Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms

Today actually was the dinner that I said I was going to.  I think I've finally gotten my days straight.  Today is Monday right?  Okay well it's 12:02 here, so technically its Tuesday, but you know what I mean.  

My friend told me she was making soup, but I was anticipating a lack of protein, so I decided to make some stuffed mushrooms stuffed with quinoa.  I was incredibly pleased with my time-management, actually, but the shrooms were good too!  

Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms

Pre-oven

About 16 baby bella or white mushrooms (enough to fill a square baking dish)

3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsbp salt free seasoning (I used Emeril's Chicken Rub:  red pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, etc) 

1 1/4 cup cooked quinoa

3 tbsp dried basil

3 tsbp dried parsley

1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast

3-4 tbsp vegan cream cheese

salt & pepper to taste

paprika

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Prepare baking by coating with a thin layer of oil, or use cooking spray.

2.  Stem and clean mushroom caps by brushing with a damp towel.

3.  Heat olive oil in pan.  Add garlic and saute for a few minutes, then add salt free seasoning, mixing to coat.  

4.  Add quinoa, basil, parsely, and nutritional yeast until well combined.

5.  Add cream cheese and mix well 

6.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

7.  Fill mushrooms with stuffing, sprinkle with paprika, and cook in preheated oven for 20 minutes, uncovered.  

Per Mushroom (about 3 per person would make a good appetizer serving):

Nutrition Information:  41.8 Calories;  1.8g Total Fat;  0.3g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  5.1g Carbohydrates;  1.3g Fiber;  2.0g Protein

Oh, cutest thing, my friend tried really hard to make stuff that I could eat.  She wanted to make potato leek soup, so I sent her a bunch of vegan recipes for it, and then she found her own recipe for vegan pesto.  When I got there, she said it came out really well, but she didn't understand why it told her to put yeast in it.  Too cute, she put regular yeast in it, when it obviously (to vegans) meant nutritional yeast.  It was seriously delicious though, even with the regular yeast.

We had a fun night, we ate, drank, there was a ton of food and not enough people to eat it.  Then we played Apples to Apples and Partini.  I am a big fan of Apples to Apples, I think because I am pretty good at reading people, so I often win.  I'm pretty competitive, so...I like any game I have a decent of winning, haha.  We were really frustrated with Partini at first, it seemed to hard, but it ended up being a lot of fun...so much so that I didn't realize how badly we were losing, and I actually didn't even care (shocker!!).

It still feels like the weekend to me!  My brother is home from school, my dad is home from work, I am just so damned confused.  So, I guess I should end this by telling everyone to have a great week!

Today's Cooking Song of the Day:  "Don't Look Back in Anger" - Oasis