How to turn your thin, runny yogurt into thick, Greek-like yogurt

This is so simple I'm not even sure it counts as a recipe. But I didn't know it before, and now I do, and I am happier for it! So it stays.

For some reason, all the yogurt in Paraguay (and I assume, all of Latin America) is a liquidy drink. Now I admit, this comes in handy if you only have one hand free because you have coffee in the other hand, or if you don't have a spoon. However, I *love* thick, creamy yogurt with berries and other goodies mixed in. Sometimes the fancy stores here have Greek yogurt but only the flavored kind, and I'm really a flavor-it-yourself kind of girl.

I'm not sure if it counts as "Greek" but it is delicious. And all it takes is a coffee filter and some time.

What you need:
Regular yogurt
coffee filter or cheesecloth
clothespins and a container

What to do:
Put your coffee filter over the top of a container, and secure with clothespins or a rubber band.
Pour yogurt in.
Wait.
(I put it in before going to bed so it's ready in the morning. I don't like waiting that much)

When the majority of the liquid has drained into the cup, it's done! Dump the liquid, and pour/squeeze the yogurt in the coffee filter into a container. Wallah! It's so easy!

I don't have the "after" picture yet...I'm too impatient. Hopefully I won't oversleep and I'll take it in the morning.

Has anyone tried this with the metal reusable coffee filters? I haven't, because, well, you know, I need it to make coffee. High priority in this house. But leave a comment and let me know if you have.

Recipe Mashup: Quinoa Shrimp + Red Lentil Curry = Yum!

So first of all I wasn't planning on blogging this recipe, so I didn't take pictures or exactly measure things. Think of this as a "rough draft" of a recipe to come. Basically, I was cleaning out the fridge to prepare for a vacation. I recently made this yummy Garlic Butter Shrimp Quinoa recipe, from Pinch of Yum. It was really good but made a ginormous amount so I still had a lot left. And freezing quinoa? Didn't sound like a good idea. So I thought if I could add it into some kind of stew, there would be freezing potential. I found Hummusapien's Curried Quinoa Red Lentil Soup, and I made a plan. Oh yeah, since I'm not very good at following directions, and I love curry, in the Garlic Butter Shrimp recipe I used curry paste instead of chili powder, so that's why I was looking for a soup with curry flavors. In case you were wondering.

Anyway, geez, why don't I just get to the recipe already instead of blabbing on and on?

Remember how I told you this is a rough draft until I make it again with measuring and pictures and stuff? So here's kind of the gist of my recipe. I kind of mostly followed the Hummusapien recipe with the following changes: I didn't use tomatoes or almond milk. I used about 250-300 grams coconut milk and 2 cups of water and a chicken bullion cube. I also added some chopped green onions. I would have added fresh tomatoes and red bell peppers too, only they were not so fresh after all when I took them out of the fridge! Since I was using precooked quinoa, I just added it in at the end. This had a little bit of shrimp in it, but it would also be a great meatless or chicken meal. The blend of spices and flavors is delish!! I will try to incorporate some of these ideas next time I make this dish, but wanted to share it now so you can experiment, and so I don't forget.