I love sweet awesome candy goodness, but I like to pretend that I don’t want to eat it ALL the time (especially when my kiddo is looking). Admit it… you’ve snuck the candy you JUST told your kiddo they could not eat, after they go to bed. Ha! Or, maybe that’s just me? I mean, she has a crazy sweet tooth and will eat all the candy/chocolate around and then she goes on an insane sugar trip and I lose my mind.
Homemade Apple Pie Butter. Yeah, my label in the photo calls it JAM… I did not notice I put the word “jam” instead of “butter” until I had labeled all my jars…. oh well. Ha! Anyway, this apple BUTTER is delicious. I’ve decided to call it Apple Pie Butter because that is what it tastes like: apple pie. The best part about this is I did NOT add sugar to this. Only naturally occurring apple sugars here, and it is STILL so sweet and tasty. I really want to experiment using this butter in a pie, maybe replacing the added sugar? I’ll let you know how it goes.
I asked, on Instagram, if any of you’d like to have the recipe… and it was a big ‘ol YES. Well, enough babbling… here’s my no sugar added Apple Pie Butter recipe! FYI: you’ll need a crock pot.
(adapted from this recipe on Eating Richly)
- About 25 medium apples (or a mix of small and large)
- 3 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 lemon
Directions:
1. Start coring and slicing apples (I used an apple corer/slicer and trimmed bad pieces with a knife). Toss your slices into the crock pot as you go along. Once your crock pot is full: stop prepping apples.
2. Turn your crock pot on LOW and let those apples cook down anywhere from 8 to 10 hours (this depends on the type of apple you use: softer cooks faster), or when they are soft/mushy. Feel free to stir the apples whenever you’d like (I did every couple hours).
3. When your time is up stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2. You just add more apples, mix, and wait. Cook for another 8 – 10 hours.
5. When this time is up, do a taste test to see if you should add more spices, or not.
6. If there’s still room in your crock pot after it cooks down more, add another round of apple following steps 1 and 2. Cook for another 8 – 10 hours.
7. When this time is up, use an immersion blender to puree it. You could use a food processor, but that’s just more dishes… I love our immersion blender. Add the juice of your whole lemon and if you’d like, maybe a little lemon zest. Blend that in real quick.
8. Let this cook down to the consistency you like. We like our apple butter smooth and thick. If it’s not cooking down fast enough, you can crack the lid a little to get some moisture out.
9. If you’re canning this butter, use the water bath method (I let our jars process for 10 minutes). If you are NOT canning… I believe the butter is good in the fridge for 1 – 2 weeks, or store it in the freezer (in a proper freezer storage container).
Side notes:
- Makes: 8 pints
- Cost: For my first round I got all of my apples for free. The lemon was $1. The new lids were about $4? I think. Soooo… it was about .63 cents a pint. I’m terrible with math… but I know this saved me some cash. We normally spend about $6 for a large jar of no sugar added apple butter. The second round I spent $8 on damaged organic apples (I just cut all the bruises off), $1 for the lemon, and more lids for $4. That means it was about $1.38 a pint. Still a great deal (and it’s fun to make).
- The majority of my apples for the first round were Gala. The second round was a variety of apples (since they were on sale). I prefer the first apple butter over the second. Both are still great, but I love Gala apples.
- The best part about this whole canning thing: I have more control over our food. I still had to get the ingredients from the store, but I made it.
I also made some “made with love” canning labels to share with you guys (just in case I’ve inspired you to get canning). I’m in a canning club here in Portland, and we bring 5 jars of our current creation to swap. I LOVE it. I’ll be bringing 5 jars to share for this week. Yay! Click on these links to right click + save the printouts. There are four colors: red, green, tan, and blue. ::personal use only, please::
If you DO end up making this: let me know how it went! Enjoy!
- Chelsey
If you follow my Instagram, you may have noticed I’ve been canning (insert Portlandia reference here… it’s so true, ha) and have even joined the Portland Preservation Society. It’s a group of people that WANT to know where their food comes from. My pickled carrots: from my garden and pickled by me.
Canning has been quite an adventure. Have you wanted to try it? I’ve enjoyed it and can’t stop! Pickling is DEFINitely a great way to start. It’s super simple… and pickles are delicious! This recipe I used (adapted from Serious eats) is a great one to try as your first canning. The water bath canning instructions are at the end of the directions. A couple of notes that I find are important for starting canning:
- If you are using old jars to can with, make sure they are specifically for canning and have no chips on the rim. There will not be a proper seal with a chip.
- Only use new lids. You can use old bands, but all the lids should be new. The old lids will not create a proper seal and the food will probably spoil.
- Vegetables cannot be pickled using the water bath method… without some sort of acidity. That’s why pickling is awesome! Pickle all the veggies! Hee.
- Most fruit should have enough acidity to can with the water bath method.
- I recommend checking out the Ball site if you have any questions.
Directions (adapted from Serious Eats):
1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil in which to blanch the carrots.
2. Prepare 1 pint and a half jar, or 2 12-ounce jelly jars. Place lid(s) in a small pot of water and bring to the barest bubble to soften sealing compound.
3. Peel carrots and trim to fit jars. Cut into thin sticks.
4. When the water comes to a boil, drop in the carrots and cook for either 90 seconds if you plan on canning your pickles, or 3 minutes if you’re making them as refrigerator pickles.
5. When time is up, remove carrots from water and run under cold water to stop cooking.
6. Combine vinegar, water and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
7. Place spices and a garlic clove into the bottom of each jar.
8. Pack carrots sticks upright in jar(s).
9. Pour the boiling brine over the carrots, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
10. Tap jar(s) gentle to remove air bubbles.
11. Wipe the rims and apply the lids and rings.
12. If you’re canning the pickles, process them for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
13. When time is up, remove jar(s) from canner and let cool.
14. Sealed jars can be stored in a cool, dark place for up to one year. Refrigerator pickles should be placed in the fridge as soon as the jars are cool.
15. Let pickles rest in pickling liquid for at least 48 hours before eating.
- Chelsey
The other day I found this on Pinterest…. Homemade frickin’ Velveeta cheese. I really love cheese…. It’s pretty much a necessity in my life. I had to make this IMMEDIATELY! I mean, yeah: cheddar cheese is almost the same thing… but there’s something magical about Velveeta. Unlike cheese, it doesn’t turn into greasy mess when you melt it. It’s just creamy cheesy goodness. Toss in some tomatoes or beans into this cheese and you have an amazing dip.
We went ahead with a grilled cheese sandwich for our first Homemade Velveeta Cheese experiment. The result: delicious. We did just plain cheese for our kiddo and added spinach and bacon for us. PLUS, tomato soup. So yummy. This pinterest find is a WIN.
I researched about 5 different recipes and decided this was the recipe for me (I only adjusted the salt and types of cheese amounts). I hope you check it out (unless you hate cheese, then don’t… ha):
1 Tablespoon water
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin (unflavored)
1 cup colby jack cheese, grated*
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated*
1 Tablespoon non-fat or whole dry milk powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk
Directions:
- Line a small pan with plastic wrap (with the wrap hanging over the edge). The recipe called for a 5 x 4 bread pan, but I used a 5 x 9 x 1 inch high pan. Worked fine.
- Place the 1 Tablespoon of water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Pulse your grated cheese, dried milk, salt, and cream of tartar in a food processor (about 5 times).
- Bring the milk to a boil over medium heat (it starts to boil pretty quick). When it reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and stir in the gelatin until it dissolves.
- Pour the milk mixture into a liquid measuring cup. With your food processor running add the milk into the cheese mixture. Blend until the mixture is combine and velvety smooth.
- Immediately pour the cheese mixture into your prepared pan. Chill in a fridge for 3 hours or overnight.
This is delicious. I mean… yeah, it’s cheese… BUT, it’s just like Velveeta cheese. There’s something different about Velveeta. It’s creamy and fantastic. This is a wonderful substitute. Let me know if you try it! It’s so good. I mean: cheese. Also…. try and take photos of a grilled cheese sandwich while your kiddo is watching… it’s almost impossible, “Mama, I’m Soooooooo starving hungry.” Ha!
- Chelsey
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
If you have a Wednesday post, please feel free to link it up below. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too… Parenting by Dummies, Project Alicia, Jenni from the Blog, and Live and Love Outloud.
