Apples, apples and more irresistable apples!

Our Scenic Drive through the NC Mountains

Getting closer to the apple farm, and saw some wonderful waterfalls

Apple farm

Last week we drove 6 hours to the NC mountains in hopes of picking apples.  What we didn't know was that all of the 10 orchards in that one town were not going to let us pick.  We were really bummed.  When we got to the random orchard we chose, we realized that it was best they pick for us!  The trees were literally on the slopes of the mountainside, and surrounded by a lot of yellowjackets!  Not exactly ideal when you have young little princesses!

But it was still worth going, as we saw some gorgeous little waterfalls along the drive, some great scenic views of the remaining fall leaves, met some great apple farmers, and came home with a huge box and another bag of apples. 

After sampling their apples, we went with a box of Cameo, a combination of tart and sweet, very juicy, and large!  The other bag of apples was Pink Lady, less juicy, more dense, but a promise for sweetness about a week later (now).

I decided to make some apple butter for canning.  This year I made my own rather than someone else's recipe.  I've made it twice, and I love it.  It's not as sweet as your typical apple butter, but it's delicious!  I had some friends at the office try it out, and it seems that other people also liked it, so it's not just me.

I have speculated as to why it's not as sweet.  It's quite possibly that the apples are the reason for the slightly tart flavor.  It could be the honey replacing some of the sugar  (I used NC Wildflower Honey).  Either way, this apple butter is easy to make and really worth trying!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

10 large apples, such as Cameo
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Peel apples, and chop into large chunks.  Throw them into a large slow cooker.  Put remaining ingredients in, tossing to mix slightly.  Put slow cooker on low for 10 hrs or overnight.  You may stir a couple of times, if desired.  Otherwise, you can just leave it.

In the morning, stir the apple mixture.  In batches, blend in the blender.  Or, if you have an immersion blender, you can blend it right in the pot!  Pour into sanitized canning jars.  Follow standard canning procedures.  If you don't have standard canning procedures, you can visit the real Martha's website for some great tips on easy canning!
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So I have many more apples, and so I also made some homemade applesauce for canning.  It's so easy, really anyone can make this:

Cinnamon Applesauce

8 large apples, such as Cameo
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Peel apples and chop into large chunks.  Place chopped apples in a dutch oven.  Splash with lemon juice, and stir in cinnamon until blended in.  Cover and put on medium heat for approx 30 minutes.  Test to see when the apples mush with back of stirring spoon.  If they do, they're done!  Put the apples in a food processor, and blend for 10-15 seconds.  Eat warm, refrigerate, or can for future eating!

As my husband said, "It's like warm apple pie!"
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I made something else with the apples.  I'll share later this week.  Hint: a great fall dessert!

Happy fall!

Lunches- trying not to be boring!

My oldest daughter has to have lunch packed daily for school.  I actually started doing this when she started summer camp, which was a day camp that she went to all summer.  I will say that I enjoy having fun with this, but I do not go to quite the extreme that some bloggers do. 

I believe that lunch, just like all other meals, should be healthy.  I also believe that kids will be exposed to junk, and that while they should be eating and enjoying the healthful foods, you should not completely deprive them of the things they will see the kids around them eating.  One day they will be making choices on their own, and it will be good to give them a balance.

That being said, here are some lunches, with comments on some:

 This one has chips, homemade salsa, peaches, blackberries, cheese cubes, some homegrown lettuce and a sprig of parsley (and yes, she will eat that), and standing in the middle is 1/2 of a Kashi bar.


This next one here has little sandwiches, fruit strip, carrots and spinach, Doritos, and Kashi Warm Cinnamon cereal.

 

 Above are cucumbers as flower stems, tortilla and cheese flowers, pear slices, strawberry applesauce, Kashi crackers and dip.  Below I did air-popped popcorn, Kashi crackers and cheese, granola and Craisins.

 Below was canteloupe, Kashi crackers, peanut butter, cheese cubes and carrots.

 Above is my black bean salad (see recipes), raspberries, spinach, tortilla & cheese flowers, and pear sauce (Trader Joe's).  Below (one of her favorites) was refried beans and chicken (got heated up at camp), spinach, cheese, tortilla, and grapes.

 Sunshine egg salad over a Sandwich Thin, cheese for the rays, freeze dried peas for the eyes, and an apricot smile.

 Above she got chicken, whole wheat blueberry muffin, bread, spinach salad (with 1 grape tomato), and 1 large strawberry.  Below she got chips and salsa, spinach, apple slices, chicken & cheese.

 She really liked this butterfly, with a Simply Fruit rollup antennae.  The sandwich was tuna fish, and I found some food markers at one of the local arts & crafts stores.  Served with an orange.

 This last one is supposed to look like a palm tree, with apple slice palm leaves, a Flat Out original flatbread with peanut butter for the trunk, cherry "coconuts" and a monkey.  Served with carrots and teddy grahams.

I'm not perfect, but adding in a little creativity makes lunches interesting for my daughter!  There are still many days of just a sandwich with fruit or chips. 

I hope to soon post a recipe of something I do with the leftover scraps of bread & crusts from making lunches.   Perfect for autumn!  Would love to know what some of your favorite autumn recipes are...

Muffin Tins

Sometimes it's nice to know that the items taking up space in your home are good for multiple functions.  I've been thinking a lot lately about muffin tins, which typically don muffins and cupcakes. 

Many moms out there are serving up bento style lunches at home in muffin tins.  It's a way to use up leftovers, offer a variety of foods to your child, and it's also fun for your child to eat out of a muffin tin on occasion.  Here is a blogger who I like to follow, she does 'Muffin Tin Mondays' with her child.

My garden has had an over-abundance of basil and parsley this year.  While I still have a LOT to use, I decided to save some for use in the winter months when my garden is long gone.  I washed mounds of the leaves, big and small, then stuffed a muffin tin full.  Each one is about 1/2 cup of packed basil.  I then filled up the muffin cups with water and placed it in the freezer.  Once frozen solid, I was able to remove the big cubes of frozen basil and place in a large zipper bag and freeze out in the deep freezer.  If you decide to try this and are having difficulty removing the cubes from the muffin tin, try tilting the tin near the kitchen sink and spraying with lukewarm water on the underside.  This should help them loosen up without melting them!

I work an early morning shift at my job so that I have the ability to pick up the girls in the afternoon when school lets out.  The downside is that I have to rely on my husband to feed them breakfast in the morning.  About once a week I'll prepare something that will be healthy or just different from the ordinary stuff.  I think that making a pot of homemade oatmeal or grits, then freezing in muffin tin cups, would allow him to defrost breakfast in portions as needed!

Why not make quiche or breakfast casserole in muffin tins?  This is a fantastic idea for brunches or pick-me-up breakfasts on the go.

Having a casual ice cream social?  Put different toppings in the muffin cups, add some spoons, and it's an easy setup/cleanup!

What about non-food uses for muffin tins?  If you and/or your kids like to work with beads, you can separate out beads by size, color, use tins for different string types, etc.  Easy for hands to reach in and pick out, and keeps things organized!

Use  your muffin tins when cleaning up small things that pile up in the laundry room.  Emptying out pockets?  Hair bows in one cup, money in a cup, crayons... then when you're done doing laundry, or cleaning up, take the tin with you to put those little things away!

What ideas do you have for muffin tins?
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My friend Kimmy chimed in on Facebook, and so I had to share (thanks, Kimmy!):
"I like to make meat loaf in them!! Also at Thanksgiving I make my stuffing in them., called stuffin muffins! :) You can melt down old crayons in them and make new round crayons!!"