Homemade Crockpot Applesauce

Last week Aldi’s had a terrific sale on fruits. In the middle of January I got apples for $0.33/lb, and oranges for $0.38/lb. Needless to say that I stocked up so that we can enjoy the fruit for weeks (well maybe not the oranges, they’re a hot commodity for the men in my house). We will eat many of the fruit raw in lunches and for snacks but if some of the apples start to get spotty then I’ll make up some homemade crockpot applesauce

I had never thought about making applesauce in the crockpot until I read Allison’s recipe online. I loved how easy the concept was, since I love my crockpot and the thought of making applesauce seemed so daunting. But thanks to earlier preparation this recipe was a breeze.

This fall when apples were under $0.33/lb I stocked up on more than 20 lbs and took them to my mother-in-law’s. She graciously let me use her apple corer/slicer and and helped me prep all those apples for later baking. She added some cinnamon and sugar to half of the bags to use in pies or applesauce, and left the other half unsweetened. I then used these bags for muffins, apple crisp, or applesauce. Here’s what I did when I made applesauce last week.

I took a bag of sweetened, prepared, apples from the freezer.

I plopped it in the crockpot, and set it on low.

I waited until it smelled really yummy and the apples were mushy.

I enjoyed my yummy snack, and wished I had added another bag to the crockpot.

Baking Bread

One of the greatest joys in life is my mother’s homemade bread. I was so excited when she sent me the recipe a couple of weeks ago. But I have to admit that I didn’t get around to baking bread until this morning when we ran out of bread and my husband had the car.

I have only baked bread a handful of times since being married. Since we don’t have a wheat grinder, I rarely have fresh whole wheat flour to make bread with. On a side note, I really, really hope to buy a wheat grinder before the end of the year so that we can eat healthier bread and save a few bucks. I also only have one bread pan, so making only one loaf seemed like a waste of energy.

But this morning I decided to forgo my excuses and make some bread. I used some whole wheat flour I found on sale a few weeks back (I know it’s not as nutritious as freshly ground flour, but it’s what I had). Thanks to my mom’s suggestions I realized that I could just make french loaf style bread in addition to my one loaf in the pan. The bread was a different shape, but it still tasted yummy.

Here is my mother’s recipe. I’m sure you could substitute honey for the sugar for healthier bread. Also, I only used 1 1/2 Tablespoons of salt instead of 2 because 2 seemed a little large. Oh, and we used water instead of milk because of food allergies.

My Mother’s Homemade Bread Recipe  Makes 4 loaves

3 T yeast
1 c water
3 1/2 c warm milk ( you may just use water or use powdered milk..I just heat the water in the microwave and add 1 cup dry powdered milk)
1/4 c sugar
2 T salt
1/3 c oil
12 c flour  (about) (I use half white and half wheat.)

Add yeast to 1 cup warm water and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
Add sugar, salt, oil to warm milk.
Add flour 2-3 cups at a time, stirring several times. Dough should be soft, but not too sticky.

Knead for 2-3 minutes. I just use a plastic grocery bag and knead it on the counter. You may need to add a little more flour. Place back in greased bowl.
Let rise in warm place until double. You may want to set bowl of dough in sink with warm water for 3-4 minutes to warm it up, then set it on sideboard to continue.

Punch down and let rise a second time.. Punch down again and form into loaves and place in greased pan. (If you don’t have enough loaf pans you can use a cookie sheet and shape it like french bread or make round loaves in 9″ round pans. My Aunt Marilyn always cooked hers in metal juice cans like tomato juice cans without tops that had been well greased. She set them straight up in the oven to cook. We loved her round bread)
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes. Take out of pans while still hot and lightly butter tops if you want.
Enjoy

Weekly Menu: Potato Soup and Bread Bowls

Here is our menu for the coming week. You can read here about how planning a menu saves us time and money.

Monday: Stirfry
Tuesday: Potato soup and bread bowls*
Wednesday: Lentil/Rice Casserole
Thursday: Homemade Hamburger Helper
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Tim’s cooking Valentine’s Dinner with pork
Sunday: Roast, potatoes

We will splurge and go over our grocery budget a little bit this week to buy some ribs/roast/pork chops that Marsh has on sale for $0.99/lb. The pork comes in a 10-12 lb package and should give us many meals. We will use some of the pork for a fancy Valentine’s Dinner and then have some on Sunday when we are having some guests over. Even though we’ll go over a little on our groceries, we won’t be dining out on Valentine’s Day which will save us some money.

We may soon be raising our grocery budget by $20/month. Tim’s been burning a lot of calories at the gym lately and his appetite has grown. I also have a growing appetite as the baby gets larger and I want to make sure I’m eating as healthy as I can for the baby.

*Potato Soup
2-3 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped potatoes
1  cup celery (opt)
1/4 cup onion
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cheese
1 can corn, drained (opt)
1/4 cup shredded carrots (opt)
1/4 cup crumbled, cooked bacon (opt)
salt & pepper to taste

Combine the broth, potatoes, celery, carrots and onion in large pot and boil 20-30 min or until veggies are tender. In separate pan combine flour and butter and mix together 2-3 minutes over med heat until mixture darkens. Stir frequently to make sure it doesn’t burn. Add milk and continue to mix for 3-5 minutes until mixture thickens. Add milk mixture to broth and vegetables. Add cheese, corn, bacon, salt and pepper and heat through. The soup will continue to thicken as it sits.

This soup is very forgiving and you can interchange many of the optional ingredients.

*Bread Bowls
6 cups flour (I use 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white)
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons yeast (or 2 pkgs)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
1/3 cup oil

Mix yeast, sugar and water and let rise until bubbly (5-10 min). Mix with other ingredients (dough should be a little stiff). Divide dough into 6 balls. Let balls rise until twice in size, about 45 min. Bake at 400 for 12-15 min.