Easy as Apple...Sauce!

Between Pinterest and all of the cookbooks and lose papers flooding my kitchen I have more recipes than I will probably ever get a chance to make.  I love to try new things.  Some are quite successful and should be made over and over again, while others leave me in a disastrous kitchen with a disappointing mess.  Unfortunately I'm not always good at remembering what becomes our family favorites.  I'm trying to get better at it.  And I'm hoping this will be a place to help me do that.  Maybe you'll even find something you enjoy to add to your recipe box.

So here we go.  Let's start with something basic, simple, and easy that has no excuse to ever be store bought again.

I'm a firm believer that everything tastes better homemade.  And while people's lives are really busy and convenience always seems to rule out, I'm trying to embrace the time I have at home and provide the best way I know how and that is through my kitchen.  Maybe things won't always be this way, but I hope to always find a balance in the chaos and business of life to continue to make wholesome, love filled, meals for my family.
Applesauce is one of the easiest things to make.  It just requires a few minutes of your time, but once completed the possibilities of what to do with it are endless.  Let's get to the recipe and then we'll talk about it's many uses.

Applesauce

Ingredients:

4 apples, peeled, cored and cubed

3/4 cup of water 

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine water, prepared apples, and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes.  Allow to cool just a bit and then blend all of the contents of your pot in a blender. 

For thicker applesauce you can vary the amount of water.  If you want your applesauce to have some chunks, simply use a potato masher to reach desired consistency.

And that's it!  See--so easy!  (Makes about 3 1/2 cups)

Now some people add lots of sugar, which I find to be completely unnecessary!  I like to taste what I'm eating and find that the apples are sweet enough without added sugar.  I wanted this batch to be nice and smooth because I have some plans of baking with it.  It can also be used to replace oil, which I did just the other day in a chocolate cake I made.  It's an amazing ingredient to have on hand and it freezes well too.  So double or triple your recipe to ensure you'll always have some on reserve for when you need it.  Your house will also smell amazing!  An added bonus.  

I also like to eat it for a healthy snack, crumbling up a few graham crackers and throwing in some crushed walnuts.  A friendly way to satisfy that sweet tooth with sabotaging your day. 

I think this is also a good way to get me going on that homemade baby food which I plan on doing, obviously a bit further down the road.  I hope to make Desmond a little foodie too.  He better not be picky if he wants to make it in this house! 

So do yourself a favor a spend a few extra minutes whipping up this applesauce.  You won't be sorry you did.