Peppered Bacon & Sweet Balsamic Pasta Salad

I typically go grocery shopping every Sunday.  If for some reason I can't make it on Sundays because we've had a busy weekend then I will go Monday night after the Hubs gets home from work so I can leave Princess P home with him.  Before I go shopping I typically spend a few hours at least planning the menu for the week & checking sales at the store & coupon match-ups for those sales.  Then add in checking Pinterest for meal ideas & my day is shot.  That's where the hours of time comes in, Pinterest sucks me in :)

This past weekend we spent Sunday celebrating Princess P's 3rd birthday with family so I had no time to work on the menu or a list.  I planned on just working on it Monday & then going shopping Monday night.  But then I got this wild hair to at least head to the dollar store to grab what I needed from there & then I would just have to hit up the grocery store on Monday.  Well once I got done at the dollar store, I got the additional crazy idea that I would just go ahead and get it all done now.  No list, no plan, no coupons.  Just up & go.  I highly don't recommend this because you end up forgetting vital things like toilet paper.

I sat in the parking lot of the grocery store jotting down some of the things I remembered we had in our pantry & fridge to use for meals so at least I wasn't going in blind.  I knew we had a box of pasta so I decided I would grab some veggies and a bottle of dressing and we'd have pasta salad one night.

When I made the pasta salad on Monday for our dinner, on a whim, I decided to fry up some of the peppered bacon we had & throw that in.  I wasn't overly confident on how all of the flavors would blend but it turned out great!  The sweetness of the dressing was a great contrast to the spice of the bacon.  This is definitely a recipe that will make another appearance on our weekly menu.

PEPPERED BACON & SWEET BALSAMIC PASTA SALAD

YIELD: serves 6-8

6048305

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box (16 ounces) rotini pasta, cooked
• 1 medium cucumber, cut into half moons
• 1 box (16 ounces) grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 bottle (8 ounces) Kraft Sweet Balsamic Dressing
• 12 slices peppered bacon, cooked crisp

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine the pasta, cucumber, tomatoes & green onions in a large bowl. Add in a small amount of the dressing to coat the pasta. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Right before serving, add the rest of the dressing & the bacon. Toss to combine.

THIS RECIPE PROUDLY SHARED AT ANY OF THESE FABULOUS PARTIES

Don't run off just yet! Stop by and check out some of these other quick & easy dinner ideas

AVOCADO CILANTRO CHICKEN SALAD

CAPELLINI POMODORO WITH ITALIAN HERB CHICKEN

ROASTED TOMATO & ZUCCHINI PESTO PIZZAS

Be sure to stay connected on social media for all the latest recipes & behind the scenes fun!