I love quinoa, so do my daughter and my husband.  In our house we call this a triple threat.  Not many things get the triple threat award around here.  When we do have a triple, I try and make it as often as possible, especially when the item is as good for you as quinoa!  If you have ever made it, you know the stuff is a little tasteless….you cant really eat it just plain every time you have it.  So here’s my quinoa mix -up.  Hope you enjoy as much as we do!

1.  Quinoa Goes Tex Mex

Ease Factor: 10 –  Doesn’t get easier than this
Child Friendly Factor: 9 (my toddler asks for quinoa at least twice a week)
Husband Approved: 8 (of course it’s not a meat ball, but still high on his list)
Ingredient Factor: 9 (I use the same ingredients I am using for my tex- mex dinner, have them all ready to go)
Bonus Factor: 9 (Great as leftovers, perfect for lunch the next day or a quickie dinner)
Scale 1-10 (one being least successful/ hardest, 10 being most successful)

So I make this A LOT, like every time we have mexican foodat the house, which is a little more often than I would like to admit.  I find quinoa easier to make than brown rice so I substitute.

Seriously it’s THAT easy!  My daughter asks for this stuff for breakfast, sometimes it is the only thing I can get her to eat.  Added bonus, keep the leftover and put the mixture in a tortilla with a little extra cheese, chicken breast if you have any around (we use rotisserie a LOT) fold the tortilla over like a quesadilla and put it on the George Foreman grill.  Let it it cook for about 3-5 minutes and you have an AWESOME lunch or quick dinner.  We love a quinoa quesadilla!

2. Quinoa Cupcakes

Ease Factor: 6 –  So the hard part is prepping the quinoa and black rice, the rice takes abt 45 minutes to cook, when I make these I put the rice  & quinoa on during naptime then stick it in the fridge until I am ready to assemble.
Child Friendly Factor: 9 - my toddler ate more of these than I have ever seen her eat of anything
Husband Approved: 7 – my hubby doesn’t like tomatoes or super girly food, these have both factors at play, but he still eats & enjoys them
Ingredient Factor: 6 – The black rice is hard to find, but once you do you have it for awhile because the recipe doesn’t take much of it
Bonus Factor: 9 – Great to freeze and pop in the microwave for a quick side or lunch, would be perfect in a lunch box
Scale 1-10 (one being least successful/ hardest, 10 being most successful)

These are way better than they sound…maybe I should rename.  But they are the perfect little yummy cupcake you will LOVE to have on hand.  Perfect as a side for chicken or pork, yummy as a quick lunch and THE perfect snack for your toddler.  Bonus, these are freezable and equally as good defrosted for the day you have nothing in your house.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup cooked black rice – so this is a little hard to find, if you don’t have any just use long grain wild rice
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup onions, finely chopped
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup grape tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp. chili powder

Instructions

• Cook quinoa and rice according to package directions. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa and rice with remaining ingredients, mix well
• Spoon quinoa and rice mixture to muffin pan. Using a tablespoon, fill each muffin liner to the top, then press down on the mixture to create a flat surface.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
• You can serve these with some marinara sauce or just eat them on their own, they are delicious!!

- For the leftover toss them in a baggie and freeze them, they are wonderful reheated!

Adapted from http://thehealthyapple.com/2012/05/21/crispy-quinoa-bites/ A wonderful food blog!

3. Ham & Cheese Quinoa CupsEase Factor: 8 –  Dump & mix, you do have to do a minute bit of chopping, but VERY minimal
Child Friendly Factor: 6 – ok, honestly I think I liked these a little more than the rest of my house, but mommy gets a vote on dinner every now & then…right??
Husband Approved: 6 – a little quiche “esque” for his taste, but he still took them for breakfast two days in a row!  A success in my book! WAY better than his usual daily pop-tart
Ingredient Factor: 8 –  If you keep sliced ham around this bumps to a 9, I dont so I gave it an 8 for the mere reason that I had to go out and buy the sliced ham.
Bonus Factor: 8 - Perfect for breakfast the next morning!!
Scale 1-10 (one being least successful/ hardest, 10 being most successful)

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup zucchini shredded
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• ½ cup diced ham
• ¼ cup parsley chopped
• 2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 2 green onions diced
• Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine all ingredients in large bowl, mix and combine. Grease a muffin tin (mini or regular sized) or line with muffin cups. Bake 15-20 min, let cool before removing them from the muffin tin or muffin cups.

These are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner!  I served them at dinner with a “dinner for breakfast” theme, we had the quinoa muffins & pancakes.  A perfect protein alternative to bacon or sausage.  These little guys are freezable and made a wonderful breakfast the next morning for my crew.

Recipe adapted from www.iowagirleats.com