I'm back! We survived a 5 day trip with a baby who had a cold, pink eye in not one - but both eyes, and cut her first tooth. And you know what, if we can survive that, I'd say we can survive anything. Kenley was SUCH a trooper the whole trip - you couldn't even tell that she felt bad. And she loved driving the boat :)
I'll have more details on the amazing food we ate while in MN later, I just wanted to share a recipe today that's satisfying, healthy, and yummy. Might be a good way to bounce back from the Memorial Day BBQs, eh?
Baby girl got to sit in her big girl chair for the first time last night. Since Kenley is offically 6 months old (!!), we attempted "baby led weaning", instead of the food purees that I've been making lately. If you've never heard of this before, according to Wikipedia,
"Baby-led weaning (often also referred to as BLW) is a method of gradually weaning a baby from a milk diet onto solid foods. It allows a baby to control his solid food intake by self-feeding from the very beginning of the weaning process."
She looked a little shocked at first. I put out a bunch of different foods so she could inspect them. This HAS to be more fun for babies. They love putting things into their mouth! She immediately grabbed the sweet potato...
She doesn't have the pincers to be able to grab the peas and banana quite yet. Try, try again. I'll be sure to post about it in the baby section :)
After seeing this recipe on How Sweet It Is, I knew I wanted to make it. We overindulged last weekend - which is to be expected - so I wanted to eat something light and healthy. This fit the bill and was surprisingly satisfying. If you've never had quinoa, give it a try! It's actually a source of PROTEIN, believe it or not!
The way to make perfect quinoa is to let a cup of it soak for 15-20 minutes, then rinse it in a strainer.
Next, combine the grain and your cooking liquid into a pot. 1 cup quinoa to 1 1/4 cups liquid. I used chicken broth, but water or veggie broth works well, too.
Let this come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover for 10 minutes. Remove it from the heat (still covered) for 5 minutes. Fluff it with a fork and you're done!
I combined the cooked quinoa, whole wheat breadcrumbs, parsley, cheese, and cooked sweet potato and onion into a bowl, along with salt and pepper. Next, I added in some of this:
I found this at Whole Foods and was so excited. Only one ingredient - Organic Egg Whites. Nice! I used about 3 tbs, instead of a whole egg.
Once I made the mixture into patties, I cooked them for about 6 minutes on each side.
I like a good crust on these, so I kicked up the heat, but you can cook them longer on lower heat if you'd like less color. Like I always say, color=flavor!
SWEET POTATO QUINOA CAKES
Adapted from How Sweet It Is with a few slight changes
1 medium sweet potato (about 6 oz), peeled and chopped
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan (I used cheddar) cheese
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg, lightly beaten (I used whites only)
Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and add 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Add in sweet potato, onion, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, stir, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until potato is soft. Remove lid and add garlic, cooking for 30 seconds.
Transfer potato mixture to a large bowl (slightly mashing potato with a fork) and add quinoa, breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs, remaining salt and pepper and mix well. Once combined, add in egg, then mix until moistened. Using your hands to bring it together, form four equally-sized patties. Heat the same skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add cakes and cook for 5 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
September 10, 2012 
The glaze on the chicken is almost teriyaki-like, and it compliments the quinoa so well. The sugars in the glaze will get nice and dark on the chicken once it's cooked. Just remember that color=flavor people! Don't forget the scallions, they really cut through the sweet and saltiness of this dish.
