Greek Pasta Salad

Coming home from the beach, I was fishing through our fridge for something to whip up for dinner and decided I had enough to do something Greek. Since I recently bought some whole wheat pasta... Pasta salad it was! By the time it was cold and ready to eat, I snapped one picture before my husband snapped the bowl out of my hands and into his mouth. Smiling, he sauntered off with it...


Ingredients:
1 cucumber diced
1 tomato diced
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 cups cooked and cooled whole wheat penne pasta


Dressing:
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash of nutmeg


Directions:
Cook and cool penne pasta to package directions.
Combine cucumber, tomato, and sun dried tomatoes with the cooled pasta. Add all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk them until smooth. Toss it over the pasta, adding the feta in. Place in fridge for about an hour before serving.

Oreo, Oreo Cookies

Caution: If you are currently dieting and don't want to be tempted do not read or look any further!! Because if you make these you will be sitting here wishing you worked out before starting the dough....

You know these cookies are WAY too good for your own good when you make a batch and can't stop licking the dough off a spoon that you shouldn't have picked up in the first place... If you like cookies and cream ice cream in cookie form I would recommend this cookie recipe. The pudding makes the cookie come out soft and creamy, makes them taste good days later too! :)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (4.2 ounce) package instant Oreo Pudding mix (see Note)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2 1/4 cups flour  
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups smashed, crumbled Oreo cookies


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Smash about one row of Oreo cookies in a bag just until each cookies is broken up, with varying shapes and crumbs.
Mix butter, sugars, and pudding mix together until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add one cup of the flour mixture at a time to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated. Pour in all the smashed Oreos and mix on low for a couple seconds. Roll into 1 inch balls on a nonstick sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Wait 3 minutes before transferring over to wire rack.