We woke up to howling wind, freezing temperatures, and blowing snow this morning. Little P proceeded to ask me about a hundred times where the “no (snow) man” was because she just assumes if there’s snow, no matter how little, that there should be a snowman. Poor kiddo. She was having enough of a hard time with no more Belle the “naughty ELF!” and “Danta” (Santa). Now, there’s no snow man. She was finding all a little hard to handle.
So, I kept the curtains closed and tried to keep her busy.
We had an exciting morning of painting, prepping for supper (chicken curry tonight!), doing laundry, and making delicious Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Bites!
We read LOTS of books.
I had a couple of people ask me for the recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Bites, so I thought I’d just share it this way to make things easier. It’s based on the one found here: http://tiphero.com/broccoli-cheddar-quinoa-bites/
I’d seen this video before and loved the idea but I didn’t think that the onion, garlic, and broccoli would cook through enough in the 15 minute time it took for these to bake. I didn’t want to use a longer bake time because I knew the bites would dry out, so I made some changes.
I sauteed the onion and garlic first because I know my girls wouldn’t like the crunch of the raw onion. I used a steamer bag of broccoli florets instead of raw broccoli. Once the broccoli was cooked I squeezed all of the liquid out of it using paper towels, so I could get it as dry as possible. Then, I chopped it up finely.
¾ c. quinoa rinsed and drained
1 ½ c. low sodium vegetable broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. onion, chopped
1 T. olive oil
1 bag of frozen broccoli florets cooked, dried and chopped finely
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½-2 c fresh grated cheese ( used ½ mozzarella and ½ mild cheddar)
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
Rinse and drain the quinoa using a fine mesh strainer. Put the quinoa and the vegetable stock in a pot, bring it to a boil. Immediately lower the heat to a simmer, cover it, and leave it alone for 15 minutes. Don’t salt the quinoa here. Salt can prevent it from blooming completely, leaving it with a hard center that isn’t very good.
While the quinoa cooks, steam the broccoli in the microwave. Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Salt it as it cooks. Set it aside once it is done.
Once the broccoli is done, dry it as much as possible with paper towels. Then, chop it up finely.
Mix the broccoli, onion, and garlic in a large bowl. Salt & pepper.
Once the quinoa is done, fluff it with a fork and let it cool for a few minutes. Then, add it to the broccoli mixture.
Add in 1 ½ c. cheese and the two beaten eggs. Stir it well.
Using a small cookie dough scoop put one scoop in each muffin spot. Add a little cheese to the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Once they are out of the oven it is best to let them sit for a few minutes to firm up, otherwise they fall apart. Trust me, I ended up eating two of them because they fell apart!
Super filling, full of protein, and I bet they will freeze well. I'm going to freeze some on a sheet tray and then put them in a Ziplock bag so I can pull them out easily for Sweet S' lunch box. The girl LOVES quinoa. She'll be excited to try these when she gets home!
