And as we are a one income family, week-end getaways once a month do not really fit in with our budget. So I cut the costs as much as possible. We ALWAYS stay in a hotel that offers free breakfast. This enables us to sleep-in a little longer and also saves us money. And we ALWAYS stay at a hotel that offers Government Employee discounts (Thank You USPS).
I also pack our lunch to eat during the quizzing tournament. I do this for two reasons. One, to save money. And two, because sometimes we have 20 minutes in-between quizzes in which to eat our lunch. Not very conducive to getting in the car, driving somewhere, ordering, eating, getting back in the car, and making it back to the church before the next quiz.
And so I pack sandwiches, potato chips, snack cakes, grapes, and I ALWAYS take Chicken Pasta Salad! WHY? Because it is AMAZING, that's why! And I'm going to share the recipe with you! WHY? Because I like you, that's why!
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| Chicken Pasta Salad |
Amazing Chicken Pasta Salad
2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cooked and cut into bite size pieces)
1 box corkscrew pasta
6 green onions, thinly sliced (the original recipe calls for only 3 but I like them so I add more)
1 medium green pepper, diced
Mix in a large bowl.
Dressing
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| So Yummy! |
1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
Toss with chicken mixture.
Refrigerate overnight. (The original recipe says 2 hours but I like it better the next day). Also, if you are like me you will think that 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt is just too much but trust me and go ahead and follow the recipe exactly. When I tried to cut back the flavor was just not as great.
Shared On:
Homemaker's Challenge
Sounds awesome! Chicken pasta salad is a family favorite in my house too! Sometimes, I change up the vegetation though, just to give it a little pizzazz, and make it seem a little different from the last 20 times I made it!
ReplyDeleteSome of the vegetable change-ups I have used include --
• Frozen Stir Fry vegetables, such as the pea pod, baby corn, carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli pieces. Other stir fry blends are available, and make for a nice change as well.
• Frozen "California" mix - carrots, broccoli, cauliflower.
• Frozen broccoli florets alone if the dish is being prepared for a pitch-in, and I have no idea who is coming, or what their food preferences are. Even the kids can be tempted by the bright green "trees" like our kids used to call them. Flavored ranch dressings can add a little twist of flavor.
I always add the frozen vegetables to the mix at least partially defrosted. This cuts down on the amount of "free water" released into the salad as they defrost further, thus watering down the dressing and the flavor.
• The dressing mix you have here sounds really good. The amount of salt in the recipe may look like a need for concern for those who must watch their sodium intake, but considering that no one individual is going to consume the entire dish, nobody is really going to get that much of the sodium, since it will be spread around amongst the entire volume of salad. The pasta and the chicken both are rather naturally bland ingredients, and like potatoes, takes a good bit of salt to season adequately.
Cooking your chicken in a seasoned marinade/cooking "dressing" may help add some flavor as well. My husband likes regular Italian salad dressing straight from the bottle, to cook boneless chicken breasts in. He takes that from the way I decided to cook them in one day when I decided to make a more Italian flavored pasta salad, with black olives, coarsely chopped tomatoes, feta cheese, red onion, etc., with tri-color pasta, the chicken, served with crusty Italian bread sliced and made into garlic bread in the oven. He LOVED it, but it may or may not bit a little bit of a challenge for children's palattes! If I'm not making garlic bread to have with it, then adding seasoned croutons as it's served helps bump up the flavor and adds crunchy texture.