We finally got some rain today, so I baked some oatmeal raisin cookies. Rainy days are great for baking and cuddling up on the couch to read or watch a movie and cinnamon baking in the oven always makes the house smell so good!

I also have a delicious dinner recipe to share. I have been wanting to make a casserole recipe with quinoa for a while now, but just never knew what exactly to pair it with. Tonight I figured it all out and made a cabbage and carrot quinoa casserole with veggie ground chicken. It was perfectly fantastic in my books and we have enough leftover for tomorrows lunch.

Cabbage Carrot Quinoa ‘Chicken’ Casserole

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Casserole –

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/2 head medium green cabbage, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (about 8 cups chopped)
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and shredded (about 2 1/2 cups shredded)
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (340 g) package Yves veggie ground chicken

Bread Crumb Topping –

• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Bring the2 cups of vegetable broth to boil in a medium saucepan. Add the quinoa, stir, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, bring a large saucepan of water to boil and add the chopped cabbage. Boil the cabbage 5-7 minutes, until soft. Drain and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
4. Combine the bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, sage, and sea salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
5. Place the cooked quinoa in a large mixing bowl. Add the cooked cabbage, shredded carrot and 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth and mix until combined. Crumble in the veggie chicken and mix again.
6. Pour the mixture into a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish and top with the bread crumb topping. Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes.

I know I say it all the time, but I can’t believe how big my little babe is getting!

The last few nights she has been sleeping in her crib and only sleeping with me when she wakes up around 4 in the morning because I am still breastfeeding and she is used to nursing in the night. She is slowly but surely turning into a big girl and I know that I will miss the late night wakings. Today I had to go through her drawers to put away all the clothes that no longer fit her. That is always a sad thing to me. I always tell my kids (half jokingly) to stop growing, but they don’t seem to be listening to me at all.

She also LOVES blueberries! This is her new favorite thing. It totally reminds me of when Kesa used to be a blueberry monster when she was a year old.

I already have her cake planned to and it won’t be long now. Seems like I am often baking cakes since there is a birthday in our house every two months, except for April.

Have a good night! 🙂