what's in E's plate? - quinoa cakes

does this sound familiar? you read a recipe and you just think, 'sounds delicious... if only my toddler would eat this. it would avoid making two...three...four different meals.' honestly, there are tons of things we said we would do when we became parents and we've changed our minds on but making different meals for everyone just isn't something i want to compromise on. we find ways to make our meal 'baby-friendly' as much as possible.

here is a simple one. quinoa cakes. add any type of veggie. make a funky mayo/sauce to accompany. and arm yourself with patience. some kids might jump on this like it's the last toy on earth... others might play around with it. E was somewhere in between. we made ours with broccoli and kale knowing she LOVES broccoli and sort of eats kale, depending on how it's made. oh! and we added cheese cause come on... who doesn't love cheese? (sorry vegans...)


ima be honest... i'm not a recipe giver/sharer/followers. i'm really bad with doing things exactly as i should. i have no clue what the proportions are but here are the ingredients:

• quinoa - if you have some left over the fridge... perfect! about 2 cups should give 6 medium-sized patties.
• cheese - we did sharp cheddar cause it has an interesting taste and is good for melting, but you could also do feta or gouda or mozarella... possibilties are endless.
• breadcrumbs - we did regular but you can do seasoned if you want.
• eggs - for about 2 cups of quinoa, we did 3 eggs.
• veggies - now is the time to hide shit: spinach, tiny bits of broccoli, kale, carrots, zuchinni, mushrooms, corn, lentils... go nuts! 
• season to taste - i added cumin cause it's my favorite spice nowadays but go with what you like.

i sauteed the veggies and literally just shoved everything in a bowl. you're best to wait for the veggies to cool off a tad so they don't cook the eggs but other than that, just go for it. mix and let sit while you preheat your oven at about 350-375 degrees. line a pyrex dish with some parchement paper - it will avoid sticking. you can also fry these but we rather the less fatty version since we like to serve it with some curry mayo (literally just curry added to mayo). 

here is E's plate - one patty cut up into quarters served with cold cucumber and roasted carrots. it took a few dozen minutes to convince her to eat it, i'm not going to lie... but once she tasted it, she was sold and even let out a little "mmmmm". BOOM! cue the victory dance. 

it was DE-LIC-IOUS. 

note: curry mayo makes everything taste better. everything.