Applesauce Made in the Crock Pot!

Apples, pears and apricots waiting to be made into applesauce

This is a very easy recipe, and the applesauce is absolutely delicious — a lot tastier than store-bought applesauce. It’s also much less expensive than most organic, store-bought applesauce, especially if you buy apples at a good price. (I find that Trader Joe’s 2-pound bags of organic apples are usually available at a reasonable price. These apples are the smaller size ones, but that’s just fine!)

I shared some of my homemade applesauce with my friends at work today and they loved it!  Unfortunately, I had none left when one of my colleagues came into the kitchen foraging for a snack and left with a plate of potato chips and a bottle of orange soda…his fruits and veggies! : – (

BASIC RECIPE

Ingredients

4 pounds of apples – any you like. Here is what I used:

• 3 pounds of organic honey crisp apples (or another rather sweet apple with thin skins)
• 1 pound of organic Granny Smith apples (or another rather tart apple)

Notes:

• If you can, use only organic apples. That’s because apples are one of the most pesticide-laden fruits according to EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides – a reliable resource.
• You might not want to make applesauce with all Granny Smith apples because it would be too tart. And I found that the skins of the Granny Smiths were quite thick and more noticeable in the applesauce than the skins of the Honey Crisp apples.

1 cup of filtered water

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or less if you prefer a less tart applesauce)

Directions

Cut the apples (skins and all)  into chunks. Put the apple chunks into the crock pot, add the water, and lemon juice; cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the lid and use a potato masher to lightly mash the apples until they turn into a chunky applesauce. But keep mashing if you want a less chunky sauce.

RECIPE VARIATIONS

Instead of just apples, use apples plus:

• Pears
• Frozen organic berries
• Dried cranberries
• Dried chopped apricots (I like the unsulfured apricots. That’s why you see brown-looking apricot pieces in the photo.)

You may want add:

• Ceylon cinnamon . Sprinkle cinnamon on the individual servings, as desired.
• Mix some ground flax seeds into the applesauce.
• Top with yogurt.
• Top with walnuts.

More information….

• Heirloom apples in the USA – Many hairloom apples are in danger of extinction… See what the Ark of Taste program sponsored by Slow Food USA is doing to keep these apples and other heirloom fruits and vegetables from going extinct.
• Grow your own organic apple trees! Learn how from Michael Phillips of Lost Nation Orchard, author of The Apple Grower.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

APRICOTS: Apricots Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Thyme

Why apricots?

The carotenoids, vitamin A and lycopene, found in orange colored fruits and vegetables, have “the proven capacity to inhibit the growth of cells of several cancer lines, including brain gliomas,” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 122). Other carotenoids have been shown to “stimulate the growth of immune cells and increate their capacity to attack tumor cells,” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 122).

In addition, “a study that tracked breast cancer patients for six years showed that those who consumed the most foods rich in carotenoids lived longer than those who consumer less,” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 122)

APRICOTS STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE AND THYME

Apricots Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Thyme

This recipe could not be easier! And these apricot bites are a wonderful appetizer – something a little different and very delicious.

Note: Here are the directions for making just one Apricot Stuffed with Goat Cheese. You’ll want to make a lot more than just one!

Ingredients

1 dried apricot

• I used Mariani Ultimate Apricots that I had bought at Costco. They’re a good size, soft and plump – just perfect.
• Like most dried apricots, the Mariani brand contains sulfur dioxide which is used to preserve the color (keeps them orange, not brown like apricots without this preservative). Some people are allergic to sulfur dioxide. For those people it’s definitely not safe to consume products that contain sulfur dioxide; for the rest of us, it’s OK. For more on sulfur dioxide’s safety — and the safety of many other additives and preservatives in our food – see CSPI’s website.

¼-½ teaspoon goat cheese

• If possible, choose goat cheese from grass-fed goats because the omega 3 to omega 6 balance of grass-fed milk (cheese) and meat is closer to the ideal 1:1 ratio.
• Where can you find cheese from grass-fed goats? I have found grass-fed dairy products at our local farmer’s market. Of course, when the market is not in season, you have to look elsewhere – at specialty grocery stores and online (americangrassfed.org and eatwild.com)
• Not to worry. If you don’t use grass-fed goat cheese, that’s fine too.

2 pieces ( ¾ to 1-inch long stems, each) fresh thyme

• Note: Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil and mint are very rich in essential oils of the terpene family, and these oils “promote apoptosis [cell death] in cancer cells and reduce their spread by blocking the enzymes they need to invade neighboring tissues.” (David Servan-Schreiber, Anti Cancer, page 123)
• Use the tender ends of the sprigs of thyme for this recipe.
• Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut ff the tender ends of the thyme.
• Tip: Reserve the woodier ends of the thyme for another use, such as making soup.
• You can freeze the remaining thyme sprigs(after washing). Just put into a resealable plastic bag for the freezer and freeze.
• You can also store thyme sprigs  for about a week in the refrigerator. Just loosely wrap them in a paper towel and refrigerate. Do not wash the thyme before you refrigerate it. But do wash it before you are ready to use it.

Directions

Pry the dried apricot halves apart or cut them apart with a sharp serrated knife, but do not completely separate the two halves of the apricot. (The two halves of the apricot should be joined together on one end.)

Spread the goat cheese onto one of the apricot halves.

Place the thyme on the cheese so that two (or more) ends of the thyme peek out over the edge of the apricot.

Cover the filled apricot half with the plain apricot half.

And…that’s the recipe. It’s that simple!

Enjoy and be healthy!

Leni