Running Mama Cooks

Last night I had a few girlfriends over for a Girl's Night In. Nothing beats good friends just hanging out with snacks and wine! We had some chips and dips (I made buffalo chicken dip that I posted about here) and I made a homemade pepperoni pizza.

I've posted about homemade pizza before, but I wanted to take the opportunity to share this recipe from Annie's Eats again for the perfect pizza crust because its so easy and so good!

This is the first time that I split the dough into two to make a thinner crust pizza and it was definitely the best yet. I topped the pie with my homemade sauce (I used my immersion blender to make a smoother pizza sauce), low fat mozzarella cheese, turkey pepperoni and shredded Parmesan.

And now for that crust recipe. Trust me, this is the way to go!!

Basic Pizza Dough
Recipe from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

½ cup warm water (about 110°)
1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Directions:

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 450° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough and drizzle a little olive oil on the crust. Top as desired and bake for 25 minutes.

My in laws gave me the "Crockpot Slow Cooker Bible" for Christmas and I have so many pages marked, its about time I get on it! Thursdays are our usual crockpot night because I teach at the gym, so I decided to give this one a try.

One of my goals in the new year is to also try more vegetarian meals. Not that I plan on giving up meat, but because they are generally very healthy and cost effective dinners. Plus, I have many family members that are vegetarian and I would like to be able to make them something other than meatless baked ziti when they visit!

I have to admit that I wasn't that excited about this meal. I am typically not a fan of beans, even though I am trying to be more open minded about them. But, it ended up being pretty good. There was something missing flavor-wise (I could have added more salt), but overall it was a nice hearty soup. And the beans were actually my favorite part!

ZACH'S RATING - *** 1/2

I have always been on the picky side when it comes to food, my friends and family would definitely agree. I have a few food "issues" and always had a long list of things I didn't like. Since I started cooking, I have tried a lot of new foods and realized that there are a lot of things on that list that are actually pretty good! (although mayo is still a no go!!!)

When I got this month's Food Network Magazine in the mail, I was excited to see "Light Family Dinners, Easy Low-Cal Recipes." This is the one that really caught my eye and it was delicious!

Zach suggested that we have a bruschetta tilapia for dinner tonight so I did some searching around for ideas. I came across The Mad Chemist and her version of this dish. I decided to use that as my inspiration. At Wegmans, I found roasted red pepper bruschetta and used that because it sounded so delish! And it saved me the trouble of making bruschetta from scratch.

Bruschetta Pesto Tilapia
Adapted from The Mad Chemist
Serves 2, 11 WW points plus per serving

Ingredients:

4 Tilapia filets
4 tbs pesto
4 tbs roasted red pepper bruschetta (Wegmans brand)
1/2 cup asiago cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Pat tilapia filets dry and place on a baking dish. Top each filet with 1 tbs pesto and 1 tbs roasted red pepper bruschetta. Sprinkle with asiago cheese.

Bake for 5 minutes. Switch oven to broil and cook for 3 minutes more or until cheese is browned.

ZACH'S RATING - *** 1/2

The crockpot definitely saves my life on the nights that I teach at the gym. The last thing I want to do is cook after getting home at 8 and having to put both kids to bed! I didn't have a plan for dinner tonight but after taking a look through my cabinets and fridge, I put together this Chicken Taco Soup. I was hopeful that it would come out tasty, and I was right! It was super flavorful, had a little kick, was ready when I got home and, best of all, is super low in points!

I have to pat myself on the back, this was a great one!

Another snow day! Cecily, Finn and I are stuck inside. School is cancelled and the roads are super icy. Looks like my relaxing morning at the mall has to put off until Thursday.

The beginning of a diet is always the worst, it seems like there isn't anything satisfying to eat. Then after a week or two you discover different ways to create yummy, filling meals that are diet friendly. My newest favorite discovery is Bagel Thins. They are so versatile. I've been eating them with reduced fat peanut butter for lunch and with egg beaters and a little cheddar as a breakfast sandwich. Then had the brilliant idea to make bagel thin pizzas!







Down 6 lbs in 2 weeks. Weight Watchers rocks!

The perfect snow day soup! Very hearty and healthy. And only 7 Weight Watchers points per serving.

Chicken Meatball and Vegetable Soup
A Running Mama Cooks Original
Serves 6
7 WW points plus per serving

Ingredients:

1 tbs Olive Oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
pinch red pepper flakes
4 cups broth
28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp minced garlic
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup egg beaters
1/4 cup Parmesan, plus more
2 tbs pesto
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp fresh thyme
dried basil
1 cup frozen green beans
6 oz bag baby spinach

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onions, carrots and celery and cook until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add a few pinches of red pepper flakes

Add broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, and dried basil. In the meantime, combine ground chicken, oats, egg beaters, pesto, Parmesan, garlic and thyme and form into 1 inch meatballs

Bring soup to a boil. Add frozen green beans and drop in meatballs. Simmer on low covered for 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Stir in baby spinach and serve with Parmesan cheese.

I think Gina from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes is my new best friend. The last thing I wanted to do is give up Sunday pancakes while on a diet! I quickly found what I was looking for on skinnytaste.com. Banana pancakes are my favorite and these looked perfect. And only 4 points plus for 2 pancakes (with the nuts, 3 points without), not bad!

They were light and fluffy. I put a teeny bit of butter and light syrup and didn't feel like I missed out at all.

Banana Nut Pancakes
Recipe from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 large banana, very ripe, mashed
1 cup 1% milk
3 large egg whites
2 tsp oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp chopped walnuts (optional)
butter flavor cooking spray

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine milk, egg white and mashed bananas in a bowl and mix until smooth. Combine wet ingredients with the dry and mix well with a spoon until there are no more dry spots. Don't over-mix.

Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Spray oil to lightly coat and pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter. When the pancake starts to bubble and the edges begin to set, flip the pancakes. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.

I'm back on the wagon and staring the year off right with healthy eating. I immediately went to one of my favorite food blogs, Gina's Weight Watchers recipes, to get some ideas. This one caught my eye immediately. I love cooking Asian food at home, so much better than take out!

The only thing I changed about this recipe is that I used thighs instead of drumsticks. And with only 5 weight watchers points plus per serving (4 servings total) you cant go wrong! It was so good that I had it for lunch today with steamed broccoli and dinner with brown rice.

Asian Glazed Chicken Thighs
Very slightly adapted Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Ingredients:

8 medium boneless skinless chicken thighs
Pam spray oil
1 cup water
1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tsp agave nectar (or sugar)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp chives or scallions, chopped
1 tsp sesame seeds

Directions:

In a heavy large saucepan, brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with a little spray oil. Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, agave, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 8 minutes until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. (Keep an eye on glaze, you don't want it to burn when it start becoming thick) Transfer chicken to a platter and pour glaze on top. Top with chives and sesame seeds and serve