A yummy way to use leftover holiday turkey is to make Creamy Turkey Tortellini Soup! Or use chicken for Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup! A hearty, filling soup that is a meal by itself because it has meat, pasta and veggies in one flavorful, nutritious pot! Creamy, warm comfort food on a chilly day! When I ran across the original recipe, it was instant “oh that sounds good.” Well, it wasn’t. Have you ever had one of those epic fails? But it was intriguing enough that we ate the whole huge batch, trying to analyze what made it such a failure and what could be done to make it better. Even more intriguing because Wheels and Bytes are usually from the “inhale and move on” school. You get the improved and downsized version and I hope you like it as much as we do! Because we ... [Read More]
pasta
BLT Pasta Salad
Five star, family approved. One serving is all it took. Wheels and Bytes both rated it five stars and suggested demanded it be added to our menu frequently. On our recent trip, I made and served this for several family gatherings. It was a hit each time! The whole thing can be assembled in about twenty minutes. I like to make this salad in the summer because I know I can get two meals out of one short cooking session. I divide the pasta salad in half and only add the lettuce to the half we are going to eat. Hide the keeper half in the bottom right hand corner of the refrigerator where tall left handed people never look, if you want it to survive for that second meal. Add another teaspoon of lemon juice if you like a little zing in the dressing. I have also made dressing ... [Read More]
Chicken Pasta Salad with poppyseed dressing
Chicken Pasta Salad -- Someone brought this flavorful and addicting pasta salad to a potluck and everyone raved over it. I was lucky enough to get the recipe – and then promptly tweaked it. They used dried cranberries which I switched out for fresh fruit to reduce the carb count somewhat. Halved grapes, sliced strawberries and mandarin oranges work nicely. This was the first time I used blueberries and we liked those as well. I prefer Brianna’s poppyseed dressing and look for it when I start yearning for this dish. You can poach the chicken by bringing water to boil in a shallow pan and slipping in a couple of thawed chicken breasts and cooking until done. Better is the flavor from a deli roasted chicken, perfect for using leftovers. Or use the tabletop grill. I laid thawed ... [Read More]
