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

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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

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Wonderful Food Wednesday

Welcome to
Wonderful Food Wednesday- #40

We're here for another week of Wonderful Food Wednesday. Thank you all so much for linking up each week!

Want to be featured? Post your best and we'll pick three of our favorites to feature each week. Check back next week to see if you've been featured on Wonderful Food Wednesday. If you're featured, your recipe will also be pinned to our Wonderful Food Wednesday Pinterest board.

Leave us a comment and tell us what you're cooking up!

Ready for this week's features?

This week our sweet tooth has kicked into high gear & featuring some delicious desserts!!

Peanut Butter is one of the greatest things ever so we are in love with this Peanut Butter Brittle Ice Cream from With A Blast

Cookie dough ranks a close second to peanut butter, add in double chocolate & we're sold!!  Our next feature is this Double Chocolate Cookie Dough Cake from Sift, Stir & Savour

And this beautiful Strawberry Shortcake from Annie's Noms is not only perfect for summer, but it might make me want to lick my computer screen

Be sure to stop by all three of these fabulous blogs to check out these recipes and lots of others.

If you've been featured, feel free to grab our button and place it on your sidebar:

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RULES:

1. Follow your hosts Kerrie @ Family Food and Travel

and Jessica @ All She Cooks , Jaime @ Mom's Test Kitchen

*If you are a new follower please leave us a message/comment so that we can hop on over for a visit.

2. Visit as many blogs as you can, leave comments, follow and grab their recipes.

If you are interested in guest hosting for a week, please send an email to

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Charleston Chew Cookie Bars

I made these delicious, chocolately, scrumptious candy cookie bars for my dad-in-law.  Next to turtles, Charleston Chews are his favorite candies.  He's been practically living at the car lot for the past few weeks so I thought these candy bars would be a nice treat for him :)


I got them all bagged up & sent them to work with the Hubs.  That night Hubs came home & told me how much they were loved.




By my brother-in-law!!

The Hubs couldn't even say for sure if his dad had gotten to try any!!  Needless to say, the bro-in-law got a jokingly nasty text message from me that night that some how turned to I should try to make beer brownies but that's a whole nother story!

I am happy to report that the dad-in-law did eat 2 of the bars & it's been decided that the next time I make them, he'll find a really good hiding spot!

CHARLESTON CHEW COOKIE BARS

YIELD: about 42 bars

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INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box (18.25 ounces) white cake mix, dry
• 5 oz evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 boxes (4 ounces) Charleston Chew Minis, halved

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

With your mixer, beat the cake mix, evaporated milk and butter until combined. Mixture will be thick and sticky. Divide batter in half and press 1 half into the bottom of the pan. Bake until just set, about 8 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and place Charleston Chew candies on top of baked cake mix. Drop remaining batter on top of the candy in teaspoon sized amounts. Bake for 20-25 minutes longer until top begins to turn golden brown.

Cool completely before cutting into squares.

*nutritional info*

RECIPE INSPIRED BY: Cookies & Cups