Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes & Baked Masa Empanadas filled with Cuban Picadillo

For Valentines Day I made my husband breakfast - Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Turkey Bacon.  (He took me out to Sonnys for lunch because it was a pp/pv day for me and i had sauceless meat, green beans, and cottage cheese)



I found a recipe on this site http://dukantopia.com/tag/dukan-chocolate-pancakes/  and basically followed it except I used Hersheys sugar free syrup,  Hersheys sugar free chocolate chips, and i actually put the chips in the pancake batter.


Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup oat bran
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbs Splenda
• 3tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4tsp baking powder
• 6 fluid ounces reduced fat chocolate soy milk
• 2/3 cup hersheys sugar free chocolate chips
• 3tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

1. In a blender, food processor, or coffee grinder, process the oat bran to a powdery, flour-like consistency
2. Pour oat bran into a bowl along with the baking powder, cocoa powder, splenda and mix.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, soy milk, and vanilla extract.
4. Add dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well. Once all mixed add the chocolate chips and mix again.
5. Heat a pan on medium-low heat with cooking spray.
6. I used a 1/4 cup for measuring out the batter for each pancake. Cook for 1-2 minutes until bubbles form and edges begin crisping.
7. Top with cooking spray, flip, and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
8. Serve pancakes with chocolate sauce.

So tonight for dinner I am making Cuban Picadillo Baked Empanadas.  I found the recipe on this site http://hotspicyandskinny.com/2012/11/16/corn-masa-empanadas-with-cuban-picadillo/    It does not need much tweaking except for the butter we have to use unsalted butter. I also took out the jalapenos, mushrooms,  and changed the diced can of tomatoes to fresh diced tomoatoe and used splenda brown sugar not regular brown sugar. 

Cuban Picadillo             
Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ lbs ground beef, 95% lean
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• diced tomatoes
• a pinch of splenda brown sugar (a little less than ¼ teaspoon)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 can green olives, roughly chopped (plus 2 tablespoons brine)
• salt and pepper

Directions:
1.         Cook the beef, onions, garlic and jalapeño until the beef is cooked through. Stir often, breaking up the ground beef.

2.         Add the can of tomatoes and the pinch of sugar. Stir well. The sugar isn’t going to add sweetness; it’s actually going to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.

3.         Add the mushrooms, bell pepper, cilantro, cumin, and olives (plus the 2 tablespoons of brine). Stir well to mix all the flavors. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.         Continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated. Serve with a side of veggies, rice, beans or tortillas!

Yields 4 servings

Serving Size: ¼ of dish (a little more than 4 ounces)

Baked Masa Empanadas filled with Cuban Picadillo
Ingredients:

• 1 cup masa harina
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon  unsalted butter or olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups of Cuban picadillo

Directions:
1.         Mix the masa harina, water, butter and salt well. Mix for 2-3 minutes and add a bit of water if the dough is dry. When you finish, you want to have the consistency of play-doh (not sticky but moist and malleable).

2.         Divide the dough into 8 sections. Don’t worry about making them perfect balls yet because you’ll have to reshape them right before flattening them.

3.         The secret to getting perfect round discs is… plastic. Cut apart a plastic gallon bag. Place one section of plastic on your work surface.

4.         Now, take a section of dough and work it into a little ball. If you don’t work the dough with your hands right before flattening, the dough tends to crack and break. Place the dough ball on top of the plastic and cover with the other section of plastic.

5.         Take something with a flat bottom (I’m using a pyrex baking dish) and press down gently on the dough ball. Watch it flatten into a disc the size of a tortilla. Gently rock the baking dish back and forth to spread it out completely. You’ve started your first empanada.

6.         Gently peel away the top plastic. Fill the bottom portion of the empanada with ¼ cup of the Cuban picadillo, leaving a margin at the edges.

7.         Carefully fold over the dough so that the two edges meet. Use a fork to seal the edges, making a pretty scallop design.

8.         Repeat for all the empanadas.

9.         Bake the empanadas for 15 minutes at 300˚.

Yields 4 servings

Serving Size: 2 empanadas