Running Mama Cooks

Wow, I actually cooked 2 nights in a row!!

This recipe was recommended to me by Allison, and like all the other recipes she recommends to me, this was a really yummy meal!



Chicken Tortellini Casserole

Ingredients:

8 oz tortellini
8 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 lb chicken, cubed
flour
EVOO
1 onion, chopped
4 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 can chicken broth
1/2 c sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F.

Cook tortellini 5 minutes less than done time and drain.

Place in a greased 2.5 quart casserole. Spread 1/2 of cheese over tortellini.

Flour chicken and cook in EVOO until lightly brown. Remove chicken and put on top of tortellini & cheese. Cook onions in same pan until soft. Add broth and mushrooms and bring to boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Add remaining cheese and cook until melted. Take off heat and stir in sour cream. Pour over casserole.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Sorry I have been MIA for so long! I can't believe its been over a week since I've cooked anything (unless you count the box of Kraft Mac n Cheese I made the other night!). Life has been very busy, so we have been doing a lot of eating on the run.

Tonight we were finally all home for dinner so I prepared a rack of BBQ pork ribs that I've been meaning to make since last week. I defrosted the ribs and had them cooking in the crockpot all day so I could put this meal together quickly after a fun day at the beach! I got the idea for this method from our friend Jim. The ribs come out perfect every time. It may seem weird, but trust me on this one.

BBQ Ribs
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

1 rack center cut pork ribs
1 liter bottle pepsi
BBQ sauce

Directions:

Place ribs in crockpot and cover with pepsi. You may have to cut the rack in half. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400. Remove ribs from crockpot carefully (they will be falling apart a bit) and place on a baking sheet. Coat both sides with BBQ sauce and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

I served them with mashed red potatoes and corn. Yummy!

ZACH'S RATING - ****

This recipe caught my eye while I was browsing through my friend Lauren's blog. I feel like I've been in a little bit of a food slump lately and was looking for ideas. I love basil and tomatoes (and pasta of course!) so this went on my agenda for this week.

I liked it, but there are definitely a few things I would do differently. I would make it in a smaller baking dish (I used 9x13) and stack the lasagna a little higher. I will also dice the tomatoes next time instead of slicing them. I think my family would enjoy them more that way.

I will post the recipe as is, but I did use regular lasagna noodles instead of oven ready, so I cut the baking time to a half hour, followed by 5 minutes of broiling.

Caprese Lasagna
Recipe from Rachael Ray by way of Lauren's Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock
A few grates of fresh nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 box oven-ready lasagna noodles
4 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
Half a bunch basil, chopped (about 30 leaves)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF.

Place a large saucepot over medium-heat and melt the butter. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk the milk and chicken stock into the butter-flour mixture and bring up to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and simmer until thickened, 3-4 minutes.

Assemble the lasagna by ladling a small amount (about 1/4 cup, just eyeball it) of the sauce into the bottom of a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish and laying three lasagna noodles over the sauce. Top the noodles with about a third of the sliced tomatoes, a third of the basil, 1/4 cup of sauce and about a third of the shredded cheese. Repeat until all ingredients are used up, topping the lasagna off with a final layer of sauce and shredded cheese.

Cover the pan with foil and bake the lasagna for 30 minutes. Remove the foil from the baking dish and bake another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. When ready to serve, top with the remaining chopped basil leaves

ZACH'S RATING - ***

Yes, my family definitely has a thing for French's Fried Onions. I posted awhile back when I made chicken fingers with them, and tonight I thought Id give pork a try. It did not disappoint!

French's Friend Onion Crusted Pork Chops
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

6 Boneless Pork Tenderloin Chops
1 large can French's Fried Onions
2 tbs flour
1/2 cup milk
paprika
salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the over to 400

Place pork chops in between two pieces of parchment paper and pound thin. Place onions in a ziplock bag with flour and crush. Pour milk into a shallow bowl and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Put crushed onions into another shallow bowl.

Dip chops into milk and then coat with the onions. Bake for 30 mins.

I served the chops with Sauteed Garlic Zucchini
Sauteed Garlic Zucchini
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

4 zucchini, cut into half moons
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add Zucchini and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until tender. Approx 10 mins. Remove from heat and toss with asiago cheese.

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Since another preggo and I indulged in an Olive Garden craving for lunch today, I thought Id keep dinner nice and light. More spinach, what a surprise!!

Spinach BLT Wrap
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Makes 1 wrap

Ingredients:

1 Spinach, Garlic and Pesto Tortilla (I got them at Wegmans)
4 strips turkey bacon
1 vine ripened tomato, seeded and chopped
1/4 cups shredded asiago cheese
2 tbs Balsamic-Tomato dressing (see below)
1/2 cup cup baby spinach
Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat a panini press.

Cook bacon until crisp. Arrange bacon, tomato, cheese and spinach onto tortilla. Drizzle with dressing. Spray panini press with cooking spray and place folded tortillas seam side down. Grill until toasty.

Balsamic-Tomato Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

9 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon each)
3/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

In a blender add all of the dressing ingredients except for the olive oil and process until smooth. Then, while the blender is running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until completely combined.

So, this has nothing to do with running or cooking, but I guess it goes with the Mama part :)

Yesterday Zach took some maternity photos of me with Cecily. We did them in our backyard and had a lot of fun with it. I really love how they came out. Here are a few of my favorites.

I was really looking forward to making this recipe when I came across it a few weeks ago. The flavors are right up my alley and I love stuffed shells. Overall, I really liked it, but next time I will add a sauce, probably a light Alfredo. Even a marinara sauce would be good with it. Now I am anxious to make it again! Look for this recipe revisited soon.

One thing I definitely won't change is the panko topping. YUM!

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Joelen's Culinary Adventures

ZACH'S RATING: *** 1/2

After seeing this recipe in several blogs lately, I put it on my to do list. It looked easy, not terribly bad for you, and really delicious. I was definitely wondering if it would live up to all the hype. After seeing rave reviews on one of my favorite blogs, I finally picked up all the ingredients.

It was definitely a good meal. And I can tell its one of those "even better when reheated" dishes!

Creamy Taco Mac
Adapted from Delish by way of Lauren's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 lbs ground turkey breast
1/2 onion, chopped
8 oz dry pasta + 1 cup reserved pasta water (I used medium shells)
1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
4 Tbsp mild taco seasoning
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican blend cheese
salt & pepper

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta per directions. Reserve one cup of pasta water.

Over medium heat, brown ground turkey until no longer pink. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add taco seasoning and diced tomatoes. Allow to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta, reserved water, cream cheese, sour cream and corn. Give it a good stir until cheeses are melty and incorporated. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, as desired. Top off with mexican cheese for extra cheesy goodness.

ZACH'S RATING - **** 1/2

You are probably starting to see trends in my cooking when it comes to certain ingredients. I have been obsessed with Spinach lately, I cannot get enough of it! Definitely a good craving to have, unfortunately I have also been craving chocolate and peanut better :) This meal came about since I had leftover dressing from making Tortellini Spinach Salad with Balsamic-Tomato Vinaigrette. The dressing was so good I made it again over the weekend. It worked perfectly with the chicken, which instantly smelled amazing once it hit the grill. These wraps turned out great, earning 5 stars from Zach! Grilled Chicken Balsamic Spinach Wraps A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe Makes 2 wraps Ingredients: 2 Spinach, Garlic and Pesto Tortilla (I got them at Wegmans) 3 thin cut chicken breasts 2 roasted red pepper 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese Balsamic-Tomato dressing (see below) 1 cup baby spinach Cooking spray Directions: Preheat a panini press. Marinate chicken in Balsamic-tomato dressing for several hours. Grill on barbecue or grill pan and slice into strips. Slice Roasted red peppers. Arrange chicken, roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese and spinach onto each tortilla. Drizzle with dressing. Spray panini press with cooking spray and place folded tortillas seam side down. Grill until toasty. Balsamic-Tomato Vinaigrette Ingredients: 9 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano 1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon each) 3/4 cup olive oil Directions: In a blender add all of the dressing ingredients except for the olive oil and process until smooth. Then, while the blender is running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until completely combined. ZACH'S RATING: ***** Update - These are one of our usual quick dinners. We have taken to calling this dressing "crack dressing" because its so good! We also add sliced red onion now.