Some home cooking...apples anyone?

You didn't think I was done talking about apples yet...did you?? Along with cooler weather comes my favorite time of the year to try new recipes. It's no longer too hot to cook. In fact it's wonderful! With the abundance of apples we have had I have tried several different ways to use them. I also found out that I could get cooking apples from the orchard which were perfect for applesauce and apple butter.

First the apples had to be cored,

peeled, and sliced. Thanks to a

friend and my neighbor who let me

borrow the nifty little tool you see

in the picture, it went very quickly.

I had a little station set up for making the applesauce

and apple butter. We like smooth apple sauce, so I

blended the apples before I cooked them with some

fresh apple cider. Yum!!!!

Then comes the simmering. And the house

smells heavenly!! Finally comes the canning

or freezing. Oh yeah...and then the enjoying!

I also dehydrated some apple slices. The kids loved them.

I couldn't waste all of the beautiful peels that I had, so

I soaked them in lemon juice and some sucanat (natural

sugar). Then dried them and came out with some

yummy crunchy apple strings.

While experimenting with recipes, I also tried making

my own cereal. It came out great! I'm still experimenting

with different recipes, but this one was a keeper.

The cereal was great with the crunchy apple strings

mixed in. The kids also enjoyed raisins, craisins

and coconut on top of their homemade cereal.

I have been trying to tune in to homemade cooking as a healthy and budget friendly lifestyle. We have been trying many new things. Nathaniel is our little trooper. He loves "real" food. One night I made a spinach, artichoke, salmon dip. I made a separate meal for the kids, which I never do, but I new this was a strong dip. Well, Nathaniel blew us out of the water...he loved the dip. He is also a fan of wild rice soup. With all of our healthy attempts, we still haven't given up our pizza night!