40 Pounds

Last Tuesday, I went to our local farm to buy some eggplants and other produce.... I came out with forty pounds of apples and two eggplants. Let's just say they were half price... and that was reason enough for me to purchase them.

Well... forty pounds may not seem like much until you have to peel, core, and chop all of them. I started off by making applesauce. My intent was to use almost all of the apples for sauce.

 (Side note: When I was little, I remember my mom taking me to the local park once and we collected all of the apples that had fallen from the tree by the swing set. When we got home, we made applesauce on the stove. I remember the house smelling delicious and that the applesauce was out-of-this-world amazing.) I think that's where this obsession with applesauce came from.

Anyways, I filled up my crockpots (one six quart and one two quart) with apples (some skin on, some not) after I chopped them up. Because they cook down so well, you don't have to chop them finely. I then sprinkled some cloves and nutmeg on top. I added about two teaspoons of cinnamon and about 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I also added about one cup of water (apple cider works better if you have it in your fridge!). I adjusted the amounts for the smaller crockpot as needed.

Then, I just put the tops on the crock pots, went to sleep, and when I woke up, the apples were very soft. I took the lid off and turned the crock pot off. I let it cool for about half an hour and then stuck an immersion blender in on high speed until it looked like this:

I then made another big batch of applesauce in the crock pots. But... I still had apples left. I think I have a problem with comprehending quantities. Obviously, I didn't really understand how much forty pounds of apples was.

So... on to the next thing: apple pie filling! I followed this recipe exactly (except I don't have a pot to fit everything in so I had to split it in two). It does make a HUGE quantity. But it made five full pie fillings. I tasted it (well, of course!) and it is DELISH. 

I let it cool for about an hour because it was super hot and then stuck it in five quart size freezer-safe bags. I bagged up the applesauce the same way and then threw it all in the freezer. Have I mentioned I need a chest freezer? Our little guy is just not cutting it.  

Thanksgiving prep will hopefully be easy now ;) yeah, right.

I even gave about twenty apples to our neighbors. And I had to throw at least thirty into the trees behind our house because I was SO exhausted.

too good to be true?

A few weeks ago, I had a crazy craving for peanut butter cookies (no mom, not pregnant). So, I perused some of my favorite food bloggers for a good recipe. I should add that AJ (hubby) and I are competing in a 'biggest loser' competition and are trying to eat healthy.

Well, I found a healthy peanut butter cookies recipe. It was too good to be true. It was disgusting. It tasted like peanut butter, raisins, and vanilla stirred together...  because that's what the recipe called for. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Needless to say, we made some unhealthy but oh, so good real peanut butter cookies.

So... when a friend of mine told me to replace regular pasta with spaghetti squash, I remembered those PB cookies. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. I love pasta... More than most people. How could a vegetable taste like pasta?

Fast forward: today, as I walked through the aisles of our trusty neighborhood grocery store, I saw a spaghetti squash and had to get it. They're not cheap... but I guess nothing truly healthy usually is.

Here's what happened:

 just returned from the store :o)

I boiled it in a big pasta pot (appropriate?) for about 25 minutes. Then I sliced it in half and this is what it looked like. I scooped out all of the middle part (mostly seeds).

It shred SO easily with a fork. I had to stick one section back in the microwave (in a big bowl with a bit of water and then I covered with plastic wrap) for a minute.

I served it with sweet Italian sausage after tossing the 'pasta' with garlic, parmesan cheese, sea salt, and butter. AJ loved it and has been busy researching the nutritional benefits of switching forever :)