Virtual Running Date No. 22: She made it!

If we were on a virtual running date today, I would have to brag about 3 ladies today.

First, is my cousin Caitlin. She turned the big 3-0 yesterday. She is just about 5 months older than I am, so I'm always glad when she hits milestones before I do. It's kind of nice to see someone moving intrepidly ahead. Plus, she's throws epic (her words) parties. This year was no exception. However, I couldn't go to her party this year due to babysitting my two-year-old nephew. He's the cutest schedule conflict ever. Since his mommy and daddy went to the Packer Game, we were happy to watch him (and the game). Plus, we taught him a number of football-related things while babysitting. For instance, he can now do the Clay Matthew's move:

Source

Anyway, Happy 30th Birthday Caitlin! I hope you have a spectacular year!

The second lady I'd like to mention in today's virtual running date is my friend Nicole and her brand new daughter, Lilliana. What a doll! As per usual, Steve and I went over and dropped off dinner and had a nice little visit with the new family. Rich, the proud papa, can be heard chatting with Miss Lilliana about hunting and fishing. Nicole just laughs, but knows that this little girl will probably be sporting some pink camo in the not too distant future.

What did we bring them for dinner? BBQ baked chicken, baked mac n' cheese and zucchini tots. It was delicious, but made our house really hot since it's August and I was crazy enough to use the oven! (Recipe at the bottom of this post.)

Last, but certainly not least, a HUGE virtual running date CONGRATULATIONS goes to Hannah for completing her first 5K. She beat her goal time by 2 whole minutes and she ran the whole way! While we were running, I had to laugh when she told me, "I can't believe I'm doing this. If you told me I'd be running a 5K back in January, I would have laughed in your face!" Laugh it up now, sister! You did such a great job!

All smiles before the race.

Bigger smiles after the race!

I hope you all had an equally wonderful weekend! Now, to enjoy some delicious mac n' cheese, here's my favorite baked mac:

The Lady's Cheesy Mac (variation)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup light sour cream
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (plus 1/2 cup for topping)
4 cups cooked elbow noodles (ziti noodles work in a pinch)
4 Tbsp butter cut into pieces
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp garlic salt (optional)
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Gear you'll need: Pot for boiling noodles, small bowl, 13 x 9 pan (or two smaller ones), spoon or whisk

Directions: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Boil the noodles according to the directions on the box (about 8 minutes in a rolling boil). In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream, eggs and milk. When the noodles are done and drained, pour them back into the pot (why get another bowl dirty?) and add the butter. Stir it up so that the noodles don't get stuck to the pot. Add the shredded cheese and stir until it's all melty. Add the egg mixture and stir until everything is well-coated. If you like, add some garlic salt. I know you don't need any more salt in your diet, but it gives it a little zing. You could also use fresh crushed garlic if you have it on hand. I did not. Sigh...

Anyway, pour all those noodles in your greased baking dish and spread it out. Sprinkle a little more cheese and bread crumbs on top. Bake, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes. Serve hot or bundle it up and take it to your friends' house to enjoy! Makes great leftovers.

Disclaimer: I know that Paula Deen, who is "the lady" of this recipe, has made some poor choices recently. However, mac n' cheese is not one of them.

Zucchini for the win!

Tonight we're having Mr. and Mrs. Coach S over for dinner. I have never met them before, so I'm just going with foods that I think most people love. They are bringing dessert, so I only have to worry about dinner... ha!

As I said in the last blog post, the menu includes garlic oven potatoes, BBQ ribs and a mystery veggie to round it out. I think we're going to go with zucchini. Not only do my in-laws have a bumper crop of them that they shared with everyone, but they taste great and they are good for you!

Zucchini is a versatile summer squash that can be baked, grilled, eaten raw, fried, and... made into tots! Thanks to my kitchen crush, blogger Gina Homolka over at Skinnytaste.com, I found a great new way to eat zucchini. Zucchini tots are savory and great as a side dish or a snack.

I followed Gina's recipe pretty closely. The only thing that I changed was that I used a regular muffin tin instead of mini one. This was purely done on accident. However, it does change the serving size. Instead of 4 tots as a serving, you would probably only need 2 of the ones I made.

You can find the recipe for Zucchini Tots here. Definitely take a look at her pictures since I did not take a picture while squeezing the excess liquid out of the grated zucchini. Instead, I was making a slight mess in the sink...

Ingredients (again, go to Gina's website for more information and her amazing food photos):

• 1 cup zucchini, grated
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking spray

Here we go:
Once you've preheated the oven to 400 degrees, you need to grate your zucchini. I used a food processor instead for a couple of reasons:
1. We got it as a shower gift and I've been dying to use it.
2. I broke my old grater and no one gave us a new one for a wedding gift.
3. My mom, another kitchen crush, said that a food processor would totally work instead.
4. I could add the onion right away and not have to smell like onion for the rest of the night.

This is what the chopped zucchini looks like before I squeezed out all the extra juice.

Mix the zucchini and onion in with the other ingredients.

Here is what it looks like in a regular size muffin tin.
Make sure that you press them down firmly.

This is the delicious result!

For more amazing healthy recipes, visit Skinnytaste.com because Gina is one amazing cook and food photographer!