Monday, July 4, 2011

Next-to-Nothing Pasta Salad

I love making pasta salad for family get-togethers (or just to stash away and eat all myself!) Usually I pull out a box of Suddenly Salad, but today, I decided that I wanted to start using up all these boxes of pasta that I've gotten for free, and while I'm at it, the salad dressing too.
1 box of pasta (I like Rotini)
about 1/2 a bottle of salad dressing (today I used Cesar)
Mix-ins of your liking:
     shredded or cubed cheese (I've used string cheese sliced into little circles!)
     diced tomatoes (canned or fresh from the garden!)
     cucumbers
     sliced green olives (the hubbs' family's favorite... I think they're gross)
     pepperoni slices cut in 1/4's
     bacon bit or cut up bacon
     ham or turkey lunch meat cut up
     hard-boiled eggs cut up
     croutons (I use the butt end of the bread, cut it up, and toast it low & slow, 'til its
          completely crisp)

Cook the pasta as directed on the box. Drain & rinse with cold water. Put pasta in a bowl. Add the dressing and mix (I use a container with a lid, put it on and shake it, but you can use a spoon too!). Make sure the noodles have all been covered with dressing. Add in whatever mix-ins you'd like, and mix again. If it looks (or tastes!) like it needs more dressing, add some. Refrigerate until cold, then serve! (I guess some people eat it at room temperature, but I like cold pasta salad in the summer!)

So my "Next-to-Nothing" Pasta Salad today cost me...
Dreamfields Pasta Free
Kraft Cesar Dressing Free
2 fist-fulls Kraft Shredded Mozerella Cheese about $0.22
Green Olives ?? (I probably paid a couple bucks for the jar... UGH!)
Butt ends of a loaf of bread Free (we don't eat them otherwise...)

Grand total... Probably less than $0.75!

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