in the refrigerator section.  I usually pick up several packages and keep some in the freezer. 

I browned some ground meat in the slow cooker, added a package of taco mix and half a jar of mild salsa.  Let this cook until the meat is browned and it is ready to fill the shells.

 Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray so the shells don't stick.

 

Here comes the part the kids love helping with...

 



 Fill the shells with the meat mixture and fold over.  Use a fork to press the shells together.  Wisk an egg and lightly paint the shells with the egg.  My four year old daughter loves helping with this part.  Using the fork while pressing into the dough is great for her little fingers. 

Bake in oven at 375degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Delicious!

"I Spy" sight word sensory bottle

 

We made this sensory bottle

and sight word "I Spy" bottle

for an easy little learning activity.  Two of us Sugar Aunts were together one afternoon for a little play session with the kids and this was quick and easy to put together. 

 

One bottle of sand.

A handful of foam sheet shapes (we wrote a few beginner sight words on front and back of each shape).

 

 

 It was perfect for the different age groups of the kids (5, 4, 3, 2, and 1!)

 

And these kids seem to LOVE anything they can put into something else. The little fingers were everywhere when we told them to drop the shapes into the bottle opening! This is Awesome for tripod grasp skills.

This was great for the 5 and 4 year olds who are learning their sight words.  We used some beginner reader words that they recognize (Their current favorite book around here is "Sam I Am".  Seeing those words in a new place is pretty cool way to emphasize reading confidence, I think!)

The 3 year old knows most of his shapes (that rectangle gets him every time!) so this was good for his learning level.

 

The two year old could point to the colors (and with only three options in the bottle, it was not overwhelming for him).

 

And for the one year old, this was overall great for language development!

((and super fun to shake !!)

 

 

We had fun with our sensory sight word bottle.  Have you done one of these? Link them up in the comments, we would love to see them!

 

 

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Share It Saturday # 24 ~~Rainy Summer Day Activities~~

 

It's Share It Saturday time!!

 

We are SO excited for our Share It Saturday features this week!  All week, we've been asking our readers and our social media followers to submit their activities for a special feature...

 

Rainy Summer Day Activities!

This week was especially rainy and cool around here, so it was perfect timing for our special Rainy Summer Day play activity round-up.  There are a ton of amazing activities listed here...Check them out below!

 

We join the lovely Karyn at Teach Beside Me in our weekly link up party.

 

Grab the party button.

 

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You know those days when the kids are out of school, they are picking on (and at) each other for FUN...when you really need to get outside and RUN, or SWIM, or play at the park...But it's raining or TOO HOT to stay outside any longer???

 

And these words are coming at you non-stop..."I'm boooooored!" "I'm toooooo HOT!"  Or maybe you just need a break from the regular summer line up and you are looking for new play and learning activities. 

 

This list is sure to blast the boredom and do it completely Screen Free!

 

Thank YOU for linking up your links each week with us at Share It Saturday.  We have some truly talented readers!  We will be sharing this feature list with our followers on all of our social media pages:

Sugar Aunts on Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest (including all of our GROUP boards!!)

Google+ (including all of our COMMUNITIES!!)

 

 

Now, check out these links for some awesome summer play activities:

 

 

Peanut Life Adventures: Create a summer bucket list

Tots and Me: Butterfly play theme

Sugar Aunts: Ice letter muffins

Howling At The Moon: Make a Clay Cat

 

Teach Beside Me: Fabric Hopscotch

Gummylump: Make a theater and Finger puppets

Peanut Life Adventures: Bake Cookies

Little Bins for Little Hands: Create a whale and water themed sensory bin

Bible Fun For Kids: Study Creation

The Measured Mom: Make a Mini-book

The Measured Mom: Explore printables with your emergent reader

Sugar Aunts: Make a rainbow sensory bin (three ideas)

Fantastic Fun and Learning: Create an edible small world zoo

 

 

Mama to 5 Blessings: Create a knight's castle

Fantastic Fun and Learning: Read a book and play activities along with the book's theme

Little Bins for Little Hands: Make a red, white, and blue sensory bin

Teach Beside Me: Summer Boredom Busters

Gift of Curiosity: Learn about ladybugs

Mama to 5 Blessings: Create and Organize a dress-up area

Life With Moore Babies: Make a solar oven in a shoe box (save it for a sunny day :)  

Preschool Powol Packets: Make a popsicle stick airplane

B-Inspired Mama: Play cleaning games with the kids

Teach Beside Me: Make a straw rocket

Weekly Kids Co-Op: Make toys

Gift of Curiosity: Learn about insect anatomy

 

 

Sugar Aunts: Make a real-toy "I Spy" game

Wildflower Ramblings: Create a sensory bin

Buggy and Buddy: Make a spirit wand

Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails: Make a Parrot handprint

Coffee With Us 3: Fine Motor Bean Craft

 No Doubt Learning: Strawberry Clip Math Activity

School Time Snippets: Start a math journal

Sorting Sprinkles: Play pirate activities

Teach Beside Me: Make a roller coaster board game

Crafty Journal: Make a DIY foam flier

 

 

Sugar Aunts: Work on learning body parts through imagination play

Stir the Wonder: Paint with feathers

Buggy and Buddy: Create spin art

Toddling in the Fast Lane: Make a bird of paradise

Best Children's Games: Play with building blocks

Campfires and Cleats: Make balloon animals

Craftulate: Make a shape matching game

Fun-A-Day: Bring a book to life

Sugar Aunts: Use stickers to work on scissor skills

Domesticated Breakdown: Make a rock friend

 

Teach Beside Me: Create a rainbow collage

 

 

The Magnolia Barn: Make a ladybug craft

He Cares for You: Make a crayon resist project

Play Learn Love Try fluff painting

Rubber Boots and Elf Shoes: Make a dinosaur sensory bin

Crafts and Art for Children: Make an earth-friendly craft

Sugar Bee Learning Make a cardboard car

Fluster Buster: Make banana ice cream

The Pinay Homeschooler: Learn about plants

 

 

Fun-A-Day: Make fizzy letters

Sugar Aunts: Create a DIY light box

Big Energy Little Learners: Paint the Rain

Moments A Day: Make a placemat to learn manners

Moms Have Questions Too: Match the font cut and paste activity

And Next Comes L: Create a  greeting card collage

 

 

We can't wait to see what else you have been doing!