Mandarin Pasta Salad

WOW! Has it really been over a month since I last posted?!? Summer is SO busy! (I have 4 kids doing swimming and dance and 3 kids playing baseball) and add to that we are finishing our basement ourselves and it's hard to find time for anything! This is one of my ALL TIME favorite recipes, Bountiful Baskets was nice enough to deliver all the ingredients right to my site this week! YEA! I was planning it as a main dish but we got invited over to a bar-be-que so I omited the CHICKEN and took it as a side. Either way it's delicious! TIP: Do not put the dressing on until you are ready to serve!

Dressing

1 teaspoon finely chopped gingerroot

1 garlic clove, pressed

1/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon seasame oil

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 teaspoons sugar

Salad

8 oz uncooked pasta (I used penne because that's what we had, the recipe called for bowties)

1 cucumber, sliced thinly

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped red onion (I didn't put this in because I prefer no onion)

1 bunch spinach, chopped (I tripple wash and spin my spinach because fresh spinach is DIRTY!)

1-11oz can mandarin orange segments

2 cups diced cooked chicken (also I omited as mentioned)

1/2 cups sliced almonds, toasted

For dressing, whisk together ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For salad, combine ingredients, when ready to serve toss with dressing!

Easy and Delicious, just the way I like it!

Sausage, Spinach and Tomato Pasta

I love this recipe. (DISCLAIMER: I love Spinach!) I really wasn't in the mood to cook dinner tonight, (I was working on getting our basement ready for sheetrock all day) but this was quick and easy and I love the flavor from the fresh tomatoes and spinach. Honestly my kids and husband weren't as impressed, I probably could have chopped the spinach up smaller and used about 1/2 to appease them.

1 lb. italian sausage

3 cans Italian style diced stewed tomatoes

1 box medium shells

2 1/2 cups water

4 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup Parmesean Cheese, grated

8 cups spinach leaves

Cook sausage in a 12 in. skillet. Drain stewed tomatoes into a bowl, reserve 1 cup for later use, add tomatoes, remaining liquid, water, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pasta. Cover and cook 13-15 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occaisionally. Add in tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan cheese and reserved liquid. Cook 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted, stirring constantly.