Apple (Pie) Sauce

It's a rainy day, and Olivia decided not to go to the library, so we needed an at-home activity.  Since we went apple picking last weekend, I decided to make apple sauce.  My neighbor, Megan, gave me the recipe after she taught it to her son's preschool class last year, so I thought I would try it out with my little helper.  It was a VERY toddler friendly recipe, and we both had a great time!  Best of all, it turned out to be absolutely delicious, and had no added sugar. 

Here's what it did have:
8-10 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1" chunks (I actually only used 6 apples.  I'm stingy with my apples.)
3/4 C. water (since I only used 6 apples, I only put in about 1/2 C)
 2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon

Here's how it went down:
I peeled, cored, and cut the apples while Olivia watched.  Then I let her put all the apple chunks into the pot.  She loved this.  So did Anna, who kept trying to eat all the chunks she dropped on the floor.  I had to save that poor toothless baby from choking at least three times. 
 
Then I measured out the other ingredients, and let Olivia dump them into the pot.  She helped me to stir everything up, and then I put it on the stove on high heat, stirring more, until it started to boil.  I covered the pot, turned down the heat, and let it simmer for about 25 minutes. I checked it after 20, but the apples didn't seem quite tender enough, so I left it on for a bit longer.  I think cooking time will vary depending on what kind of apples you are using. 

Liv, in heaven mashing apples. 

When the apples were nice and soft, I dumped them into a plastic bowl, and Liv helped me mash it all up with a whisk.  The recipe said to use a potato masher, but I don't have one, so whisk it was.  This makes a chunky apple sauce.  It you want a totally smooth one, throw it all in the blender.  That's what I do when I make apple sauce baby food for Anna. 


When we were done, we immediately sat down and ate it for lunch.  It was so good it tasted like apple pie!  We even put it on top of ritz crackers to get a little "crust" effect. 

This will be gone by tomorrow.  Yummy!

It can be served hot or cold, but I loved it hot!  I think we'll heat some back up, and have it for dessert tonight!  YUM!

Roasted Butternut Soup

I LOVE butternut squash!  My husband hates it.  If I could change one thing about him, I would make him love vegetables as much as I do.

Anyway, much to his dismay, I am on a mission to make a butternut dish that he actually likes.  And I think I finally found one.  I wanted to make a delicious roasted butternut soup, but I couldn't find a recipe that I liked, so I made one up.

Here's what I used...

1/2 - 1 medium butternut squash (I roasted a whole one, but only used half...will probably use the whole thing next time to make more soup, and enhance the butternut flavor)
one handful of baby carrots
one onion
1 C chicken broth
1 C light cream
1 tsp nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste

Here's how I did it:

Throw your veggies on a tray and roast until soft & caramelized.  About 45 min-1 hour at 400. 

 They should look something like this. 

Scrape the flesh of the squash out of the skin.  Put squash, carrots and onion into a pot with the chicken stock.  Cook, covered over medium heat, about 10 minutes.  Place entire mixture into the blender, and have at it until smooth.  Return to the pot, add cream, nutmeg, and salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer until heated through.  Serve with some crusty bread, and try not to die of deliciousness. 

This one was a double victory, because not only did Jon like it, but my toddler ate it.  And she likes veggies even less than Jon does.  And is more stubborn, and has worse table manners, too.

Enjoy your veggies!!