BLT Pasta Salad

BLT Pasta Salad
((actually by ingredients it is a BSTRO Pasta Salad.. Bacon, Spinach, tomato, ranch and onion Pasta Salad)) But that is alot of words to describe this. I actually have one...Delicious.

I know by now all of you know that I planted 5 tomato plants, and I did not think that they would grow at all. Well I was pleasantly surprised. Each one of my plants all grew to about 6ft plus in height, about 10-15 really big ones, then a lot of medium ones and now I am still in the middle of August and have many medium green ones and about 10-15 baby green ones. Hopefully now that the bigger ones are gone, they will have the strength to grow larger and red by the fall. I just love home grown tomatoes. Swear by the white bread, mayo and tomato sandwich.

This was my start of my tomatoes

This is now

I have this summer not wasted, one tomato. I have tried to use them in different ways. A tart,  marinated, spaghetti pizza, low carb cheese pizza and then today decided to make a BLT, get the T is for tomatoes, Pasta Salad.


Now when you make this if you don't have spinach you can leave it out. I keep a container every week of spinach, just to sneak into anything I can.  I also always keep on hand a large bag of hormel real bacon bits.

I buy the large bag at Sam's and it keeps forever. Great to heat up in a pan and add to egg salads, salads, or even cold for anything you like a bacon bite and taste to.

BLT Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

2  12oz box of pasta (any kind you like, I use spirals, so that mayo stuff gets all in the grooves.)

1/3 cup of mayonnaise ( I love the one with the olive oil in it)

1/4 cup of Hormel Real Bacon Bits ( or use real bacon, chunked up)

1/2 small red onion ( you can use regular if you like or  a lighter onion taste might be the green onions) (go  light on onion)

4 medium tomatoes (diced into small bites, also throw the juice and the seeds, it mixes with the mayonnaise and gives it a great taste.)

1 cup of spinach (I julienned these and then cut them into smaller bites)

1 pkg of ranch dressing ( any kind, you could also in a pinch 1/2 and 1/2 mayo and the ranch in a bottle)

Sea Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

1) Prepare pasta as directed ( my new tip for pasta is that I rinse it twice before I put it in the pot to boil, just seems to be less heavy and a I think makes it taste better)

2) In a big bowl, start to cut up everything. In a small bowl mix the ranch and the mayonnaise together.

3) Drain Pasta, let cool. ( I rinse mine until cooled)

4) Dump in big bowl with the stuff you cut up, mix with the mayo mixture, taste, then season. Remember add a little at a time, you can always add more, but you can't take away.

I went ahead and made me a bowl for lunch.  The rest I put in the fridge. Which ideally is how you should do it. Leave it for a few hours to soak up the flavors. I can't wait for dinner to try it again.

Mine all Mine....

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. It helped me finish up my tomatoes that I had around, now I am waiting for my next batch to turn red.

 I also hope that I inspire you to cook at home more.
 Home is where the heart is, so open your heart and cook, make it something that is yours. Your spice, your favorite.
 It really is just that simple.




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Want to share a little of my dream with you. I am thinking of putting together a cook book.
Here is the start of my idea...

Name for my first cookbook, I have been working on..

"Waste Not Want Not....Recipes for a New Era..."

Being frugal and spending less at the store in groceries is now the new thing. It isn't anything against that great new recipe you want to try, and you still can every now and then, it is about taking what we have in hand and remaking it. Now when you make that grocery list it starts with, what do I have in my refrigerator, pantry, I don't want to waste...Simply leftovers remade or food started as one recipe that bleeds over into many other new dishes for the weekly meals

Thinking of making an EBOOK through Amazon.. just to get my stuff out there...

Any thoughts....still on the drawing board?