Homemade Organic Applesauce and Apple Juice

When I set out to make my daughter’s baby food I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. She’s completely off purees now and I still miss it! I never built up a large stock of baby food in the freezer just so that I could spend that time in the kitchen peeling, baking, steaming, boiling, and blending. What can I say, I’m a tattooed, foul-mouthed domesticated housewife. And it’s awesome.

But despite the fact that my daughter will speed away from any spoon that comes near her mouth, there is one exception: applesauce.

Here’s a super easy, pretty quick recipe to make homemade organic applesauce and apple juice, all in one fell swoop.

You’ll need apples (obviously), preferably organic. Apples topped the EWG’s list of the dirty dozen produce. However the organic pickin’ isn’t so good in my area, so my organic apples are a bit on the teensy side.

Peel your apples, slice ’em in half, and then cut around the core. Toss them into a large skillet, cover with water (some of your slices will float), and then cook on medium heat for at least 15 minutes. I did mine for 30.

Scoop out the apple slices and blend! Easy peasy. Just store your apple juice in some mason jars or Tupperware.

You can keep your apple sauce in a container in the fridge, which works best for my family. Between the three of us one batch is lucky to last a week. But you can also freeze in ice cube trays for baby food, or freeze in large containers with a popsicle stick for an absolutely delicious frozen treat.

And as for your apple juice, don’t add anything! Promise me you’ll leave it be. My husband once made the mistake of adding sugar, and rendered a large batch of juice completely undrinkable.

A tasty tip: boil some blueberries for 10 – 15 minutes. Use the blueberries in your morning oatmeal and add your blueberry juice to your apple juice! You can also squeeze some juice from an orange into your blueberry – apple juice, and it is absolutely delicious.

Enjoy!

Today’s guest post is written by Caitlin. She is a wife, a mom, and lover of words, living on an Air Force base in the middle of nowhere. She spends her time chasing after her daughter and experimenting in the kitchen. An aspiring author, she squeezes in writing during nap times and runs All About Growing up and Becoming a Famous author. She can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.