Southern Italian Wedding Soup

I first saw this recipe for Southernized Italian Wedding Soup on Deep South Dish. I loved the idea of using up some frozen collard greens and black eyed peas I had leftover from new years so I gave it a shot. It was delicious and SO filling. I think this recipe could really help stretch a buck if you are feeding a large family. I did tweak the recipe a little so if you want to see the original please click on one of the links above. Enjoy!

Empanadas

Empanadas. For some reason before taking an empanada making class I had never even thought about making them. They seemed tricky, like you had to have some special dough making skills passed down from your Latin American great grandmother. Of course, those skills wouldn't hurt to have, but for the gringos out there like me, I found out you aren't too far away from being able to make the fresh baked pillowy pockets. You can make them baked or fried and fill them with whatever your heart desires. I think this might just be one of those most versatile foods ever! Vegetarian? Fill them up with black beans and cheese or some fajita veggies. Have kids? Stuff them with cooked hamburger meat and cheese. (I know that's not traditional, but what kid and parent doesn't love their own hand held self contained dinner?) Below are 3 more ideas to get you started. The first 2 are from our class, the last one we made up. Have any filling ideas to share?