Healthy Pasta Salad

I was craving pasta salad. My friend, Jess, and I plan to go to the beach this weekend, and she’s been talking about pasta salad. I could wait a few days or make some myself. So I made some myself!

There are many variations of pasta salad, but for the most part, it has pasta and vegetables. I didn’t have certain ingredients on hand, so I had to make do with what I had. I would like to add green bell pepper and celery in the future. However, red and orange bell pepper, broccoli, and onion made tasty ingredients. Half of the dish is gone. And according to Weight Watchers Recipe Builder, it’s only 4 points!

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, red

1 bell pepper, orange

1 cup of broccoli, chopped florets

1 can of diced tomatoes, rinsed

Zesty Light Italian Dressing

2 tsp. Hellman’s Light Mayonnaise

2 tsp. shredded parmesan cheese

2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. McCormick’s Salad Seasoning

1 box Rozoni Whole Wheat Penne Pasta

Directions:

1. Cook pasta as directed. Drain.

2. While pasta is cooking, chop vegetables. Deseed bell peppers. Combine in a bowl.

3. Drain the diced tomatoes. Be sure all juice drained. Add to bowl of vegetables.

4. Add Italian dressing and mayonnaise. Stir. Mix well.

5. Add black pepper and salad seasoning. Stir. Mix well.

6. Add pasta. Mix well.

7. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serve at a BBQ or whenever you are in the mood for some pasta salad. Hope you all enjoy it! Remember, you can add whatever veggies you want. The more veggies, the better! I just didn’t have more veggies on hand.

Happy eating!

Bedroom Sign

I recently had a little girl, so I’ve been making crafty things for her bedroom. I recently made a sign for the outside of her room. I should have taken pictures during each step, but I only have the finished project.

Here’s how I made this:

1. Purchased the large letter, B, at Michaels. I also collected purple and white paper, as well as scrapbooking letters.

2. I cut 8 1 1/2″ squares from the purple paper, and 1″ squares from the white paper. I glued the white paper squares onto the purple squares.

3. I hot glued the purple squares to the large B.

4. I hot glued the ribbon to the back of the B. I’d like to make a better bow for next time.

5. Once all the glue dried, I wrote my daughter’s name using scrapbooking stickers.

It is a beautiful bedroom sign for a little girl. By using different papers, this can be customized to any bedroom, boy or girl. If you are interested, I am selling them, customized to order. If you enjoy doing crafts yourself, I hope you enjoy making this for your little one!

Enjoy!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Let’s kick this blog off with something random! I cooked Spinach Lasagna Rolls today for dinner. I got this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything via Pintrest. It was easy to cook, easy to serve, and my family loved them. Plus, I have extra for lunch this week! This recipe is relatively healthy, and it can be healthier by using low fat cheeses, though I used regular cheese.

Ingredients:
9 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained (10 oz works well)
1/2 32 oz. container fat free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon basil
salt and fresh pepper (optional)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used Prego Healthy Heart Mushroom)
9 Tablespoons part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Thaw and drain the spinach well. I used paper towels and patted the spinach. Combine spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, seasonings, and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. I could not find a 9×13 pan, so I used a 9×9 and an 8×8 pan. I put 6 in the 9×9 and 3 in the 8×8.

Place foil or wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Again, by pat them with a paper towel. Take a spoonful of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over a noodle, leaving a little room at the end. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Pour sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 Tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Makes 9 rolls.

I served this dish with a side of broccoli, and it made an amazing meal! Happy eating!