Chicken Pasta Salad

Chicken Pasta Salad

1 box spiral noodles, gluten free

1/2 lb bacon

1 1lb chicken, cooked, cooled and shredded

8 mini carrots

1/2 bell pepper

2 tomatoes

4 green onions

1 cup corn

1 packet dry Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Slice the bacon into 1 inch pieces. Fry until crispy and remove to paper towels to cool. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook 1 minute less than the package says (mine said boil 8-12 minutes, I boiled for 7 minutes.)

Slice the carrots, dice the bell pepper, slice the tomato into bite size pieces and thinly slice the green onion.

When the pasta is done cooking, immediately strain and then put the pasta into a bowl of cold water, adding ice (this step is important to keep the pasta from continuing to cook and becoming mush). Let cool.

Make the dressing by mixing the ranch dressing powder with the mayo, milk, and sour cream. Let stand for a few minutes to thicken.

When all ingredients are cooled down, gently toss them all in a large bowl, folding in the dressing and being careful about the pasta. Serve immediately.

I saw a friend making pasta salad the other day and haven't stopped thinking about it, it looked sooo good. I personally have never tried making one before now. Can I tell you that this was delicious? Maybe it's because of the bacon, but I loved it, my husband loved it, my kids loved it (mostly, I mean it does have vegetables).

The ingredients complemented each other nicely, although it was just what I happened to have on hand. I'm sure most veggies would go good in here. The dressing was an experiment, and turned out well, although you could thicken or thin it to your liking.

The most important step would be to make sure your pasta stops cooking immediately, hence the ice water bath. The pasta I used was just a rice spiral and so I was worried about it being obliterated in all the prep, but it held up well. I can't vouch for leftovers though, as we had none.

Skillet Macaroni and Cheese

*not my picture

Skillet Macaroni and Cheese

1/4 cup butter
1 8oz box macaroni, gluten free
1 onion chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
1-2 tablespoons rice flour
1 13-ounce can evaporated milk
2 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large heavy skillet. Add the onion and pepper and seasonings and saute for a minute or two. Add the uncooked macaroni and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the water and bouillon cube. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the macaroni is almost done. Add the rice flour and stir well. Stir in the evaporated milk and cheese. Simmer and stir until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

This pasta is very rich and creamy, plus, simple as pie. You could easily add chicken to this for a hearty meal, or you could just serve it as a vegetarian dinner with a salad. I personally, love it as is.

My most favorite gluten free macaroni that I've found is the one pictured above, Ancient Harvest Quinoa Elbows. They retain their shape better than the rice pastas I've tried, plus I can find them at my local grocers, which is really what it's all about. Check often when you are simmering them in the water, you want your pasta to be a little undercooked before you add the milk and cheese.

I would've taken a picture of this recipe, but it's really good hot and we ate it. I blame the children. Trust me on this one, it is yummy, nothing like those boxes of mac n cheese with powdered sauce. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And leftovers will make you happy the next day, although they will not be quite as saucy.

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Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie

1 (8oz) box gluten free spaghetti

1 Tbsp margarine

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 lb ground turkey or beef

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 (15 oz) container Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Cook the spaghetti as directed, and drain. Return to saucepan and add margarine, stirring until it melts. Add the egg and Parmesan cheese, stirring well.

In a large skillet, brown ground turkey with the onion, pepper, and garlic, cooking until the meat is browned. Drain the fat and add the tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Heat on low.

Spray a 2 qt casserole with nonstick cooking spray. Press the spaghetti mixture on bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Spread the ricotta over the spaghetti. Add the meat mixture over the ricotta. Sprinkle with mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I've been wanting to make this forever, and was very happy with how it turned out (although the picture doesn't do it justice, we ate late that night). The sauce wasn't too runny but still had a ton of flavor, and the ricotta made me feel like I was eating lasagna, which I love. I guess you could use cottage cheese, but why? The tricky part is forming the spaghetti mixture into a crust. Don't feel like you can't break noodles, they aren't supposed to be long. And it doesn't have to look pretty, it just needs to do the job of holding the filling. Mmmmmm, this one's good. I give credit to my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, from which I adapted this recipe.

Chicken Alfredo with Pasta

Once again, dinner from a packet. Do I not like to make homemade? No, it's just that sometimes, I need dinner on the table fast, like before my smallest darlings die of starvation. So this is what I turn to.

I called McCormick about this one. Once again I got the "If it doesn't state gluten on the package, it has no gluten in it" answer that I always get from them. Basically it means, always read the back, because you never know if it might say wheat on it.
See, no wheat. But always check, because one time one package did say wheat, and I was sad. By the way, I always use 2 packages, but that's cuz I like things saucy. Ask anyone.

Gluten Free Chicken Alfredo with Pasta


1 package McCormick Creamy Garlic Alfredo packet
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
1/2 package gluten free pasta, cooked


In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the milk and the Alfredo packet and whisk. Cook over medium low heat until boiling. Simmer for 2 minutes and remove from heat.
Layer pasta, chicken and sauce on a plate. Enjoy the fact that you have successfully made dinner in about 20 minutes.

So for the pasta, I used Mrs. Leepers corn spirals, because that's what I had. Feel free to use a more traditional fettuccine type. Also, I tried both layering on the plate and tossing the sauce with the pasta and I must endorse, layering on the plate. The pasta just absorbs all the sauce when tossed together, and we all know I like my food to be saucy.