Category: Food

All things food, cooking, recipes, nutrition, health and more!

What’s Cooking Wednesday: Homemade Applesauce

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Today’s recipe is so simple I hesitate to even call it a recipe: 2 ingredients & a little time are all it takes to make delicious homemade applesauce.

My parents have 6 apples trees, so growing up we had an abundant supply of apples and fresh applesauce was frequently on the menu in the fall and winter.

Applesauce is a great way to use some apples that may be a little past their prime – ones that are bruised or starting to wrinkle. You probably won’t see anything like that in the apples you buy at the store, but at an orchard you can probably buy what they call “seconds.”

Seconds are apples that are less than perfect visually – maybe not be ones you want to slice & eat fresh, but they are good for cooking & baking…including homemade applesauce! Of course you could use the better looking apples, too. You will just pay a little more for them because they’re pretty.

Homemade Applesauce

Ingredients:

  • 5 medium apples
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Peel and chop your apples using your preferred method. I just use a knife for a small number – but you could use a fancy crank peeler or even chop your apples in a food processor.
  2. Pour 1/4 cup of water in a medium sauce pan
  3. Add your chopped apples & cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until apples chunks are soft (my small batch of 5 apples took about 30 minutes, a larger batch would take longer).
  4. Remove from heat & mash with a potato masher. You can also run it through a blender for smoother applesauce. I like mine “rustic” & slightly chunky.
  5. Serve warm or cold. Add cinnamon if desired. You could also add sugar, but I think the fruit is sweet enough all by itself.
  6. Store in the refrigerator. Can also be frozen for later.

5 apples = about 1 cup of applesauce

Tips:

  • Apple Varieties: sweet varieties like Yellow Delicious, Jonathon’s & Galas make good applesauce. I would avoid some of the tarter varieties like Red Delicious & Granny Smith.
  • You can really use as many apples as you want, just use a bigger pan. You will only need 1/4 cup of water even for a large batch. The water just keeps the apples from sticking to the bottom of the pan until they start to cook down and release some juices.

What’s Cooking Wednesday: Zucchini Muffins (in a bag)

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Zucchini Muffins

Check out these zucchini muffins for a quick & easy breakfast treat. The secret ‘ingredient’ in this recipe: a plastic bag. …which means super simple clean up & it’s great for cooking with kids!

Zucchini Muffins (in a bag)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup shredded zucchini
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 gallon resealable plastic bag

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Crack eggs in bag. Seal and squish to break yolks.
  3. Add sugar. Seal and squish together to mix.
  4. Add oil and vanilla. Reseal bag and shake/squish until thoroughly mixed.
  5. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Reseal bag and shake/squish until thoroughly mixed.
  6. Add zucchini. Reseal bag and squish together until thoroughly mixed.
  7. Grease or place paper liners in a muffin tin.
  8. Snip the tip off of one corner of the bag with scissors. Gently squeeze the bag to fill the muffin tin. Fill each one about 2/3 full.
  9. Back for 20 mins until a toothpick comes out clean.
  10. Throw away the bag & enjoy an easy clean up 🙂

Yield: 12-15 muffins

The Friday Five: A Better Look at Beef

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2013 soybeans, landscape

Did you know that yesterday (Aug. 27) was #NationalBurgerDay? Thank you, social media for the heads up.

Coincidentally, there’s also a headline grabbing story floating around this week about the safety of ground beef. Let’s take a better look:

  1. From Food Insights, here’s a few facts and myths to explore about the safety of ground beef. Bottom line: bacteria doesn’t care where your beef came from – wash your hands & cook it to the right temperature (160 degrees)!
  2. For another perspective, check out this article from High Plains Journal. The good news: almost all of the bacteria found in the “study” was not the kind that cause serious foodbourne illnesses
  3. Reading past the headlines is important, especially when it comes to blurbs about scientific studies, as pointed out in this LA Times article.
  4. And here’s an article from Business Insider that looks at some potential problems with the ground beef safety “study”.
  5. For some tips on ways to safely store, handle, thaw & cook beef check here.

What’s your favorite way to eat a hamburger?

What’s Cooking Wednesday: Zucchini Stacks

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Zucchini stacks

Layers of veggies in a tasty cheese sauce make this a perfect late summer side dish to pair with pretty much anything. And as a bonus it’s super easy to make!

This is a recipe I grew up eating with veggies fresh from our home garden. My mom always called this ‘Zucchini Side Dish’ but I decided to label it ‘Zucchini Stacks’ because I think it’s a little better description what your dish will look like.

Zucchini Stacks

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium green zucchini, sliced in thin rounds (about 1/4″ thick)
  • 1 medium yellow onion, sliced in thin rounds (about 1/4″ thick)
  • 2 medium ripe tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, sliced in rings
  • 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
  • About 9 slices of American or mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. basil

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Lightly grease a 8 x 8 glass baking dish.
  3. Fill the bottom with zucchini slices (use the bigger slices for the bottom). Usually about 9 slices, but it depends on the size of your zucchini.
  4. Add an onion slice, then a tomato slice and then a green pepper ring on top of each zucchini slice.
  5. Sprinkle with garlic, basil & flour.
  6. Place 1/2 a slice of cheese on each stack.
  7. Add a second layer of veggies: zucchini, onion, tomato, pepper & then a second 1/2 slice of cheese.
  8. Bake for about 20 minutes until veggies are fork tender and cheese is golden brown.
  9. Serve your stacks & enjoy!

As it cooks, the juices from the vegetables combine with the flour, spices and melted cheese to make the tasty sauce.

What main dish will you pair it with?

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