What is in Pam?

Confession: I am very skeptical of Pam cooking spray. What is in it? And how is it different than just buttering or greasing a pan? And why are there no calories in it?
While we are on the subject--"butter" for the popcorn at the movies? What in the world is in that? Real butter makes the popcorn wet--but this stuff doesn't. I suspect it is just butter flavored hydrogenated oil. Makes me a little nauseous just thinking about it.
I refuse to buy Pam or use it--and just substitute olive oil or butter instead. I am beginning to subscribe more and more to the theory--if you can't tell where it came from, don't eat it! Now, by employing this logic, I can rationalize a LOT. Cheesecake--eggs, butter, cream cheese. Yep, I can figure out where all those came from! Note: I'm not obsessive about this. We do eat things that are processed.
What ingredients do you refuse to use when you cook?

Leftovers...Re-invented!

I made this awhile ago, but hadn't gotten around to posting! I know grilling season is almost over, but this was too good not to post!
I don't know about your family, but we sometimes don't get leftovers eaten. Especially if it is just a chicken breast or one pork chop. But, we had 2 chicken breasts leftover from when we grilled teriyaki chicken and I wanted to use them! But, I hate how re-heating meat dries it out, which is why unless it is soup or a cassrole, it doesn't get eaten!
So, I cubed the chicken (large cubes) and put them in a foil packet. I added fresh pineapple to the packet. Then, I made another packet of pineapple and also made a packet of sliced Walla Walla Sweet onions. (I added a little butter and salt and pepper to the onions). I put all the packet on the grill over medium heat for just about 10-15 minutes.
I thought about kebabs, but didn't really want to give my three year old a sharp stick to eat off of!
)
So, after about 15 minutes, the packet was hot and the chicken was still moist, not dried out.
I served this with some brown basmati rice and called it good!
Pineapple on the grill is amazing anyway, and the chicken and the onions were great with it.
And REALLY healthful meal!
Sorry, there is no after picture for this--Ryan made a lake in his sandbox while I was chopping the pineapple and it was quite the clean up!

By Request: Tortilla Soup!

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breast halves

2- 15 oz cans black beans (drained and rinsed)

2- 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes

1 - 14 1/2 oz can tomato sauce

1 - 4 oz can green chiles (drained)

1 cup of salsa

Taco seasoning--to taste

Toppings:

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips

Combine all ingredients (not toppings) in a crock pot. (I put my chicken in there frozen). Cook for 8 hours on low. Just before serving shred chicken with a fork.

Top each bowl with cheese, sour cream and chips.

Super easy--if you can open a can and push a button, you can make this recipe!! Ryan loves it too!

Challenge: Use your Crock-Pot this week!

It was quite a day. First day where I had to get both boys up and ready to go by 7 a.m. First day where I really was flying solo. Jamie had to work, no mom here to help out. The first half of the day was a little overwhelming--the second half was torture. Just imagine a sleep deprived three year old and about a hundred tantrums and you'll get close.
There is a silver lining!
While I was up at 5:30 getting myself ready before the boys got up, I started the crock pot. I threw together tortilla soup and switched it on before we left. Fast forward to 5:00 p.m. and the boys and I were just getting home from the ENT checkup. We've had about 50 tantrums by this point....but dinner is done! All I have to do is shred the chicken and grate a little cheese. Seriously, if I would have been responsible for actually cooking a meal at 5:00 today, we would have had pizza. It really was wonderful and a stress-reliever!
So--I'm issuing a challenge to you! Use your crockpot this week. (If you know you have a busy afternoon, pick that day!) Then, please leave a comment and let me know what you made!
I know it is hard to predict when your children will be monsters but any day where you think it might be tricky to get dinner made is a good night!

Apple Pie Bars

We had a potluck this past weekend with our Sunday School class and I made Apple Pie Bars. They were a hit, and I was asked to share the recipe. I first made these about 6 years ago and haven't made them since. Not quite sure why, because they are great!

I had picked up some Gravenstein apples this past week and this was the perfect time to use them! I used my Pampered Chef peeler, corer and slicer which made the prep a lot easier!

The original recipe is from Taste of Home, however, I had a few problems with their recipe and made some modifications. There was just not enough crust for these bars. I had to make extra and piece it together since I just didn't have enough to fill the pan and cover the filling. So, this recipe below is the exact same, but with the proportions changed to make more crust. If you don't need it all, you just trim off the extra. Always better to have too much than too little. And WAY less stress! I was panicking trying to patch the crust and make extra after it was already rolled out and 1/2 covering the apple filling!
Well worth the effort though, I had forgotten how good these are.

Ingredients
Crust
-6 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 1/2 cups shortening
-6 egg yolks
-12-15 tablespoons cold water

Filling:
--7 cups finely chopped peeled apples (About 5 large apples)
--2 cups sugar
--1/4 cup all-purpose flour
--2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
--Dash ground nutmeg (I forgot this this time!)

Glaze
-1 cup confectioners' sugar
-1 tablespoon milk (the original recipe calls for 2%, I used skim with no problems)
--1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening until mix is crumbly. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks, lemon juice and water; gradually add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork. Add more water if it seems too crumbly. My crust seemed really dry and I think more water would have helped. Divide in half. Chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out half of the dough between two large sheets of waxed paper into a 17-in. x 12-in. rectangle. (Do NOT mis-read the recipe and try to put the crust into a 17 by 12 inch pan. It will not fit right and you will have to try to move the crust! This is what happens when you cook with lots of interruptions!!)
Transfer to an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Press pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of pan. Roll out the other half of the dough.

Combine the apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and pour over the crust. Spread evenly and top with the second rolled out crust. Pinch the edges to seal the two crusts and brush with water if needed to seal. My crust was full of holes and vents, but if yours is nice, cut a few vents in the top.

Bake at 375° for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Combine glaze ingredients until smooth. Put glaze in a ziplock sandwich bag, cut off the corner and drizzle glaze over the bars once they have cooled a little. These are great when they are still warm!

Makes about 2 dozen bars.
Happy Baking!

Chocolate Ricotta Icebox Cake

Thank you Martha for this great recipe!

This really was pretty easy. Put the cookies in the pan and run the ricotta through a food processor. Melt the chocolate, blend it in with the ricotta, add some whipped cream and layer it over the cookies.
--I misread the recipe and used 32 oz. of ricotta instead of 30 and 14 oz. of chocolate instead of 12. I figure it evens out. I also added a little powdered sugar to my whipped cream.

My mom was here for a few days and enjoyed this with us. Ryan really liked it also. And, it is hard to go wrong with this much chocolate and calories!