Talking about apple picking yesterday reminds me of what I did with some of the apples that we picked last year. Since we had picked quite a lot of apples during last years trip, I decided I would make some applesauce with some of them.
Before being married and having kids I was never much of a cook. But since having kids I have been more interested in cooking and how to make many things myself simply because I want my children to have a good start in their lives and part of that is eating healthy and non-processed foods. I'm not a total health nut but I try to buy organic items that we can afford and to make my own food as much as possible.
One of the things my children ate quite a bit of especially when they were beginning eaters was apple sauce. I try to limit sweets in our household as much as possible, so I really wanted to feed them apple sauce that was unsweetened and organic. I decided to search online on how to make my own applesauce since I figured it couldn't be that difficult and was probably cheaper.
That is how I came across this wonderful step by step tutorial on how to make your own applesauce from cooklikeyourgrandmother.com.
How To Make Applesauce
I am totally a visual person so I really appreciate the step by step pictures used to show the process. And even though the recipe calls for sugar it definitely doesn't need it so I make mine with just apples and water since my kids don't like the taste of cinnamon.
It is pretty amazing how many apples it takes to make one jar of applesauce. I've never actually done a cost breakdown so I'm not really sure if it is indeed cheaper to make your own organic non-sweetened applesauce, but I do like the fact that I know exactly what is in the applesauce my kids are eating.
What are some of the things you like to make yourself instead of buy from the store?
Zi
That looks totally do-able! How long did the sauce "keep" in the fridge? Did it get any browner? I think the list of packaged foods we buy (cereal, frozen waffles, juice, yogurt) is much shorter than the list of foods we make ourselves. We also are concerned about sugar intake, as well as chemicals and hormones. We don't want J to hit puberty at age 9 (!). I just read in KIWI magazine that girls are going into puberty as early as age 9! Scary!
ReplyDeleteLisa - it is true! I have a 9 year old who has not hit puberty yet but some of her classmates are quite developed. It is scary.
DeleteThe applesauce kept for quite a bit in the fridge, can't say exactly how long but probably as long as store bought? It is scary how young kids are hitting puberty these days! We can't really afford organic milk with 3 kids drinking quite a bit (at one point we hit 7 gallons/week, now we are down to 3 gallons/week) but we always buy milk from cows not treated with growth hormones.
DeleteWow, 7 gallons a week!
DeleteMaking my own applesauce would be so great after apple picking in the mountains this fall. I try to avoid processed foods as much as possible for my kids. I've cut out all juice and fruit snacks and treats are now fresh fruit or vegetables. I, too, am very concerned about what is in our food. I watched the movie Fork over Knives about 4 months ago and changed to an all plant-based diet for myself...haven't been able to get my husband and the kids all on board with that but I have made significant changes to the foods I cook for them.
ReplyDeleteWe watched Food Inc. a while back and it really opened our eyes quite a bit with regard to the food industry. We joined a CSA two years ago, I love the fresh vegetables and some fruit that we get! Since E1 was a baby we made a conscience decision to never have juice, sugary snacks, and sugary cereal in our house. The kids get the occasional juice at parties but never regularly at home. Now we are going to start making our own bread too!
Delete