My Mom’s Applesauce

Today is the first day of Unprocessed October!  I think that this is going to be harder than I thought since Mr. Meat Eater is not quite on board.  So, I am going to concentrate on what I serve for dinner.  I don’t eat lunch and usually eat fruit or yogurt or toast for breakfast.  We shall see what happens!

Growing up my Mom always made our applesauce and I did the same when my kids were babies.  I used this recipe but left out the sugar and cinnamon when I made it for my kids.  Sometimes I would mix it up with a banana and sometimes not.  They loved it and it’s easy to make.

I do use sugar in this recipe but you can use your favorite sweetener.  I had surgery a couple years ago and since then there are lots of ingredients/foods that I have problems with.  Fake sugar being one of them.   Using sugar is not unprocessed but since I can’t use anything else, I’m stuck.  I’ve tried everything out there and come back to regular sugar.  I just use as little as possible.  It works for me.

Here are my ingredients ~ apples, I use Macintosh since they cook down nicely, cinnamon and sugar.  Also in the picture is my Foley Food Mill that my Mom gave me.  I love this pan even though I only make applesauce in it.

A better picture of my food mill.

I cut the core out of the apples but leave the skins on.  By leaving the skins on, the applesauce is a nice pink color when it’s finished.

Put about 1/4 cup water in the pan with the apples and cook on high until the water boils and then turn down to medium until the apples cook up and are mushy.  Don’t use too much water or the sauce will be watery.  About 1/4 cup is really all you will need.  Take off the heat and pour into the food mill.

Sorry this picture is not the greatest but you get the idea.  The apples are cooked up and mushy.  It really doesn’t take long make 15-20 minutes depending on how may apples you use.

Once you get twirling the handle, this is what you will have left in the food mill.

And this is what you will have in your bowl.

And here is the applesauce all finished.  To finish, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar (or more if your apples are sour) and a few shakes of cinnamon.  Stir it all up and store in the refrigerator until chilled.

So much better than the sauce you buy in the jars at the store.  If I want to make something with applesauce, I make this recipe leaving out the sugar and cinnamon, let it cool, and continue with my recipe.

Happy Cooking!