A Bushel Of Apples and How I Used Them

     As you know I was able to get organic apples at Sprouts for $.49 a pound.  I decided it was a great deal so I bought a case that was marked a bushel.  It worked out to just over 38 pounds.  Once your home with something like this you kind of have to step back and evaluate all the wonderful possibilities. 

     I decided to start with applesauce since it's such a versatile food, and the truth is, I think probably the easiest.     
  

 There are two things you can do with the applesauce once you make it.  You can preserve it in a jar for your pantry or freeze it.  Whoops, make that three, you can eat it.  Since I still have some in my freezer I will be canning them this time.  Frozen in small containers and then put into a large zip lock bag makes it handy to use for lunches, meat dishes, marinades, and baking. 

  I gather up what I will be needing but for me this can take a day or two since I still had a lot of my jars in boxes in the garage, still needed to buy lids for the jars, and just the usual day to day chaos living. 
   Jars, pint or quart, lids, rings, pot to boil jars in, pot to cook apples, potato masher utensil, apple peeler, jar lifting tongs, jar funnel, apple slicer which is optional.   

Wash, peel and core and then cut all apples up.  Put the apples in a large pot almost to the top and add a cup of water.  If needed add a bit more water.  Cook on a medium to low heat until they are soft enough to mash.  Keep a close eye on them, stirring to make sure they aren't sticking.  I mash them and stir them, then come back to it in a bit and mash some more.  I like to cook some of the liquid out to get the consistency that I like which is a bit thicker than store bought.  For a really smooth texture you could use your stick blender or food processor, but I think it just makes for more of a mess and hot splattering foods can hurt. 

   Once it is cooked and mashed you then pour it into your jars.  I keep my jars in a pot of boiling water with the lids and rings.  Once it is poured into the jars, about a 1/2 inch from the top, put the lid and ring on.  Put into the boiling water, and if it's not boiling all the way, start timing it from when the boiling starts.  I then boil the jars for 25 minutes.  Lift the jars out of the boiling water, set them on a towel in a place where they won't be bothered for a while.  The next day I check to make sure all the lids have sealed down by looking at the tops of the lids. 

     This is an easy first project for those wanting to learn to can,
wanting to fill the pantry with healthy foods that are budget
friendly.  It has a lot of different options, such as adding
cinnamon or mixing with other fruits. 
Some recipes recommend using a tiny bit, 1/2 tsp. or so of citric acid.  I've made it without that, but sometimes will use a small amount of lemon juice.  Since I don't measure I would say around one tablespoon but a bit less will work just fine.  Some recipes add sugar, but I prefer the natural sweetness of the apples.  Do try to use apples that you like, some types are a bit tart such as granny smith, although some people love those.   

Some Helpful Links:

Making and Canning Applesauce With Kids

National Center for Home Food Preservation

Next Post: What I Did With the Remaining Apples

 

Snafu on Blogger or Maybe It Was Me.....

        If you notice anything strange, so do I.  The post I put out Monday disappeared today.  So, if you get the post twice I'm sorry.  It might have gone out twice, but so far as of this very moment in time appears only once on the actual web blog.

   I have a small idea of why, but don't really understand why.  It had something to do with saving changes, editing and all that fun stuff that goes into these posts. 

   I'm sure if there is a blogger for dummies it would be way over my head.  Maybe blogger for beginners, or blogger for kindergartners would be a bit more manageable. 

      You know how kids have a way of making us look kind of  dumb?  Yeah, well this morning while "fighting" with my printer to acknowledge the right cartridge, I walked out in frustration to take a one minute anger management moment, when all of a sudden I hear my printer printing.  I couldn't even assimilate that, quickly ran back and there was my 2 1/2 year old grandson sitting in front of the printer totally jubilant that he somehow got it to work.  So, my next thought is, how did he do that?  But that was a dead end, he can usually only tell me things that deal with his world, like, potty, bue (blue) cup, twain (train) and that sort of thing. 

I still have no idea what he did, and I'll probably never know.  Which has nothing much to do with this post, except I'm sure when he's another year or two older he can tell me what he did, or at least help me out with this stuff.  But then, this kind of stuff will probably be outdated and the kids will be laughing at how "old fashioned" it all is.  Yep, we all did it, asking our mom's what it was like in the "olden days". 

   So, back to what I was saying, pardon the possibility that you did get two of the same post. 

Do I Save Money Doing It Myself? Is It Worth It?

 Is it worth all the work we do to save money?  For me I would say most of the time.  Although I have to say, when these deals pop up, I have to jump on them, and ask why now? 

   Why now?  I'm in the middle of this water leak repair, and so far have had someone at my house every single day.  I'm not usually comfortable with people coming, walking around my house while I'm doing something else.  After a couple days though it seemed like it didn't matter.  I really don't know why.  I was kind of glad that today the same guy showed up, since he knew that I was capable of being dressed.  Yep, he showed up and I had jeans and my pj top on.  If he noticed, he sure didn't show it, since he spent most of his time doing his job and playing with the little guy here. 
  

     So, what kind of deal cropped up?  Apples, a lot of apples.  All I know is that I couldn't pick up the box.  Who could pass up such a deal on organic apples?  My daughter had bought herself a case also, and when I visited her she was canning them in jars, cold pack and the boiling water bath method.  With mine, I'm not sure if I have enough actually for everything I'd like to do with them, but I'll let you know what I end up doing.  I'm not the most experienced person with preserving and I have to look up a lot of different methods and compare them to understand the science of my projects.  I do like very clear concise recipes and methods, and I love the pictures.  By following these recipes I gain a better understanding of the steps that have to be done, or whether they don't matter one way or the other.

   I'll be posting what I've done with all these apples along with some pictures.  And what of my title of is this worth it?  I think so when all is said and done.  It gets the family involved, hopefully and we are all working toward a common goal of putting food on the pantry. 
   Knowing where my food came from and how it was cooked and processed also is great.  It puts me in control of what we are eating.  At least some of it anyway.  I'm just hoping the next good deal on food or produce doesn't come up too soon.  Just can't pass up a chance to save money on organic produce and fill my shelves with food I prepared myself.