Category Archives: Yogurt

Applesauce Made in the Crock Pot!

Apples, apricots, berries, Blueberries, Cinnamon, Flaxseeds, Yogurt, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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….

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

YOGURT: Lassi

Basic Ingredient, Yogurt, , , , ,

Why yogurt?

Found in yogurt and kefir, probiotics, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus  and Lactobacillus bifidus,  “inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells.” (Anti-Cancer by David Servan-Schreiber, page 126).

Nutrition note re frozen yogurt: Frozen yogurt has no where near as much of the probiotics as regular yogurt. See New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/26/garden/frozen-yogurt-tasty-but-no-health-food.html?pagewanted=all

The following U-Tube videos inspired me to make a few lassis this weekend: 

Very creative ideas for lassis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82X-F1wXk7k

A nice lassi recipe using frozen mango (makes the lassi nice and cold):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9jjpe62KyU

A video showing the use of a hand blender (instead of a food processor or blender) to make a lassi. This is very convenient if you want to make just a small quantity at a time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD7EDIthinw

A few recipe notes:
–The best mangos to use for making lassis are the least stringy ones. These include the ataulfo mango (also known as the champagne mango). For a picture of this mango, see http://www.champagnemango.com/site/varieties .

–For information about more different varieties of mangoes, see http://www.mad4mango.com/mango/aboutmangos4.html . The king of Indian mangoes is the alphonso mango, but it’s only available mid April – May, and then only from the local Indian or Indo-Pakistani stores. But it makes a great lassi!!!

–Instead of adding sugar, just blend some sweetened dried cranberries into the lassi. They add sweetness and also little red flecks.

–Pour your mango lassi over a little crushed ice, if you like.

–For fun, especially for kids, I like to make a “bubble” lassi. Inspired by the bubble tea idea (tapioca pearls in tea), just before serving the lassi, I sometimes throw in a teaspoon or two of sweetened dried cranberries.

–Most Indian restaurants make their mango lassis with canned mango pulp – a product that’s loaded with sugar. The ingredient list on the can of Mango Pulp my husband brought back from the store this weekend says: Kesar Mangoes, sugar Syrup and Citric Acid.  I’d rather make my lassis with fresh mangoes or with frozen mangoes .

–I have not found a reliable source for tasty frozen magoes, so I buy fresh ones, peel them and freeze them myself. The big Asian markets, like Grand Mart in Sterling, sell boxes of champagne mangoes at a good price (about 14 mangoes) and when I can’t use all the frest ones, I freeze the remaining ripe fresh mangoes. Works for me!

Nutrition note re yogurt: Many, if not most yogurts, are made from milk without added vitamin D. You can check the nutrition label to see if it lists vitamin D. If it doesn’t, I highly doubt there’s any added vitamin D in the product. We’ll talk more about vitamin D soon…

Meanwhile, enjoy your mango lassis!!!! Cheers!!!!

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