The BEST healthy macaroni salad ever! Loaded with veggies and creamy, cheesy flavor, the best side dish for any cookout.
Good morning friends! I’m full of endorphins today, running for the win! I woke up at 4:45 am this morning to run with Nala. I know, what you are thinking, damn girl that’s early AF. Well at 5 am this morning it was 78 degrees and the thing about the desert it only goes up from there. Oh, what’s our high today? 109, FANNETASTIC, can’t wait.
I actually really like running first thing in the morning but it does take ALL my willpower to get up out of bed that early. Also, when it gets super hot outside my pace slows down quite a bit, which I hate. My solution? Pretend it isn’t happening and ditch the watch. Any of my runner friends ever decided they need a break from their watch?
That’s where I am at right now! The run was so much more enjoyable without looking at my pace and mileage every 10 seconds like that dictates my life. Only I dictate my life okay? Well, that’s what I think, but I bet Nala and Missy think otherwise.
Post run I took a shower and washed my hair (for the first time in 7 days I know I’m gross) and then made breakfast smoothies. I did my typical breakfast smoothie and made a collagen (here is the affiliate link for the brand I use) green smoothie for Mr. Hungry. I’ve come up with 4 delicious smoothie recipes so far using collagen, one more and I’ll post! Now I’m pounding coffee and finishing up this post! I do have one rant for you before I leave you with today’s recipe though.
So my friend was ordering groceries from Instacart while I was visiting her in SF, then I ended up doing that too so I could come home to a house with groceries. Yes, my husband would have totally gone if I had left him with a list prior to 4 pm on a Sunday, but that would have required planning in advance. BHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, ain’t nobody got time for that. I opted to order the basics from Costco.
I have to tell you the experience was not stellar. The person said Costco was missing PB fit and breakfast sausage, both were in stock when I called the store to find out if that was true.
Why did I call like a crazy person, because they are never out of anything at Costco, aimiright? Plus, I wanted to find out of this was a service I would use again. He brought a full thing of moldy cherry tomatoes, like did he not even look at them? Is he color blind? I don’t understand it was HIGHLY obvious.
Plus he bought the wrong kind of lettuce. I know it’s just lettuce, but I specifically asked for the romaine hearts because they make better lettuce cups. If I didn’t need to title this post the recipe title I would title it, if you want something done right, do it your damn self. I don’t usually post negative reviews, but my friend was so happy with her experience I was wondering if I just got a delivery person that wasn’t so great?
Has anyone else tried that service? I am HAPPY to pay extra money for convenience because time is the most valuable commodity I have, but not for that. UGH!
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Healthy Macaroni Salad
What can I tell you about this macaroni salad? Mr. Hungry loves macaroni salad and so I made him one that was gluten free and loaded with veggies! Hooray! It’s ultra creamy but a bit on the lighter side thanks to my pals laughing cow and greek yogurt. Definitely let me know if you try it!
Healthy Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
- 16- ounces elbow pasta I used brown rice elbow macaroni
- 2 cups chopped veggies of choice I used Trader Joe’s Healthy 8 MixSauce ingredients:
- ½ cup greek yogurt any percent
- ¼ cup sweet pickle relish
- 10 laughing cow wedges I used light swiss
- 1 tsp sea salt fine
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- pepper too taste
Instructions
- Cook your pasta al dente and then drain it. Run cool water over it to stop it from continuing to cook.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients and whisk until smooth (I used my food processor to combine them.)
- Then combine pasta, veggies and sauce. You want macaroni salad to be cold, so refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.
Love this side dish? Then you have to check out my ULITMATE cookout round up! All the best recipes to make your Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July or standard backyard cookout amazing!
Nice job getting up early, it is so hot already here in AZ! I knew it was coming, but still feel so unprepared.
OMG that is the best description ever, I definitely feel unprepared… my body was like wait it was 75 all week why are we back here?
109? Holy moly, that’s not fun. I love the feeling after a morning workout but it’s soo hard for me to get out of bed. I’m working on it though! This salad looks so good!
LOL YOU KILLED YOUR MARATHON TIME don’t change a thing! ha ha
Oh gosh! I used Instacart in LA and didn’t have that issue- that sounds horrible! Love how you lightened this salad up with greek yogurt and laughing cow. I love laughing cow wedges!
IDK what happened lol my friend said she always gets moldy blueberries from them…. :/
I’m not usually a pasta salad person, but this sounds like it could change my tune. Love all the veggies in there!
Same here. I really made it for the hubs he loves pasta salad !
Mmmm this sounds delicious. I love macaroni salad with BBQ food. And you are not along, I was up at 5 AM this morning for a run before work. It was much cooler here though, in the fifties!!! This won’t last for long though, the humidity is on its way!
enjoy it while it last!
Amazing recipe! Thanks a lot for providing this. I’m really glad that I visit this blog, always so many tasty things to prepare 😛