Oriental Chicken Pasta Salad

Every year as Mother’s Day approaches, we take the time to evaluate how grateful we are for our Mom’s and all the wonderful things they have done for us.  It’s no secret that Sammy and I feel very strongly that our Mom’s are a big reason we even started this food blog to begin with.  Some of our favorite memories are cooking with them in the kitchen, and of course eating their delicious creations.  In the next few blog posts we will each be sharing a recipe created by our mom’s that we still enjoy to this day.

Sammy will be sharing her Mom’s recipe on Monday, so today it’s my turn.  This cold delicious pasta brings back all those nostalgic feels and memories including one that I will never forget.  When I was in 6th grade, my english teacher offered up an opportunity to get some extra credit by submitting a piece of literature to the county fair.  I immediately went home and discussed the idea with my mom.  She had a brilliant idea to put together a poem book.  What you don’t know about my mom is she is an incredible writer and so creative, it’s no surprise where my influence comes from.  So naturally, once we decided the poem book was the perfect idea, the brainstorming commenced.  Why am I telling you this? Because i’d like to share one of the poems that I wrote about my mom, and it’s going to put all this in perspective for you. So here it goes…

Home from school at last

I walk through the door

Drop by backpack to the floor

And I head straight for the kitchen door

That is where my mom is cooking

Everyday hour upon hour

And it takes us only five minutes to devour

Mom’s cooking

The familiar sounds of chopping, stirring, and mixing

Makes me feel safe

Like a hot fire on a cold winter night

It smells so yummy and satisfies m y tummy

Mealtime brings our family together

And then like clockwork

Mom would call out “kids, dinner”

I can’t think of a better way to honor my mom then submitting a poem all about her to the county fair and winning first place! Such an incredible memory, and it’s pretty clear how I feel about mealtime.  Thanks for being the best Mom I could have ever hoped for, love you to the moon and back! And it can’t go without saying how much I’ve connected with my Mother-in-Law through cooking and photography.  She is a huge supporter of what Sammy and I do, and I will forever be grateful for that. She also happens to be an incredible mom, and raised the man of my dreams! I could literally go on and on, but let’s get back to the recipe portion of this blog post.

With summer just around the corner, cold pasta’s are the perfect summer recipe.  This one is packed full of veggies, chicken, and a delicious Asian style dressing.  Lucky i’ve learned how to make this tasty meal, because the minute my brother hears those magic words, “chicken pasta salad,” he calls dibs every time! It’s that good you guys.  Take it from us, this is such special recipe, and not just because of the memories.  Sometimes a salad for dinner isn’t enough, and this is certainly more filling.  It’s also one of those meals you can prep in advance and sits really well in the fridge for a few days.  Can anyone say leftovers?! So much yum! We hope all you Mom’s out there have a fabulous day on Sunday filled with great memories and maybe some tasty meals as well!

Quote of the Day: “All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” – Abraham Lincoln