stuffed chicken parm

Well, we're back home now and both exhausted.  It was a full week of shopping, seeing old friends, and working out (for J).  It was a lot of fun and great to get out of town for a while to spice things up a bit.  Maddie seemed to have fun at "Grandma and Grandpa's" (my in-laws) -- she's been sound asleep on the couch for most of the evening.  No matter how much fun we have away, it always feels so good to be home (I could do without all of the unpacking and laundry though!)

Tomorrow morning we'll be up bright and early again to run in the Race for the Cure like I talked about earlier.  Might be a bit of a rough one- I have only ran once this week while we were away (along with eating out several times and a few glasses of wine here and there....) and J is sore and tired from a hard week of workouts.  To help prepare us for our big day tomorrow, I made some stuffed chicken parm with spaghetti, green beans & red wine (no shame) for dinner tonight.  It was pretty delish so I thought I'd better share my recipe with you all:

Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
1/4 cup diced mozzarella & parmesan cheese (more or less, to your liking)
2 slices of bread, crumbed
1 tsp. oregano (more or less, to your liking)
1 tsp. parsley (more or less, to your liking)
a dash of salt & pepper
1 egg
small amount of flour

Wash and clean up chicken breasts, removing any excess fat.  Cut a pocket into the chicken breast from the top (like you're slicing it in half the long ways, but just cut a small opening with the pocket, don't go all the way through).  Stuff the pocket with cheese, filling to your liking.  Use a toothpick to hold the opening closed.

Mix together bread crumbs, oregano, parsley, salt & pepper in a bowl.  Line 2 more bowls up next to it,  pouring the flour into one and beating the egg in the other.  Roll chicken breast in flour first, then egg, then bread crumb mixture.  Place breasts in baking dish and bake ~30 minutes at 375 degrees F (190 C). 

While chicken is cooking, prepare the spaghetti:

Ingredients:
1 can (10 oz.) of tomato soup
1 can (15 oz.) of tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz.) of tomato paste
oregano, to taste
parsley, to taste
garlic, to taste
salt & pepper, to taste
Whole Grain wheat spaghetti

In a sauce pan, mix together tomato soup, sauce & paste.  Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Add in oregano, parsley, garlic, salt & pepper as desired.  Continue to simmer until well mixed and the sauce begins to thicken a little.  While sauce is cooking, boil water and cook pasta noodles.

Top noodles and chicken with spaghetti sauce & grate parmesan cheese on top.  Enjoy!

*I use the same recipe without the chicken to make regular old spaghetti... but I usually add 1 pound of ground beef to make it a meat sauce.  Sometimes I swap out garlic salt for fresh garlic & salt and sometimes I don't add the parsley and oregano (depends how much flavor we're in the mood for)  It's simple but delicious, and definitely a dish we long for when we're in Finland and can't find the exact ingredients! :)

I promise to have more and exciting posts coming soon... but for now, this girl's gotta get some shut eye before the big morning tomorrow.  Good thing we've got some lovely new sheets & new comforter to sleep with, courtesy of tax-free shopping in Minnesota! :)

... and I'm back in the game!

Phew... the end of the world indeed did not come and we all seem to have made it past the weekend.  How many times are they going to claim it's "the end of the world" anyways?  I'm not sure if I feel bad for the people who cashed in their life savings because they thought the end was really here, or if it's just good for a laugh.  I can't be that cruel- so maybe a little of both.

And since the world is still spinning round, I decided it's time to get back in shape.  For those of you who don't know, I love working out/exercising and, in particular, running.  With everything that's been going on with my body, working out- or at least working out hard enough to sweat- has pretty much been a no-go for the past several months, which has been very hard for me.  Since my body is now recovered from surgery, it's time to get my butt in gear (especially since I let myself 'eat my feelings' for a good week or two after- oops)!

So, the hubs joined me for my "first run back" today.  It wasn't the prettiest sight in the world but I finished the full 5k and didn't die.  I joked with J that it was a good thing I wasn't wearing his heart rate monitor because it probably would have been beeping and flashing "CALL 911" most of the time. 

Off-the-charts heart rate aside, I have to say, it felt great.  Part of the reason I love running so much is because of how it makes me feel after.  First, the tiredness and achiness lets me know that I've done my body good.  But it's also the sense of accomplishment that you feel- I just love it.



Post- Quarter Marathon 2010, where I took 4th place! :)

 

check out this beauty the hubs captured last year... bahaha

So, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is coming up in our hometown (less than 2 weeks away!) and I've decided to run the 5k.  My mother is a breast cancer survivor, and every year since she was diagnosed (just over 5 years now) a group of family and friends has gotten together to either walk or run in it.  When I was pregnant, the plan was to walk the 1.25 mile course for this year.  Now that plans have changed, I decided that I'd really like to run the 5k.  It will be a great motivator to help me get back in shape without over-exerting myself, and, even better, it will be a great sense of achievement.  I've felt like my body has failed me a lot in the past several months, and even though 5k isn't usually that big of a deal to me, conquering this goal and proving to my body that I am in control of it will be a wonderful mental boost. 

Ahhh, it feels great to be back in the game :)


 If you'd like to make a donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and support me on my run, I you can do so through my race website here.