Lazy-ass applesauce

I buy produce from door to door organics on a weekly basis, except in the summer when my garden is producing. One of my latest favorites is their ten-pound box of imperfect apples for $6.99 - what a steal! This week I bought two boxes (ahem, twenty pounds of apples)! I picked the worst twenty apples (which weren't really even that bad, perhaps one to two bruises each, and/or a mark or two) of the two boxes to use for applesauce. I have about forty apples remaining, and will make at least one more batch of applesauce, perhaps two.

I have two wee guys at home, and hence don't have time to hang out with a double broiler all day making applesauce. When I bought a ten pound box of apples a few weeks ago, I asked some ladies from a parenting forum to share the quickest way to make applesauce. One person replied with a crock pot recipe, and I was sold!

Ingredients
20 apples, minus bruises, cores and nibbles (be sure to remove all seeds)
1/2-1 C water
2 tbsp cinnamon

The carnage. I use that nifty little gadget there to core and slice the apples in one step. I leave the skins on, because it provides a nice color for the applesauce (pinkish). My mother-in-law strains her applesauce to remove the skins once it is finished cooking, but I don't mind the skins in my applesauce, and hence I leave them in. Feel free to strain as a last step if you wish, or peel prior to coring/slicing if you prefer.

Instructions

1. Add enough water to the crock pot that you have about a quarter-inch of water (to protect the apples from burning until they start to produce liquid)
2. Add those apples (minus cores and bruises, of course)
3. Add cinnamon (I used about 2 tablespoons - use as much or as little as you wish - you can always add more at serving time)
4. Put the lid on, cook on low for 6-8 hours. I stir them periodically (once every hour or two, if I'm around)

The finished product

Storage

I keep some in a pint or quart sized canning jar in the fridge, and also freeze some (in individual six-ounce-glass containers). I pull the frozen ones into the fridge the night before consuming - the applesauce freezes wonderfully!

stuffed peppers

ingredients:
32 oz organic beef broth
6 large sweet peppers (all colors), tops removed, cleaned
2 lbs free range ground beef
4 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 red onion, chopped

instructions:
1. add broth to crock pot, arrange peppers "standing up," ladle some broth into each pepper, cover, and turn on high.

2. heat olive oil on medium-high heat, saute garlic and onions

3. brown the beef, along with the onions/garlic

4. fill each pepper with the hot beef/onion/garlic mixture. baste with broth. cover and continue to cook on high.

5. bast with broth 1-2 times per hour, for 3-4 hours.

6. serve and enjoy :)

soupy beef stew

i enjoy making soups quite a bit (and will try to do better at sharing those recipes here)! as for my beef "stew," the ingredients are all stew, but i have yet to deal with thickening the broth, and hence it ends up a bit soupy!

CROCK POT version.

ingredients:
32 ounces of beef broth
2 lbs stewing beef (browned, if you prefer - i don't bother)
6 parsnips, peeled and cubed
6 turnips, peeled and cubed
2 cups of carrots (peeled and cubed)

instructions:
1. place broth, beef, and vegetables into the crock pot on "high"

2. once at a boil, allow to boil for 30 minutes

3. reduce to "low" for an hour or two

*usually takes 4-5 hours total. i suppose you could leave it on low all day while you go to work so that you have an instant dinner when you return home, but i have yet to verify that!

*vatiations:
a. add (cooked) noodles (brown rice noodles are gluten free) at the end.
b. add a cooked grain (millet, brown rice, quinoa)