Cran-Apple Sauce

What do you do with a bunch of apples which are badly bruised but may still have some nutritional value? A quick an easy way to use up apples is to make apple sauce. Here is a recipe using apples and adding cranberries to give the sauce a tart flavor.  Fruit sauces can be eaten with granola, as jam, or just plain for a snack, breakfast or desert.

Ingredients

• 12-15 apples (different sizes and different varieties can be used)
• 4 cups cranberries (add more if you prefer a more tarter flavor)
• water

Supplies

• 1 large pot
• 1 big spoon for mixing

Directions

• Wash apples the best you can. You’ll be peeling them so you don’t need to spend cleaning them.
• Rinse cranberries and remove any bad cranberries that you may find. I use frozen cranberries as I usually stock up during the winter months when they are available.
• If you own a peeler, this is most likely the fastest way to peel your apples. For this time, I used a knife and removed any really mushy bruised brown pieces and peeled the rest of the skin using a knife.
• Once the apples are peeled, you can then cut and core the apples into ¼ inch to ½ inch pieces. The smaller the pieces, the quicker the apples will cook.

• Since the cranberries take longer to cook, start cooking the cranberries. Add about 1-2 inches of water in your pot and then add the cranberries. Bring water to boil and then lower the heat to medium. Cook the cranberries for about 5-10 minutes. During this time, you will hear the berries pop as the skin opens up.

• Once the berries are somewhat soft and have started popping, add the apple pieces. Mix everything together continuously for about another 10 to 15 minutes or until the apples have become soft. You may need to add some more water if you see some stickiness at the bottom of the pot.  I chose to use the potato masher to mash down the apples once the sauce was cooked.  You can also opt to use a blender if you prefer a less chunky consistency.

We don’t feel the need to add more sweetener since we feel there is enough sweetness from the apples.

If you have apples or other fruit which you feel may not be good enough to eat, try to find ways to use them instead of throwing them out. Get your children involved in making the applesauce. Children love all kinds of fruit sauces!

As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
Song of Solomon 2:3

Blessings! ~ Carmen

This recipe was shared at A Moderate Life's Hearth & Soul

Raw Almond Nut Butter & Old Fashioned Berry Preserve

 
We are constantly trying to not only stay in tune with God's real foods, but we also believe its important to prepare them in a way that is beneficial to our bodies.  This almond nut butter is a very easy recipe to prepare. It has a somewhat mild taste since the almonds have been previously soaked and not roasted. My husband and children really enjoy eating this nut butter. This past weekend my sister's family were visiting with us as they were passing through on their move from Arizona to Florida. My niece who no longer eats peanut butter due to some allergies, thoroughly enjoyed eating this nut butter.

 

Raw Almond Nut Butter

1 cup almonds soaked--(soak 1 cup almonds for at least 8-10 hours in at least 1 quart of water)

¼ cup grapeseed oil (I didn't have coconut oil)

2 Tbsp honey

5 figs (I used organic sun dried unsulfured figs)

½ cup water

 

  

Place almonds in food processor and process for a few minutes. You may have to stop the food processor and scrape the down the sides. Since the almonds have been soaked, it will chop up much easier than dry almonds. Keep processing for a few more minutes if needed to chop the nuts down more until they look very chopped. 

Add the remaining 4 ingredients and process until you are happy with the consistency of the nut butter. Scraping down the sides may be needed again as you process.

Stop and taste to see if the sweetness is to your liking and if not, add more sweetener or water depending on how smooth or thin you prefer your almond nut butter. 

Et voila, your nut butter is ready. This recipe makes a little over 2 cups. It should be eaten in about 1 month as there may be a chance that it can spoil. Please keep refrigerated at all times.


 

Old Fashioned Unsweetened Berry Preserve

  3 cups blackberries (I used organic frozen)

Approx 1 cup strawberries (I used organic frozen)

Handful of blueberries left in freezer

2-3 handfuls of cranberries (frozen)

   

 

Place all berries in pot and raise temperature to medium, slowly simmer the mixture. Keep temperature on a slow simmer until some of the liquid has evaporated. This may take 20-40 minutes. Preserve is usually ready once the mixture has thickened. Please remember that it's ok for the preserve to still be somewhat liquid as it will thicken in the refrigerator. Once the preserve is ready, remove from heat and let cool before transferring to a glass container. This recipe yields over almost 3 cups. It may not last a month, it sure doesn't in our house.

Our 15 year old son usually makes this and so I had to ask him for directions when I prepared this.

Any combination of fruits can be used. Have fun with your variety.

Below, left-Zachary our son, Jordan, my nephew, Leah-(holding our whippet) our daughter, Addie and Shauna—my nieces.

 

These are such easy recipes that I'm sure many of you have already made something similar, so please share. I'd love to hear what your favorite preserve combination is.


blessings
Carmen

This post is also shared on:

Real Food Wednesday at Kelly Kitchen Kop

Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade  

Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet