Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Simple Summer Supper: Perfect Pasta Salad

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What makes this Perfect Pasta Salad perfect? You do, of course! You build it the way you like it, making it the perfect salad for you!

Perfect Pasta Salad Tips:

Except for the people who refuse to add any veggies to their pasta salad. I have kids at my house who try this. This makes the Pasta Salad not so perfect. Pasta and meat – what else do they need? VEGGIES. They need veggies. This is not difficult.

Perfect Pasta Salad Options:

  • Cooked and cooled whole wheat or brown rice pasta – any shape
  • Chopped sweet peppers
  • Chopped carrots
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Cooked chicken, tuna, steak, roast beef, salmon or other meat that sounds good
  • Chickpeas or other cooked beans
  • Corn
  • Olives
  • Shredded cheese
  • Favorite salad dressings – we prefer homemade Italian Salad Dressing and Ranch Salad Dressing
  • Other delicious add-ins of your choosing!

Set out any options you know your family or guests would enjoy. Set out bowls and forks. Slice a watermelon. Now you’ve got yourself a Simple Summer Supper in the form of a Perfect Pasta Salad!

Have you seen our other Simple Summer Suppers? Here’s a running list:

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Build a Breakfast Burrito Bar

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My family ranks the Breakfast Burrito Bar as one of the best ways to feed a crowd in the morning!

It seems that I’ve been on a bit of a Build a _________ Bar kick during the past few months. I believe it just makes sense now that my kids are older. They definitely have specific tastes and preferences. Laying out ingredients and letting individuals put together what they like just makes sense.

That, and it’s much less work for me. I like this part best of all.

Beyond the family, the Build a __________ Bar idea is wonderful for company. Guests can fill their bowl or plate just the way they like. This is a great way to accommodate people with food allergies or differing tastes.

So let’s see. Shall we review the Build a ______ Bar ideas I’ve shared up to this point?

I thought surely I had posted about Build a Chef Salad Bar, but I guess I never have. That’s one of the easiest meal ideas, so I highly recommend it.

And now, consider a Breakfast Burrito Bar. This worked wonderfully for company a few weeks ago.

Build a Breakfast Burrito Buffet

Simply lay out breakfast burrito items and let everyone fill their plate according to their tastes. Here are some suggestions for the buffet:

Build a Breakfast Burrito BuffetYum

  • Warm tortillas
  • Scrambled eggs
  • Cooked meat like ham, sausage, or bacon
  • Shredded cheese
  • Salsa
  • Chopped veggies like peppers, onions, and mushrooms
  • Spinach

Of course, it’s great to offer a variety of fresh fruit for a side dish.

Do you have any other Build a __________ Bar ideas to share? I love how simple this is!

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Ham and Cheese Pasta Salad ~ The Make-Ahead Lunch Box

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The Make-Ahead Lunch Box

Sick of sandwiches? Need fresh, healthy lunch ideas? Whether or not you pack lunches or eat lunches at home, I believe we can all use some new, easy, and quick lunch ideas. Recipes that can be made ahead of time and pulled out for immediate use? Even better.  Follow along with this Make-Ahead Lunch Box series – and share your ideas too!

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What’s fun about this recipe for Ham and Cheese Pasta Salad is that you can add veggies to your liking. Don’t like sweet peppers? Add extra cucumbers. Don’t like cucumbers? Add extra carrots. Don’t like carrots? Oh, come on.  Surely we can come up with some vegetables you like. :)

Feel free to switch out the ham for chicken, take out the cheese if you need to go dairy free, and stick with brown rice pasta if you need to eat gluten free. See how accommodating this meal is?

Ham and Cheese Pasta Salad

24 ounces whole wheat or brown rice pasta
1 pound ham, cut into chunks
8 ounces cheddar or Colby jack cheese, cut into chunks
16 ounces frozen peas (uncooked)
4 cups chopped veggies of your choice (green, red, yellow, and orange peppers; onion, tomato, cucumbers, carrots)
sea salt to taste
4 Tablespoons Italian Salad Dressing
1 1/2 cup Ranch Salad Dressing

Cook pasta until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. In a large bowl, stir together cooked pasta, ham, cheese, peas, and chopped veggies. Toss with Italian Salad Dressing and salt. Stir in Ranch Salad Dressing until coated. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Makes 8-10 main dish servings. (<— That is a great, big bowl full.)

Ham and Cheese Pasta Salad Lunch

To prepare for the lunch box:

Scoop salad into containers with lids. (I like using Pyrex bowls with lids like these or like these.)  Store individual containers in the refrigerator until packing for a lunch. Be sure to pack an ice pack in the lunch box to keep the salad cold!

Side dish ideas:

  • Fresh fruit like cantaloupe, grapes, and strawberries
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Olives
  • Pickles
  • Homemade Chewy Granola Bars
  • Raspberry Lemon Cream Cups – recipe coming soon!

I love that this pasta salad is a full meal all by itself – with whole grain pasta, meat, cheese, and lots of veggies! I love even more that it can be put together ahead of time and pulled out as needed.

What are your favorite veggies to add to pasta salad?

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Pasta Salad Bar – Easy, Inexpensive, Nutritious, and Cool

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pasta salad bar 3

Yum

Here you will find one of the coolest (literally) meal ideas for summer. Here you will see a great way to feed your whole family – even the picky ones. Here you will experience deliciousness that isn’t expensive, offers lots of nourishment, and is super easy to put together. Yes, here is a great idea given to me by several readers last summer that I finally tried last week. Again, I must ask:  Why did I wait so long to try this?

Welcome to our lives, oh lovely Pasta Salad Bar. We’re sorry we never met before now. You’ll be a regular visitor at our house this summer. We will load our bowls full of your goodness, based on what sounds good to each of us at that moment. You are deliciously fun.

Pasta Salad Bar

How do you put together a Pasta Salad Bar? Simple. Just set out everything you have on hand that might taste good in a pasta salad. This is a great way to eat up leftovers or odds and ends from your fridge. Here are some Pasta Salad Bar food suggestions:

  • Cooked and cooled whole wheat or brown rice pasta – any shape
  • Chopped sweet peppers
  • Chopped carrots
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • Cooked chicken, tuna, steak, roast beef, or other meat that sounds good
  • Chickpeas or other cooked beans
  • Corn
  • Olives
  • Shredded cheese
  • Favorite salad dressings – we prefer homemade Italian Salad Dressing and Ranch Salad Dressing

Once your food items are set out, simply let everyone fill their bowls with whatever they like. Stir in favorite salad dressings to make a creamy pasta salad, a tangy pasta salad – or a mixture of both! (Yep, I like both Italian and Ranch in my pasta salad.)

This meal is extremely filling and hearty. Oh, and a side of fresh pineapple or chilled watermelon goes great with this.

Ever done something like this before? What other ingredients do you think you would add to this Pasta Salad Bar?

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