Italian Style Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is one of those foods that is good year round but is great in the summer time. I talk about summer foods like it's actually summer here and we woke up to snow almost every morning this week! But since it is most likely summer weather where you are I wanted to share my hubby's pasta salad recipe with you. It is so good and the perfect light dinner or you can double the recipe and take it to a potluck.

Italian Style Pasta Salad

Ingredients

12 oz gluten free rotini noodles
1 to 1 & 1/2 cups zesty Italian dressing
8 oz shredded mozzarella
1 small head broccoli, chopped
1 small head cauliflower, chopped
large handful matchstick carrots
2.25 oz can sliced black olives
15 oz can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Cook pasta according to instructions on the box. Rinse with cold water after cooking to stop the cooking process and cool the noodles off.
In a large bowl or storage container, combine the chopped broccoli, chopped cauliflower, carrots, black olives, cannellini beans and shredded mozzarella.
Add the cooked noodles to the bowl.
Pour in 1 cup of zesty Italian dressing. Add an additional 1/2 cup or more if needed.
Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Comments

Back to School Freezer Meal Prep

Well y'all its about that time...schools back in session! Now my little ones aren't of school age yet but my stepson and nieces are. School in the south starts much earlier than we do here in Wyoming and many of the counties have already begun classes. Now I know it is a relief to get the kids back in school and out of your hair, regardless of whether you're a working or stay at home parent. But things can get stressful when it comes to making sure you have a healthy(ish) meal on the table every night when there's work, school, extra curricular activities, etc.

Don't fret! I have got you covered with 30 freezer meals you can prep in a day and be set for the entire month. I chose 10 meals and repeated each meal 3 times. This means you'll be eating the same meal 3 times in a month BUT repeating the meals makes the prep go faster AND it is cheaper because you can buy certain things in bulk. If you don't like having the same meal more than once per month you ca…

Kid's Bathroom Makeover on a Budget!

Remodeling can be SO expensive! I sometimes feel the saying "champagne taste on a beer budget" 100% applies to me. Being the HGTV junkie that I am, I watch all of these people say they're doing things "on a budget" and think their "budget makeover" is my "champagne taste". Even though I do like the nice things and there are a lot of things I don't think you should skimp on the quality, it is definitely possible to have nice things and not pay an arm and a leg for them. Shopping the clearance section at home improvement stores is one of the ways we save a lot of money when doing projects. You might not get exactly what you initially wanted but as long as you have an open mind and a general idea of your design you'll be able to find what you need and sometimes it'll be even better than your original plan.

The biggest way to save money on any remodel is to do as much as you can yourself. Paying a contractor or handyman adds up quick.…

14 Gluten Free Vegetarian Freezer Meals

There have been a couple of times throughout my adult life that I have tried to go vegetarian. I think the longest I have ever gone is a few months and then I was back to eating meat again. My hubby is a pretty big meat eater but lately he has been having a lot more stomach issues and since my kiddos pretty much eat the vegetables and everything else other than meat most meals I decided to do a trial 2 week vegetarian dinner meal plan. The kiddos and my hubby will still be eating some meat at breakfast and lunch time but all of the dinners will be vegetarian or I believe the technical term is lacto-ovo-vegetarian since a lot of the dishes contain eggs and dairy.

My goals for this meal plan, when I was searching for freezer friendly vegetarian meals, is that they have to gluten free, protein dense so we don't feel deprived or starving, kid friendly and around my usual grocery budget. I also tried to find recipes that called for vegetables that I will be growing in my raised beds th…

That Wyo Life

Search This Blog