Adventures in Pinning: Quinoa Pizza Bites

I pinned this a while back and figured that it would be simple to make. I love quinoa, it's so filling and healthy for you too. I didn't have mozzarella cheese so I used pepper-jack. I didn't have pizza sauce so I used a can of diced tomatoes, added some herbs to it and stuck it in the magic bullet. I think people can really stress themselves out by having the perfect measurements and exact ingredients. 

I say, use what you have and have fun! 

Here's what I did:

Cooked the quinoa. (1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Bring to rollin' boil then set to simmer for about 12-15 minutes.) 

While it was cooking I...

diced 1/2 cup of white onion

minced 1 clove of fresh garlic

added 1 egg

grated 1/2 cup pepper-jack cheese

added couple shakes of dried oregano and basil

added a dash of salt 

added 1 drop of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

Mix all of that together with the cooked quinoa. 

Spray a mini-muffin pan with olive oil and scoop it in. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

 Obviously, my first batch was a fail. They stuck really bad to the pan and fell apart when I took them out. 

It was tough to eat the first batch. They fell apart and were kind of dry. I added a little bit more EVOO and the second batch came out great! 

YAY for pinterest success! I let them cool a little longer in the pan before I took them out. They were still kind of dry but with the warm pizza sauce on them they were delicious! 

Cooking will always be a learning process for me. 

BFFs being domestic

My bffs and I decided it was time to put our countless food pins to good use and be domestic. We picked what we wanted to make (judging mostly by picture of course), made a shopping list and went shopping. 

We decided on mozzarella sticks as an appetizer and garden veggie tortellini for our main course and fruit tacos with a chocolate tortilla as our dessert and shirley temples as our beverage of choice. 

Overall I'd say the evening was a success (minus the mozzarella sticks). However, some lessons were learned. 

1. Read the directions all the way thru before starting to chop, slice, melt, or stir anything.

2. Read them again just to be safe. 

3. Use the correct pots, pans and utensils. 

4. Make sure you read the directions. 

5. It doesn't always have to look pretty, as long as it tastes good. (cheese with crust still tastes good)

Pinterest Version on the left. BFF version on the right. 

Remember that cooking/baking/being domestic should always be fun!