Macaroni Salad

Here is another pasta salad that I love!  It isn't the prettiest salad to photograph but it sure is tasty. My friend gave me this recipe about 10 years ago and I have enjoyed making it many times since,  You can use any type of pasta for this dish. I usually like to use Ditalini but the store was out of it, so I used small shells this time.

Macaroni Salad



16 oz of cooked pasta

1/2 bell pepper chopped

1/2 onion (I usually just use a couple dashes of onion powder)

1/2 can olives chopped  ( I use the whole can)

3-4 large pickles chopped

1-1 1/2 C. diced cheddar cheese (I like sharp in this one)

6 hard boiled eggs, diced

salt and pepper to taste

dash of garlic salt

1-2 C Mayonnaise

1/2 C. Sour Cream

2-3 Tbsp pickle juice

Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.  Then add next 6 ingredients.

Dressing- In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, pickle juice, salts and pepper.   Mix together and add to salad. Refrigerate for several hours before serving. You may need to add more mayonnaise and salt prior to serving.

Tip: Make sure to cool the pasta before adding the cheese. It will melt it if you don't.

Crunchy Oriental Noodle Cabbage Salad And GIVEAWAY

My sister-in-law makes this quite frequently for out family gatherings.  It never gets old. We love it!  It's so easy and quick. My kids and husband don't like green onions, so I usually just add them into my portion. Give it a try, you'll love it!

In honor of our first 1000 hits, I want to do a giveaway.   For this giveaway, the winner will receive 2 customized hair bows courtesy of Creations By Jennie.  Ok actually that's me.  I have another creations blog for other things I like to create outside of the kitchen. I'll customize 2 bows for you. A few samples of styles are on the link above. 

Here's is what you need to do to be the winner.  Send me a post about your favorite recipe of mine so far. Tell me why you liked it and tell one recipe/or type of food you would like to see on my blog. I will choose a winner on March 1st and let you know who the winner is.

Crunchy Oriental Noodle Cabbage Salad

Salad:

1 large can cooked chicken

1 c. sunflower seeds

2 (16 oz) packages Cole slaw (with the bagged salad) 

8 green onions chopped

2 packages Oriental Ramen Noodles (broken)

Dressing:

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. oil

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tbsp.  soy sauce

1/4 c. Vinegar

2 flavor packets from ramen noodles

In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients.  In another bowl combine dressing ingredients and stir well. Pour over salad, and toss to coat, just before serving.

Pasta Salad

6 and 3 years ago I gave birth to two beautiful girls.  Yep that's right, they have the same birthday!  In their honor I am going to post one of their all time favorites. Pasta Salad

We love pasta salad! That's about all I can say about that.   It's simple, its yummy and you can make a ton and eat it throughout the entire week.  It's very simple. Noodles, veggies, dressing, cheese and maybe even meat.  This is a great dish to use all of those veggies that need to get eaten before they go bad.  Our favorite is to put in shredded Parmesan cheese. You can use any kind of cheese though.  Also we like to put pepperoni in ours.  This time I tried using the pepperoni sticks because I had a coupon for them.  I really liked it that way. Any pepperoni would work though.

Pasta Salad

1 box of pasta (I like the tri-colored rotini for good color)

Any veggies you want

Sliced carrots

sliced olives

broccoli

cauliflower

cherry or grape tomatoes

cucumbers

pepperoncinnis

sliced bell pepper

purple onion

Cheese( any kind)

pepperoni

1/2-1 bottle of Italian dressing

Boil pasta until al-dente.  Cool and add all ingredients. Stir well and serve cold

Tangy Spinach Salad

A friend of mine made this for me when I got home from the hospital with my 4th baby.  I was never a huge spinach fan until lately and now I am finding some yummy things to do with spinach.  This one is a whole different flavor than your usual spinach salad flavors. Every one that I have served it too has really loved it.  My kids especially love it.  I would have probably never made it just looking at the recipe.  The combo just seams weird to me for a salad dressing. But give it a try, seriously, you wont be disappointed. The original recipe doesn't call for craisins, but I added them to it and it really adds to the salad.  also the dressing is a little thick, like a glaze.  You can add a tablespoon or so of water to thin it out a little.  Don't add too much though, because it will dilute the yummy flavor. The dressing recipe, goes a long way. We use it for two meals.

Tangy Spinach Salad

A bag of Spinach (I like to use baby)

3 hard boiled eggs

1 cup of dried cranberries (like craisins)

6-8 pieces of bacon crumbled

Dressing

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Add all ingredients in the blender and blend well. (I use one of those hand blenders used for personal size smoothies and such)

Grape Salad

It's salad week here at Mommy's Kitchen Creations!  I've got some super yummy selections for you this week. I've got a wide variety of salads for you all.  Today's recipe comes from my dear mother.  She used to make this Grape Salad for dinner parties. We even had it at my sisters wedding.

The number one key to this recipe is to choose FIRM red seedless grapes.  Mushy grapes are disgusting in this dish! So make sure to pick through and get all of the mushy ones out. Also take out all of those little stems that like to sneak in. The second key to this dish, is to soften the cream cheese to room temperature. Make sure beat it by itself and then beat in the other ingredients. Every time I add everything all at once... the cream cheese end up lumpy. I'm not sure why but it does. 

Grape Salad

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese (softened to room temp)

1 jar of marshmallow cream

1 (8oz) tub of cool whip

1 bag of firm purple grapes (de-stemmed)

With an electric mixer, blend cream cheese well. Add marshmallow cream and cool whip. Mix together and fold in grapes. Serve as a side dish or a dessert.

Chalupa

Last night I was having one moments where I was standing in my pantry thinking... hmm what to make for dinner.  I've heard it names, "the 5:00 stare". So true huh?  Anyway, next I dug through my freezer in hopes for something to jump out at me.  And it did. Chalupa.  I am all about freezer meals.  I made this a few months ago and froze the leftovers.  They come in handy when the 5:00 stare hits!

 I got this recipe from a ward cookbook. It's my friends recipe. She cooks it in the oven for a long time. I don't want to use the electricity so I just throw it all in the crock pot.  I love it! So do my kids. That's always a plus right?

Chalupa

1 roast (pork or beef)  I like beef

3 1/2 -4 cups pre-cooked pinto beans

1 tsp garlic salt

2 tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp ground oregano

1 small can diced green chilies

1 bottle red taco sauce

1 tsp salt.

Place roast in crock pot then add all other ingredients. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred the beef.  Eat with chips and top with lettuce, tomato, onions, sour cream, olives, green onions, shredded cheese, jalapenos and/or pepperoncinnis.

JJ's Spaghetti Sauce

We love spaghetti in our house. We probably have it at least once a week. I decided to make my own sauce and actually write it down as I go this time.  I've made some good ones in the past but can never remember what I did.  This one is really good! I think I would do less Italian seasoning next time. It's a little strong.  Although it would make a great pizza sauce that way. The key to making your own sauce is to let it simmer for a good long while, then taste it...I didn't really do that today so I added too much. The flavors hadn't married together quite yet.  You can always add more later and then simmer it a little more. 

We will start our garden this weekend, then I'll make this with fresh ingredients but today I used everything from food storage.  I had a huge can of tomato sauce from Costco that I used. I also bought a big bag of bell peppers from Costco, chopped them up into one cup portions and froze them a few months ago. So I used one of those bags.  I love having veggies on hand in the freezer for soups and things. All of the herbs, I had in the cupboard.  And the garlic, I pulled from the pre-pressed garlic in the jar. I know fresh is so much better, but lets be honest, sometimes its not always practical. Also, the nice thing about this recipe, is you have enough to put in the freezer for another meal later.  As a mom of 4 I rely on freezer meals quite often. I also love using whole wheat pasta. Costco sales it in a bulk pack. My kids love it!

One quick tip:  Cover the pot when you are boiling the sauce! This stuff flies everywhere and burns like crazy when it lands on you!

JJ's Spaghetti Sauce

1 tbsp Olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 cup chopped red bell pepper (Optional)

1 large (#10) can of tomato sauce (6 lb 10 oz can)

3 Tbsp Italian Seasoning (next time I would use 2-2 1/2 Tbsp)

1 tsp onion powder

2 cans petite diced tomatoes (drained)

1/2 tsp basil (dried)

1 tsp parsley (dried)

1/2 tsp Marjoram

5 tbsp sugar (about 1/3 cup)

Salt to taste

In a large stock pot, saute oil, garlic and bell pepper for about 5 minutes, then combine all other ingredients. Simmer for 20-30 Minutes.