About Me

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Im 30 yrs old very happy married to a wonderful man (Nathan) i have a 7yr old son (Lochlan) and one on the way! We live in a town called Davistown. Im an aussie that use to live in the states! But have recently returned back to Australia! And im VERY passionate about cooking and my family!

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Monday, January 10, 2011

Super Simple Pasta! Healthy and Filling!


Ok so i have done "some" cooking here in Australia but not really that much...more so just taking a break and taking it easy! But when i have cooked its usually been some sort of pasta dish or chicken dish in the oven :) This meal is really simple and extremely tasty! To cut down on time shop/gather all your ingredients and even prepare them a couple of days in advanced! That way when its time to cook this meal you wont have any chopping to do!
This makes ALOT if you follow it to a tee! This fed 5 adults 1 child and we had a good amount of left overs!

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil 
2 pounds of ground lean Hamburger/Mince
1 Can of diced tomatoes
7 large mushrooms(sliced and diced to prevent picking out! mwahaha!)
2 large carrots(grated)
3 Tablespoons of minced/crushed garlic
2 large onions(sliced thinly)
1 can of blended tomatoes or a can of plain tomato sauce
1 small tub of Greek yogurt
1/4 of a cup of pitted olives(diced up small)
2 Boxes of Pasta i used the spiral ones 
herbs to taste as listed:
Rosemary
Ground Black pepper
Sweet Basil
Chili Pepper Flakes
Marjoram
Thyme
and Ground Fennel
I used about a Tablespoon and a half of each dried herb and some ground sea salt to taste!



I used an electric skillet to cook the meat sauce, i didn't cook the pasta until i was almost done with the sauce and i cooked the pasta al dente style so that it wasn't mushy and goopy!

Heat the oil in the skillet and add your onions and garlic, cook for 5-10mins then add your meat. Now everyones different but i like to add my dried herbs a few mins after the meat has cooked a little. Stir the herbs around and let simmer for a few mins then add your grated carrots, diced mushrooms and diced olives. Let it cook then add your canned tomatoes and tomato sauce place the lid on the skillet and let sit for 10-15mins stirring once in a while. At this point i start cooking the pasta when the pasta is almost done cooking i add the yogurt to the meat and mix it threw turning the temp up a lil. Mix it all up well then place the lid back on and turn the skillet off. Strain the pasta and place straight into a large serving dish, pour the meat sauce over the top and mix threw and place it on the table! :) And have at it family style!

This dish is great you can ALWAYS add all sorts of veggies to it the sauce really packs flavour so you can really get the kids or fussy hubby to eat anything with this sauce! I have added alsorts of summer squash to this and green beans even shredded cabbage! Also it can be served with Quinoa or couscous if your watching your carbs :)

Today i am linked up for Tuesday Night Supper Club link up! At one of my fav foodie blogs Fudge Ripple! Head on over and see what everyones been up to!