Pepperoni Pasta Salad

I'm not a fan of pasta salads. I love me some pasta, but I like it warm and usually creamy or cheesy or something of that sort. :)
But I tried a recipe I'd been eying on the back of our mini pepperoni* bag and I have to admit I'm a fan. This would be a perfect idea for pasta salad for a potluck or barbeque, as there is no mayo or anything that you have to worry about sitting out.

*we got this huge bag of the cutest tiny bitesized pepperoni at Costco... it's Hormel and they are so yummy -do you think the size makes them more appealing??- and we were all in love with them. They're perfect for making your own mini-pizzas, or for salads, or like here- for pasta salads. Sadly, Costco isn't currently carrying them and I can't find them anywhere in stores or online.

This exact recipe isn't on the Hormel website either, so I thought I'd jot it down in case I ever come across these precious mini's again. Obviously, it would work just as well with regular pepperoni cut into quarters or snipped into smalled bites...

8 ounces rotini (spiral-shaped) pasta (I used half regular and half whole wheat), cooked and drained
1 cup Pepperoni Mini's
4 ounces provolone cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (I just used the shredded mozerella I had in the fridge... about a cup)
1 medium tomato, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small can sliced ripe olives, drained
3/4 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients except for the dressing and Parmesan cheese in a large bowl. Add Italian dressing and toss to coat. Refrigerate salad for 1-2 hours before serving. Stir well before serving and toss with Parmesan cheese.

I mostly made this to use up the last of our pepperoni, and I thought the kids would like it. They like pasta, cheese, olives, they love those little pepperonis, and (Savannah at least) like tomatoes and peppers. Turns out, I loved it as well! I picked around the bell peppers and olives, Sawyer picked around everything, but it was a hit with Ryan and Savannah. We steamed some brocolli to go with it, as well as some slices of french bread. What a great summer meal to keep in mind!!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

I was bored of my go-to grilled chicken flavors... we often do some good old fashioned barbecue, and my all-time favorite grilling marinade is this Basil and Lemon version, but tonight I wanted something different. So I nosed around on the internet and this one sounded yummy.
And it was. I loved it.
We didn't have as much salad left as I thought we did, so Ryan's the only one who had it as an actual salad... I just ate the grilled chicken with some fresh cooked green beans. It was really good! I saved half my chicken breast though, and I'm anxious to pick up more salad this week and use up the leftover dressing!
Try it!!
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Ingredients

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
4 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts (4 to 6)

1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup Croutons

Directions

Mix soup, water, vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire, garlic, black pepper and 3 tbsp. cheese in shallow nonmetallic dish. Set aside 1 1/4 cups for dressing. Add chicken to remaining marinade and turn to coat. Refrigerate 15 min.

Remove chicken from marinade. Place chicken on lightly oiled grill rack or broiler pan. Grill or broil 15 min. or until chicken is no longer pink, turning and brushing often with marinade. Discard remaining marinade. Thinly slice chicken.

Toss lettuce, chicken and reserved dressing. Sprinkle with croutons and remaining cheese.

(FYI: the kids didn't eat much as usual... nothing against the flavor, I don't even think they tried it.)

Cantaloupe and Chicken Salad

I'm having pretty good luck with new recipes lately. I'm giving this one two thumbs up. Ryan was so-so and the kids of course wouldn't even try it.
I'm talking about a new summery dish I found called Cantaloupe and Chicken Salad.
Super easy to make... cantaloupe, grapes, cucumber and cooked cubed chicken all mixed up with a dressing of mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice and chives.

I'm usually not a fan of things "all mixed up together". I like lots of different foods; just keep em' separated! But the more I ate of this, the more it grew on me. I really liked the chicken with the dressing on it, and the fruit kept it light and crunchy. Ryan said it wasn't his favorite.

The kids, by the way, ended up eating their dinner "pre-assembled" :

Tonight We're Taking Dinner Out

Well, my menu was sort of thrown for a loop this past week, as I was really sick on Thursday and not really up to par on Friday and Ryan didn't want to stick to the menu and cook meals that the kids probably wouldn't even eat.
Friday we had planned on taking dinner to the Malones and visit with them and the new baby, but I didn't want to go near Yuri not being too sure about my stomach. So we're headed over there this evening and we're taking along my favorite Salmon Baked in Foil, along with an Apple and Pear Salad, some fresh baked bread, and for dessert... Creamy Lemon Squares. These are my absolute favorite... I could eat them all summer long. I found the recipe at the very beginning of the summer after searching high and low for a good lemon bar recipe. I love lemon bars, but I'm pretty picky about them. That is to say, I'll eat just about all of them, but I love the creamy ones, more like cheesecake than the ones that are too gel-ly. These are perfect! And I love that the crust is made of Nilla Wafers instead of Graham Crackers... very yummy! If you like lemon, give 'em a try.

Honey Nut Chicken Strips

We love these! It's one of my favorite and easiest recipes. They're good hot or cold and we really like them cut up on a caesar salad.

If you want to try the recipe, here are a few twists I do...
instead of messing with the food processor, I just put the cereal (I almost always use Honey Nut Cheerios because I usually have them on hand) in a Ziplock freezer bag and crush it up, then add all the other ingredients (don't forget the oil-- I, for some reason, almost always forget the oil and then they just aren't as crunchy), and just toss the chicken pieces in the bag to coat. (After the flour and egg drenching)
Savannah always complains they're "too spicy", so this last time I mixed up the cereal, bread crumbs and oil first and did a handful of tenders for the kids before I added all the spices and finished up the batch.

Well, even though the kids' were just honey nut chicken nuggets, they didn't eat it. Savannah had to be forced into ONE BITE. I keep trying these though, as theoretically it's something they should definitely like, and like I said, it's one of our favorites.