Strawberry Poppyseed Pasta Salad

Real talk for a second.  School is a beast this month.  I don't know why teachers have to wait until the last of the semester to pile up all the work instead of gradually giving it over the four months.  Needless to say, I'm not blogging or cooking as much I'd like lately.  I have so much writing and math to do it's ridiculous.  I'm actually enjoying a math class for once in my life but with my writing class, I haven't been able to focus on math and now I have piles of math problems to do.  Anyways.. Once this semester is over in a couple of weeks I'll be throwing out new recipes left and right!

It's clearly not summer anymore (boo), but that doesn't mean you can't whip up this delicious summer inspired pasta salad.  And let's all take a moment to be grateful for Six Sisters' Stuff.  Seriously, what would I do without them?!  I got this recipe straight from them and wouldn't change a thing- well because it's amazing!  So easy to throw together and only has a few ingredients.

What you need:

1 16 oz package of bow tie pasta

3/4 cup creamy poppyseed dressing

3/4 cup light mayonnaise

2-4 green onions- sliced

1 11oz can of mandarin oranges- drained

2 cups strawberries- sliced

- Cook pasta al dente, drain and put in a large bowl.  I put the noodles in the fridge for about 20 minutes so they cool.

-  In a separate bowl, mix together poppyseed dressing and mayonnaise.  

- Take the dressing mix and fold into the pasta.

- Add strawberries, oranges and onions. 

-  Cool in the fridge for an hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Recipe: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's Fall, so I'm going to post another pumpkin recipe.  These pumpkin cookies are so good because they're way chewy and soft.  I think they taste better the next day paired with a tall glass of milk!

What you need:

1 stick butter- softened

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

6 TBS pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

- In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, and sugars.  Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla.

- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until well combined.  Add desired amount of chocolate chips.

- Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least a half hour.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

- Roll the dough into 1 1/2 TBS balls or use a cookie scoop and put on a large non-stick cookie sheet.  Take your hand flatten the dough halfway down. 

- Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Cool and transfer to a wire rack.

Try to wait at least an hour to devour these yummy cookies!

3 Ingredient Orange Chicken

I really don't think there is an easier dinner out there to make than this Orange Chicken.  Throw chicken in the crockpot with 3 ingredients and bam dinner a few hours later without doing a thing!

What you need:

2-4 boneless chicken breast

3/4 cup Smuckers Sweet Orange Marmalade 

3/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ

2 TBS Soy Sauce

- Put chicken in a crockpot (I put it in frozen).

- In a bowl, combine marmalade, BBQ and soy sauce.  Pour over chicken.

- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.

- Shred chicken and serve over rice.

Really, could it get any easier?! Enjoy!