Three Bean Pasta Salad

On hot days like today, where the weather reaches a high of 40°C, I can't bring myself to do very much, and even less in the kitchen. Cold pasta salads are definitely the way to go in these situations! I just made this salad, and even though I eyeballed it, I thought I'd share the gist of it nonetheless. It is obviously an incredibly flexible recipe anyway.

Ingredients:

• Rotini pasta
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 a red onion
• 1/4 of a [large] cucumber
• Red kidney beans, chick peas, romano beans, black-eyed peas in water [a total of 540 ml]
• Basil, oregano, thyme, sage, savoury
  
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sea salt

Steps:

1. Get the water boiling for the pasta.
2. While the pasta is doing its thing, chop up all the non-bean ingredients.
   
3. I am a wimp, and like to soak the onions in a bowl full of water for a few minutes before adding them to the mix. It makes them milder but still very tasty.
4. Make sure to rinse the beans well.
   
5. Add the aforementioned ingredients together in a bowl. Mix.
6. Once the pasta is finished cooking, rinse it under cold water until it is chilled. Then plop it in a separate bowl after it has been strained.
   
7. Add a portion of the ingredients onto the pasta. You probably won't need it all.
8. I added just a bit of olive oil to get it lubricated, quite a bit more balsamic vinegar, sea salt, and the herbs and mixed it up real well.
9. I also use a large spoon to eat this pasta because the beans tend to sink to the bottom and a fork just doesn't cut it for the job.

Enjoy!

A Very Excellent Pancake Reality

As is fairly obvious by now, I stopped jotting down my daily meals a while ago. Life became too hectic and I realized that I actually eat pretty decently, and that it's not all that necessary to share on a blog. But I do want to start sharing recipes again, so here it goes.

The pancake recipe I will be sharing has been praised as , well, a really excellent pancake. It's the perfect consistency, and it isn't too sweet or too boring. This recipe serves about 4 normal people.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 2.5 teaspoons baking powder
• .5 teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1.5 cups of milk
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter

Steps:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt).
2. Add the wet ingredients (egg, milk, melted butter) and mix together thoroughly.
3. Pour on a buttered frying pan and started frying!
4. It's also a good idea to keep the oven on low and to pile the pancakes in there on a plate. Keeps them toasty, and everyone can eat warm pancakes together.
   

Optional ingredients:

• Fruit! I personally cannot get enough raspberries in my pancakes.
• Chocolate chips for the sweet tooth (ME!).
• I also like to add food coloring to my pancakes for the aesthetic quality.

Enjoy! Hope this is helpful to someone out there craving a very excellent pancake!

Raspberry Banana Smoothie Delight

A super tasty and simple to make smoothie recipe. I made this tonight and it felt like pure health. Recipe comes from my head! Serving size for this smoothie is for either one crazy person or two normal people. Guess which one I am.

Ingredients:

• Handful of raspberries [the frozen ones]
• 1 banana [I avoided the yucky parts]
  
• Approx. 3/4 cup of yogurt [I used vanilla]
  
• A couple ice cubes

Steps:

1. Blend all these ingredients together!
2. Serve in either one large glass or two regular sized ones.
3. Enjoy!

This is an intense smoothie, so beware! If it seems too thick I'm assuming that adding a bit of water or milk to the mix would probably fix that problem. But I really like thick so there was no issue. Also, smoothies are a great place to add vitamin and nutrient powder supplements. Though I have never tried doing so myself I have heard only positive hearsays about it.

Perma-Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Most cookies harden once they cool down, but these little guys always stay soft. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they are 80% sugar. Definitely not healthy, but such a yummy treat to make once in a blue moon! This recipe comes from the Klutz Kids Cooking book.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter [melted]
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 1/8 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• As many chocolate chips as you desire
• Touch of cinnamon [optional]
  

Steps:

1. In a small bowl melt the butter in the microwave. While it's hot add both sugars. Stir it and let cool a bit.
2. While it's cooling, mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl [flour, soda, salt, cinnamon].
3. Add the vanilla and egg to the sugary, buttery goodness. Mix it up.
4. Now add the wet mix to the dry. Stir it up and add in as many chocolate chips as your little heart desires. Stir more.
   
5. Once your are satisfied that all the ingredients have become familiar with each other you may store the bowl in the fridge for an hour. This is optional, though it does make it really easy for later on. I usually follow this step even though it delays the cookie eating.
6. Turn the oven to 375 degrees. What a simple step!
   
7. Get your cookie sheets out! No need to grease. Make sure your hands are clean and roll the dough into walnut-sized balls.
8. Bake for 10 minutes, DO NOT OVERCOOK!!
9. Once they are done let cool and stuff your face!

This recipe claims to make 2 dozen, but I can usually only squeeze 20-23 cookies out of it. Maybe my minds idea of the size of a walnut is somewhat off.

Welcome to my food blog!

When I was a little kid I would often ask my mother what was for dinner and her response was always the same: Pig's feet. For the longest time I thought she was only being silly. I mean, why would someone want to eat pig's feet? Well, years later I discovered a restaurant called 'Pattes De Cochon' and was shocked. I never entered it, maybe out of fear of what I would encounter, but it stuck in my memory. I feel it is an appropriate title for this new blog.

Inspired by my friend Cindy, I decided it was a great idea to create my own food blog. My goals here are to document what I ingest daily as well as post photographs and recipes of my food, though that will not happen everyday. The point of this is to create more awareness of my diet, see what I am lacking and what I am consuming too much of and hopefully improve upon it gradually.

I don't expect many to be interested, but you are welcomed to read along nonetheless. I consider today Day 1.