Bowtie Pasta Salad

I hope you had a lovely 4th of July weekend!  Isn't it a great holiday?!  It's especially nice when it falls on a Friday too.  We do our parading on the evening of the 3rd so we don't have to wake up early and rush our kids out the door on the morning of the 4th.  Grr... they are cranky monkeys when they don't get their beauty rest.  I mean really though.... parades on the morning of the 4th sound fun right?  But when you really think about it..... let's get up early, rush out the door to fight a crowd of people for a spot to sit in the blazing sun for hours so we can watch businesses and politicians try to buy our love with coupons, stickers and candy.  Don't all jump at once!

No really - it's mostly about the tradition - which I'm a HUGE fan of.  So we do it... just the night before instead of the morning of the big day.  Then I get to stay home ALL day on the 4th.  We rent a bounce house, fill up a little pool in the backyard and invite family and friends over for a bbq and lame front yard fireworks.  It's the bomb.

This year I made one of my all-time favorite salads... the recipe came from my awesome sister-in-law and I thought I'd pass it along!!

Bowtie Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 16 oz bowtie pasta, cooked
• 1 cup mayo
• 12-16 oz cole slaw dressing
• 1/2 bunch green onions, chopped fine
• 1 cup red grapes, sliced in half
• 1 can mandarin oranges
• 1 can pineapple tidbits
• 1 cup cashews or slivered almonds

Cook pasta then rinse well with cold water.  Whisk together mayo and dressing until the consistency is smooth.  Pour over pasta and stir.  Fold in remaining ingredients and mix well.  Simple as that.  You can also add chicken to this salad.  I usually leave it out because it makes such a great side to grilled chicken breasts!