And now for something completely different

HAHAHA alright well maybe not something completely different but it did manage to get your attention, at least that is the hope.  So being a student I am always on the lookout for quick, cheap and nutritious recipes to make and today I came up with a good one.  As a student I certainly have had my fair share of pasta with all kinds of different toppings and after a while you get bored of the typical toppings but today good family I came up with something different.  PASTA WITH YOGURT!

If you have already experienced this before then I don't need to tell you about the versatility, deliciousness and cheapness it is to make pasta with yogurt.  I had come across the idea while looking for dinner ideas online, now I know that you all are saying it is impossible it just can't be done it is a well known fact that when you heat up yogurt it separates and goes all grainy and weird.  You would be very correct as you have to be very careful when heating yogurt as it will do just that but I think that I have found a solution.

For this recipe the first thing that you are going to want to do is boil some water, because the pasta can't be very hot when you put the yogurt sauce on it I suggest making the pasta first as it will give it some time to cool down before applying the sauce.

After you have the pasta cooking then what you are going to want to do is heat up a frying pan and add some chopped onions, if you are like me and love the flavor of caramelized onions don't be afraid to use a couple of onions to get lots of onion goodness in the pasta.



Once you onions are well on their way to being cooked, be careful to keep an eye on the pasta as there is nothing worse then overcooked pasta, you are going to want to add some garlic.  In this case I have become lazy and bought some premashed garlic so I am going to add about a teaspoon and a bit (whatever feels right). At the same time that you add the garlic throw some cherry tomatoes in as well so they can get all nice and warm all though out.

The pasta is probably done so drain your pasta and set it aside (off the heat)

Now once your onion, garlic and tomato mixture is ready throw some salt into it to spice things up and then mix the mixture in with your pasta.  Now for the next step you are going to want to turn the heat way down on your frying pan (if you have not already done this) and let the pan cool a little.  Once the pan is just warm you are going to add your plain yogurt (I am sure that you could use a flavored yogurt but that would be just weird).  Anyways warm up your yogurt just until it gets runny (it shouldn't take very long), this will make it easier for you to spread your yogurt though your pasta as well as take all those delicious flavors from the onions and the garlic from your pan into your pasta.  I would suggest adding a little salt to the yogurt mixture as well or else your pasta may end up a little bland (I don't usually cook my pasta in salt water but if you have you may want to skip this step).

Anyways once that yogurt is runny you are going to add this to your warm pasta and mix it all around.  Then voila you have a delicious meal just waiting to be eaten that is nutritious, cheap and easy to make.  Three good things if you are a Van Bruggen.

If you have any dinner suggestions which meet the criteria of being fast, cheap, nutritious and easy please forward them on to me as I would be ever so grateful.

Love

Wes

Challenge of the week

Hi All

I realize that the week is still not yet up and there is still time to get your food post up (mom and dad I am looking your collective direction as your children have been successful in meeting the challenge criteria, even if Lynnette's post is a little questionable).  I would also like to point out that both mom and dad should be submitting their own recipes and entries to these challenges.  We all know that you both can complete each others sentences and are often thinking the same thoughts but still we know that you can both cook so there is no excuse not to each post something to the blog.

Anyways my new challenge for next week is breakfast.  I know that everyone in our family loves breakfast so prove it by posting what you made for breakfast (I guess we can allow food that was not made this week), the only catch of it is that you have to make your recipe your own.  Now to explain what I mean.  We all know how to make french toast and pancakes but what did you do to make your breakfast unique to you, this could be a different topping than what we normally have, or perhaps the addition of an unusual spice or it could be something that no one has ever had before.  If you have never taken a recipe and made it your own now is the time.  This week my challenge to all is to post your unique breakfast recipe (it does not have to be made in the last week but lets be honest if it is delicious why wouldn't you want to make it anyways).

I will talk to you all later.

P.S exploding eggs supreme is not an acceptable submission mom

P.P.S since it is generally dad who does the making of breakfast I think that we will give mom a pass on this challenge (unless she wants to prove us wrong)

Raising to the challenge

I would first like to say well played Becky well played.  The first post with pictures and everything.  I am sorry to say that my post will not have pictures and I didn't invent the dish myself but it is still delicious.  As you all may or may not know A friend of mine just recently left Ljubljana and I inherited a number of the thing that she didn't want to take with her and one of the things that I inherited is a large amount of lentils.  Now I am not one to waste something but I have been having a hard time finding lentil recipes which are not soups until I came across this one.

This is called Masoor Daal (I believe that it is an Indian dish)

Step 1:  Bring 1 cup of red lentils to a boil with one 1 inch piece of peeled ginger in the pot, once pot has boiled for 2 minutes reduce the heat and simmer for about 8 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Step 2:  While the lentils are boiling add a generous amount of oil to a pot and saute 1 chopped onion until translucent

Step 3:  Add 1 teaspoon of cumin (either seeds or ground cumin), 1/4 teaspoon of tumeric, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Step 4: Drain the lentils and add to the onions and let flavors combine for a few minutes over low heat

Step 5: Eat with rice and bread or if you are feeling like something a little different eat with eggs and with a little cheese on top for breakfast.

Step 6: start the whole process over again because it was delicious and super cheap to make.

Dad/Mom what happened to that recipe which you said that you were going to be posting soon?  I expected that you would be the first post.  Also Becky I must admit when I started to read your post I thought that you had actually went ahead and posted perogies (spelling ?) and sausage and I was preparing to mock you.