confession #1: mom's pasta salad.

I know it's summer when I am eating this salad.

My mom would make this when we would have big barbecues with family friends over and I loved it with chicken and potato casserole.

The salad has a crappy ingredient that I have a big soft spot for (probably because it was the only dressing we had when I was growing up for whenever we ate salad. Then my mom discovered the wonders of balsamic vinagrette and olive oil) Kraft's Zesty Italian Dressing. I try to stay away from crappy food as much as possible but there are things that I can't quite keep away from:

-Ice cream from Mcdonald's. Jane and I had this all the time in Japan and it's such a cheap ice cream that satisfies my cravings without any guilt whatsoever.

-Chocolate dipped cone from Dairy Queen, I had one the other day and I noticed how thin the chocolate tasted (something which I never really noticed before), it was almost water-y. But I love the dipped cone because right when you get it the chocolate hasn't quite set, and then when it does, it's mega fun to crack it.

-Kraft Dinner and McCain frozen fries with tons of ketchup. In high school this was my favorite thing in the whole wide world to eat! I haven't had this combo in like 4 years, but I bet I would still enjoy it.

-Instant noodles and Little Caesar's 5 dollar pepperoni pizza. And...hahahaha I would add malt vinegar to my noodles as well. With instant noodles I always have to have something crunchy to eat with it.

-Dill pickle chips (Old Dutch!) and grape slurpees. Junior high summers!

Okay I am done with confessing all of the bad things I like to eat.
If you would like to make this pasta salad, here are things that you stick in it:

-Pasta (I use rotini, but you can use whatever sort of shape you like)
-Cherry tomatoes
-Advocado
-Brocolli
-Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing.

The dressing is seriously key! As for measurements and stuff, just eyeball it and taste and I'm sure you'll end up with something good. Make sure though to boil the brocolli for 1 minute (until it turns bright green) so that it's cooked evenly and you're good.