Kid's Corner: Eat your Veggies Colorful Pasta Salad

My kids have been bred to love Italian dressing and green olives. When they were very young, my husband would dip his finger in Italian dressing and let them suck on it. When they started solids, he would give then little pieces of green olive. So anything drenched in Italian dressing is a winner. I love that they love peppers and all these raw veggies, because I know that I was afraid of them when I was their age!

Lately, I've been having Kenna help me make pasta salad to get the kids to eat their veggies. She loves to cut the olives and add the dressing. It's easy and since she helped make it, she knows what is in there and loves to eat it as a snack during the day.

Here is what we added this time:

Colorful Pasta Salad

1 bag of Wacky Mac multi-colored spirals
1 cucumber
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
green olives
black olives
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 bottle of Italian Dressing (use light or fat free for a nice light salad)

Cook pasta to desired tenderness, drain and set aside. Chop veggies and olives. Combine all ingredients and chill before serving.

Add or subtract any veggies, cheese or proteins that your family likes:
broccoli
cheese cubes
pepperoni
shrimp
zucchini
What do you add to your pasta salad?

My Favorite Chicken Salad

My Favorite Chicken Salad

Combine and refrigerate:
2 cups small shell macaroni-cooked and drained
1 cup Kraft Coleslaw dressing (or any coleslaw dressing will do)
1 cup Miracle Whip

Before serving add:
4 cups chicken breast cooked and diced
1 cup water chestnuts - diced
1/2 Tbsp grated onion
2 cups chunk pineapple
2 cups unpeeled apples - diced
2 cups red seedless grapes
2 cups celery diced
1 1/2 cups cashews

Mix it up really well and add more dressing if needed. Serve alone or in a croissant.

Serves 20-25!


Enjoy!

Grandma Flora's Fruit Drizzle

This is another treat that I had when I was getting spoiled in Utah.

This is a yummy, sweet and tangy sauce that you can drizzle over a fresh fruit salad. It goes best with bananas, apples, oranges, grapes and grapefruit. I especially love it on the grapefruit! My mom always peeled the grapefruit like an you would a whole apple and then section out the pieces with a knife. It looks so pretty on a salad plate on a piece of loose leaf lettuce. When the salad is all eaten, the lettuce has collected all the sweet juices. That is my dad's favorite part!

You can store this drizzle in a Mason jar in the fridge for months. Just take it out and let it come to room temp before you serve it.

Grandma Flora's Fruit Drizzle

Mix in blender:

2/3 c. sugar

1 t. dry mustard

1 t. paprika

1/4 t. salt

1 t. celery seeds

Add in a very slow stream while blender is running:

1 c. salad oil

Continue adding:

1 t. grated onion

1/3 c. honey

1/3 c. sugar

1 T. vinegar

4 T lemon juice

Blend until smooth. Store in a Mason jar in refrigerator for up to 6 months. Serve at room temperature.

Fruit for Dessert Fruit Dip

Last week, we were signed up to feed the missionaries from church. Now these are 19-21 year old boys who will be away from home for at least 2 years and are only allowed to call their parents twice a year, on Christmas and Mother's Day. Letters are fine, but that's it. It's pretty easy to get homesick when you are in a new environment and the work is amazing and exhausting at the same time.

When I have the missionaries over, my goal is to fix them something that would make them feel at home. Something that "Mom used to make." My other goal is to pump them full of fresh fruit because they probably can't afford it or just don't buy it.

There was a legend of a very diligent missionary from my mission, in Italy, who was hospitalized because all he ate everyday was pasta with olive oil. Not very nutritious.

So this fruit dip is my "go to" weapon to bring comfort and nutrition to our missionaries.


Fruit for Dessert Fruit Dip

1 container of fat free or light whipped topping, thawed
2 containers of fat free or light raspberry yogurt

Just mix together and serve with fresh fruit.

Now go forth and eat!

I also want to thank Teresa at A Blog about Food for my first blog award.
Along with the award came this little quote:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."

It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

So I would like to present this award to some of my favorite food bloggers:

Your Home Based Mom
Kat's Kitchen
Perry's Plate
Baking And Boys
Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
Gather Round Our Table
Sara's Recipe Spot
Good Stuff Maynard

Be sure to check out these wonderful and talented ladies!

Upside Down Taco Bellies

Me
This is a lightened-up version of a family favorite: The Taco Belly

The original Taco Belly featured a layer of Frito corn chips on your plate, followed by steaming, hot chili and then topped with all the classic taco toppings such as cheese, olives, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes (never on mine!) and onions.

I always liked this dinner until the taco belly got a bad rap and we stopped having it for a while. How did it get a bad rap do you ask? Well, basically it went down like this. After eating taco bellies, my family went to the church to a big musical production in which my Dad had an important role. The lights were dim, we were in about the fifth row and the musical was in full force. All of a sudden, my brother, Mike, started to moan and lean forward in his chair and said, "Mom, I feel sick". My mom, being the selfless person that she is, quickly grabbed her keys out of her purse and let Mike do what he needed to do. In her purse. Was it the singing? Was it the taco bellies? I don't think we'll ever know! But there is one thing I do know........

It's time to bring the taco belly back! (Lightened up of course!)

Upside Down Taco Bellies

This is for one taco belly. Adjust ingredients according to how many you want to make.

Finely sliced iceberg lettuce (Zero points! Go crazy!)
1/2 cup canned chili (Hormel came to 2 points)
1 Tbsp shredded cheese (1 point or less if reduced fat)
2 Tbsp fat free sour cream (Zero points)
3 olives, sliced (6 olives are listed as 1 point so...less than 1 point)
Tomatoes (Zero)
Onion (Zero)
15 Frito corn chips (2 points)

Put your lettuce in a shallow bowl or plate. Heat chili in the microwave until heated through and pour on top of the lettuce. Top with cheese, sour cream, olives and other free toppings. Finally, add the fritos to the top for some nice crunch.

Enjoy! (And don't think about the story I told you while you eat! Just think about all that goodness for only 5 points!)