Southwest Pasta Salad

If you're looking for a quick and easy pasta salad recipe that isn't your run of the mill recipe, then this is for you. We've made this for quite some time. I make it as written, but Ryan Barrett Walkush swears that it would also be tasty with jalapeno peppers in it, so give that a try if you're adventurous.

This is the perfect dish to take to all of those summer cookouts!

Southwest Pasta Salad

16 oz. rotini pasta

2/3 cups Ranch dressing

1 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin

1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse in cold water.
2. Place in a large mixing bowl. Mix with Ranch dressing, beans, corn, tomatoes, cheese, and spices.
3. Chill salad in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes: 

Ryan Barrett Walkush LOVES this recipe (and he hates most pasta salads) BUT he is not a fan of onions in general. Therefore, you will notice that this recipe is written with a mere 1 teaspoon of onion powder. If you are a fan of onions, feel free to substitute this ingredient with some chopped green onions or a small diced white or red onion.

Make sure to check out some of these other Harris Sisters favorites for your next summer cookout:

• Roasted Corn Orzo Pasta Salad
• Rainbow Couscous Salad
• Broccoli Quinoa Salad with Honey Lemon Dressing
• Easy Southern Cole Slaw
• Simple Greek Pasta Salad

Trader Joe's- It's Not Just for Groceries Anymore

Many of you already know and love good old Trader Joe's for their specialty grocery items that don't cost an arm and a leg like most specialty food stores.  But what you might not know about Trader Joe's is that they actually carry a pretty impressive bath and body line as well.    

Here is a look at a few of the items I recently scored for my shower.  Those large bottles are a full 16 ounces of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.  Each was around the $3 mark, which I found to be quite reasonable.  But now that I have started using them, they have me jumping for joy even more so.   

I am in LOVE with the smell of their "Tea Tree Tingle" line.  It is unbelievably refreshing and energizing for your summertime showers; it's just so minty and fresh.  And again, at that price point, I'd say it's a pretty good deal too.  I usually am willing to pay a little more for hair care products, but these are doing the job quite nicely.  The conditioner is creamy enough to do a nice job, but light enough that it doesn't weigh my hair down. 

I will also personally give a ringing endorsement to the "Coconut Body Butter" you see here as well.  I am a long time fan of body butter over lotion anyway.  Most lotions evaporate into nothing as soon as you apply them.  But honestly, a lot of body butters are so thick they don't absorb that well.  If you have also been caught in the middle of this dilemma, look no further.  This body butter absorbs instantly and smoothly, but it leaves your skin so incredibly moisturized.  What a concept?!?!  But even better than all of that is the way it smells.  It is like a slice of coconut creme pie (maybe not quite that sugary smelling, but you get the idea).  It is rich and buttery, and of course, I love the smell of coconut for summer.  Oh, and the price?  It rang in at $4.99 for this big tub.  

I think we are onto something here, ladies.  And I think I will be heading back to the bath and body aisle of Trader Joe's before too long to see what else they have in store.  So far, you can color me impressed. 

Charlie Brown Birthday Party

July is a busy month for our family - Jaxon's and Aidyn's birthdays are in August and September, respectively. And, if you've been reading the blog for any length of time, it shouldn't surprise you to hear that July is generally when we start planning our family Halloween costumes. So, with this year's festivities well under way, it occurred to me that I hadn't posted anything about Jaxon's party last year. (What with our blog not having been launched until nearly a month after his party.)

But it was such a doozy of a party, I thought I would still share.

THE INVITATION (addresses have been removed to protect - well - me)

THE MENU

Well, it was a bit of a task to come up with themed food for this particular party, but I think I managed to pull it off with a bit of searching around on the Interwebs (and of course, watching Charlie Brown cartoons for every holiday didn't hurt either)!

Treats

• Jelly Beans (from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving)
• Popcorn (from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving)
• Pretzels (from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving)
• Hershey's Kisses with Snoopy Stickers AKA "Kisses for Lucy/Dog Germs" - Avery Label 5472
• Oreo Dirt Cake AKA "Pigpen Pudding"
• Oreo Truffles surrounded by candy AKA "Rocks from Charlie Brown's Halloween Bag" (from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown)
• Cupcakes with Snoopy Rings (rings purchased from Ebay seller)

Beverages

For the Kids:

Linus and Lucy Libations

• Linus Red - Kool Aid Tropical Punch
• Lucy Blue - Kool Aid Berry Blue

Woodstock Water

For the Adults:

• Charlie Brown Cocktail - Mt. Dew
• Schroeder Soda - Wild Cherry Pepsi
• Snoopy Slurper - Sierra Mist
• Sally Sipper - Cherry 7Up

DECORATIONS

Be prepared that if your child chooses a Charlie Brown themed party, that the pickins will be slim in terms of decorations you can purchase. In fact, you will probably search high and low (I recommend search terms Charlie Brown, Snoopy, AND Peanuts) and still not find very much. I found a few Peanuts mylar balloons online that I added on to my Peanuts plates, cups, and napkins order, but I printed, cut, and stapled Peanuts cartoons to create party streamers. I used the extra comic strip print outs to make paper cones for the popcorn (shown above).

ACTIVITIES, PRIZES, and GOODIE BAGS

For the party activities and prizes, I also had to dig deep for anything that was Charlie Brown/Peanuts adjacent.

Activities

Snoopy Shuffle (musical chairs to Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi)

The Great Pumpkin Toss (water balloon toss with orange water balloons)

Water Baseball (baseball with water balloons)

Take Away the Football (football shaped pinata)

Prizes

Peppermint Patties

Snoopy Toothbrushes (Dollar Store purchase)

Snoopy Stickers (eBay)

Goodie Bags

I purchased bright yellow gift bags and black rick rack. I cut the rick rack to size and hot glued it to the bottom section of the bag. Then, I used Microsoft Word to create an oval callout with each child's name with Comic Sans font to mimic the font used in comic strip text. I cut out and glued each oval callout to the upper right corner of a bag.

Hope these ideas inspire you to give a Charlie Brown/Peanuts party a try should your child request one.

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