Summer pasta salad meets a classic Italian Caprese Salad for this Gluten Free Caprese Pasta Salad. Such an easy light pasta salad made with basil, fresh mozzarella and a little oil. If you love pasta as much as me, (and by love, I mean eat a whole pot full without thinking twice), then this caprese pasta salad is for you. Unlike the common pine nut pesto caprese pasta salads put there, this one is purely caprese with pasta noodles.
And this dish would have been a perfect dish to pass over the long holiday weekend. I say would have since our plans were abruptly changed.
Sunday started with a early drive to Chicago for our first (and probably last) visit to Lego Land. The difficulty purchasing the tickets alone should have been enough warning this trip was going to be a pain. Some how our credit card was charged twice and the most of the day was sold out except the early morning. We planned ahead and reserved out spot for right after they opened. Easy enough.
Just like the Lego movie, Everything was Awesome. The kids loved seeing the city of Chicago built out of legos. We spent almost 3 full hours admiring a full size Darth Vader, building race cars, saving the princess from the evil Dragon and learning how legos are made. The last thing to do was play in the play area.
Sir quickly snaked through tunnels, climbed up the different levels and effectively left his 3 year old brother in the dust. Mr. Naughty wasn’t the least bit phased by Sir’s intentional actions to ditch him. Mr. Naughty was making his way back through the maze of mats when it happened. I couldn’t see through the screens until the last moment. I witnessed him fall in slow motion half spinning and landing flat on his back and he immediately began to scream. Once he finally calmed down we looked him over and he seemed fine. Aside from wanting to be held, not typical, he was back to himself and wanted lunch.
At lunch he was very quiet and but managed to tell us he’s not having a good day, his arm really hurt. We packed up and made the 2 hour trip home. We thought he would feel better at home and he although he wanted to play, he wouldn’t use his arm.
Then he told us what really happened. “Someone pushed me… I wasn’t ready so I just fell.”
SO sad.
He’s only 3 and yet he was completely aware of what happened, why it happened and verbalize it perfectly. It makes my heart break to hear. So off we went to the hospital.
Sitting and waiting for the results of the x-ray was probably the worse part.
Over a 1 year ago, we had been through almost the same ordeal with his other arm. Mr. Naughty was only 22 months at the time but managed to fall off the couch climbing down. While I knew he broke his arm, I was prepared for a cast and extra love and attention need to help heal. What I wasn’t prepared for was the doctors telling us he needed surgery, immediately. We weren’t allow to even leave the hospital to get a change of clothes, food or a special toy from home. And I stayed with him overnight until they took him in the morning. I remember sobbing in the hallway outside of surgery, alone, since my husband was still at home with Sir. Three pins were needed to secure his bone into correct alignment. And let’s not forget the weeks of follow ups and horrific removal of pins with pliers and brute force pulling.
All that on a 22 month old toddler…
So you can imagine the stress and the countless scenarios that played out in my head waiting for the doctors to come back with the results of the x-ray.
Even with the results, all I heard was ‘fracture’, ‘supra condylar’, ‘fat pad sign’…And I waited for the surgical explanation…. but it never came.
As terrible as a broken arm for a 3 year old is, I am so thankful it is just a broken arm that doesn’t require surgery. He’s in a splint and will be reevaluated next week. Although he didn’t have immediate surgery, part of me is still holding my breath until that cast is on since things can change.
With all the crazy stress, go figure I want comfort food. Gluten free pasta is always welcome in our house. The kids wanted it plain with just a little cheese. I convinced them to at least try the basil but honestly that’s not their thing yet.
I’ll keep you up to date with how Mr. Naughty’s arm is doing.
- 1 box gluten free penne pasta
- 3 large ripe tomatoes or ½ container grape tomatoes
- 1 container fresh mozzarella balls
- 10 fresh basil leaves
- 4 T oil
- Cook pasta according to box.
- Wash tomatoes and basil well. Slice large tomatoes to into circles and cut into bite size pieces. (Cut grape tomatoes in half). Chop basil leaves into small pieces. Drain fresh mozzarella pieces.
- Toss tomatoes, basil, oil and cheese and mix until incorporated.
Some other things you may like:
Hello, I’m Laura! Thanks for stopping by… I hope this blog will help you or someone you know and love. 
Leave a Reply