My 12-year-old son Joey is underweight and the doctors are starting to get concerned. He’s 5-foot-tall and 70 pounds. He also has a rare disease called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis. The doctors feel having the right amount of weight on him would help if his disease attacks again. So, with the help of a nutritionist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, we are on a mission to help him gain weight in a healthy way.

Luckily I love to cook and invent my own recipes. I am going to share some of this adventure with all of you. That includes how the weight gain is going, recipes, etc. And I would love ideas from all of you!

I have created a very easy pasta salad recipe filled with veggies and protein that Joey loves! To make it even better, I can send it with him to school for lunch.

Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad

1 box of Ronzoni Garden Delight (cooked)

1/2 can of black beans (more if you choose)

1 cup of chopped carrots

1 cup of diced tomatoes

1/2 shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup of Real bacon bits

1 bag of Tyson grilled and ready chicken strips diced

1 cup of Ranch Dressing

Pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate leftovers.

One cup is about 275 calories according to My Fitness Pal. It’s also very high in protein, calcium and vitamin A.

Do you have a great pasta salad recipe to share? Feel free to post the recipe here. The next recipe I share will be high in calcium, delicious and can be served as breakfast, a snack or dessert!

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