Running Mama Cooks

Pumpkin is one of my all time favorite flavors. I was anxious to use the canned pumpkin I bought earlier this week so I looked up a bunch of recipes to find a pumpkin pancake for this morning. This one looked good and it didn't disappoint. I liked that it used mostly whole wheat flour. They were dense but not too heavy and very tasty. I cut the recipe in half because they were just for Cecily and me, and it worked out fine.

2. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and blend together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Lumps are ok, just make sure all the flour on the bottom of the bowl is mixed in. If batter seems too thick to pour, you can gently stir in a little more buttermilk.

Tortellini Sausage Soup
Recipe slightly adapted from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

4 links Italian turkey sausage
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 onion, diced
½ c. water
3 cups chicken broth
½ c. apple cider
1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 c. sliced carrots
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 medium zucchini, grated
8-10 oz. package cheese tortellini
2 Tbsp. dried parsley

Directions:

If you're using link sausage, remove the casings and crumble into a large soup pot. To remove the casings, you can use a sharp knife to cut a slit down one side of the sausage and then peel back the casing.

Begin cooking sausage over medium heat, stirring frequently. If your sausage is pretty fatty, you'll want to drain it when it's about halfway cooked. Meanwhile, chop onions and garlic

and add to the sausage. Continue cooking until onions are translucent and your sausage is cooked. Your house will smell heavenly.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, juice, water, chicken broth, carrots, oregano, and basil. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add parsley and zucchini

and simmer for another 15 minutes or so.

Add the tortellini

and cook until tender, and then serve with grated Asiago or Parmesan.

ZACH'S RATING - ****

Finally, a running related post!!! Today I ran the Hoboken 5k, my first since I was 9 weeks pregnant with Finn. Even though my time was almost 8 minutes slower than when I ran this race last year, it still felt GREAT to be back.

It was a beautiful morning, nice a cool and sunny. The course was nice, starting and finishing along the waterfront. I ran very steady pace, and finished in 38:17. My only goal was to run the whole thing, which I accomplished. Not too shabby for 2 1/2 months post pardom. I am really optimistic that I will be back to my old shape fairly soon.

Cecily helping me on the final stretch
Cecily kicking butt in the kid's run

Meatloaf is one of my fav comfort foods. Its been so gloomy out that I've been craving it. Loved this French Onion twist!

French Onion Meatloaf Muffins
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tbs olive oil
1 egg
2/3 cup French's Friend Onions, crushed, plus more for topping
1 pkg Lipton onion soup mix
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
1/2 cup provolone cheese, cubed
cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, until onion is soft and caramelized, about 5 minutes

In a large bowl mix together beef, onions, egg, French's, onion soup mix, 1/4 cup of ketchup, cheese and thyme.

Spray large muffin tins with cooking spray. Add meatloaf mixture. Brush with remaining ketchup and top with French's fried onions. Bake for 35 minutes.

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

Last apple post, I promise!! I don't think I can cut anymore up! But trust me and make this applesauce. SO GOOD!

With all these apples in the house it is tempting to whip up a fattening pie or cake, so I am trying to find some low fat/cal alternatives. I came across this apple crisp recipe and decided to give it a try. At 3 weight watchers points per serving (can you tell I have some baby weight to lose :D) you can't go wrong! We topped it with a bit of fat free cool whip. Yum!


Low Cal Apple Crisp
Adapted slightly from Lower Calerie Cooking

Ingredients:

•4 cups peeled, cored, sliced golden delicious apples (3-4 medium apples)
•1 Tbsp granulated sugar
•2 tsp lemon juice
•3/4 cup rolled oats
•1/4 cup flour
•2 Tbsp brown sugar
•2 Tbsp melted butter
•1 tsp ground cinnamon
•1/4 tsp salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Place the apples evenly in the bottom of a 11x7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. To complete the crisp, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stir until the mixture resembles of course meal. Top the apples evenly with the oat mixture.

4. Bake the crisp at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Serves 6

It was a beautiful fall day today so my family and I went apple picking. When we got home, Cecily and I baked these apple muffins. I adapted the original recipe to make it lower in fat (4 WW pts per muffin) and it didn't effect the taste one bit. They were yummy!

Since I have a ton of apples, I will be baking more soon!

Apple Muffins
Recipe adapted from Food.com

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar, packed,divided
1/4 cup vegatable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 325-degrees F.

2 Grease muffin tins or use paper liners.

3 In a large bowl, blend 3/4 cup brown sugar, oil, egg and vanilla with a wooden spoon.

4 Add flour, baking soda and salt.

5 Stir in apple, buttermilk, walnuts and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and mix thoroughly until combined well.

6 Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

7 In a small bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar with remaining cinnamon.

8 Sprinkle over muffins.

9 Bake for 30-40 minutes or until muffins are browned and toothpick comes clean when inserted in middle.