Dieter’s Palate

I am no longer measuring the success of my dinners by Dieter’s reaction. Dieter would be thrilled with a peanut butter and honey sandwich and disgusted with pretty much anything else. That is not a discerning palate in my opinion.

I knew I was taking a shot in the dark with dinner last night and if I were to measure it’s success with Dieter’s reaction it would have been this:

You know it’s no good when he picks his tossed away, baby paci over the food.  Sometimes he’ll even start chewing on the high chair strap which is a sure sign he would rather eat anything besides what’s on his tray.

But I am proud to say that this dinner was delicious!  And kid friendly (as long as your name isn’t Dieter).

Quinoa “mac and cheese” and broccoli bites.

Quinoa Mac and Cheese

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups quinoa (cooked according to package directions)

1 egg

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

1 tsp. garlic salt (adjust according to taste)

Seasoned bread crumbs

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients except the quinoa and bread crumbs in a large bowl.  Add the quinoa to the cheese mixture and combine well.  Pour into a greased, 9×13 inch pan.  Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top begins to brown.

This recipe was slightly adapted from here.

Note: Quinoa usually needs to be rinsed really well before cooking or else you’ll have bitter-tasting food.  You can buy pre-rinsed quinoa, which I used for this recipe.  It is definitely a time-saver.

Broccoli Bites thanks to Stacey Snacks

Ingredients

16 oz. bag of frozen broccoli, thawed (I used a 12 oz. bag and they turned out a little “breadier” as a result)

1 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese

3 eggs

1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions

Squeeze out the excess liquid from the broccoli and cut into small pieces.  Combine all the ingredients and shape into small patties. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (I didn’t have parchment paper so I just sprayed the baking sheet and it worked okay).  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, flipping the bites over halfway through.

Note: Because of timing I had to bake the quinoa and broccoli bites at the same time.  I put the quinoa in about 10 minutes before the broccoli bites (at 375 degrees) and it all worked out just fine.  I did keep a closer eye on everything since I wasn’t sure what the warmer temp and fuller oven would do.

There you have it!