Lately

So my back has been killing me since Monday morning.  I’m not sure what I did, but it wasn’t good!  And you know what doesn’t mix with back pain?  Child care!  Ow!  I felt quite a bit better yesterday, but I’m pretty sure that’s because from about 8:45 until 1:45, I was sitting on my couch.  :)  I’m so thankful for that time to rest!  My house is a PIT though.  It’s very sad.  I’m not really losing sleep over it though.  I know I need to strengthen my core muscles, but I’m pretty sure I also need to wait until my back is better.  But then I really am going to exercise or something. 

For real. 

Really.

We picked up forty pounds of organic Fuji apples this week from our co-op, and today I got around to making some applesauce.  I didn’t really feel up to putzing in the kitchen today, but making applesauce is very easy and it needed doing.  I hadn’t returned my MIL’s crock pot to her, so I went ahead and loaded up hers as well as mine with apples this morning.  Here’s my lazy easy method for making applesauce.  (Do not be alarmed that it’s a very long paragraph.  Apparently I’m feeling blabby.)

Ingredients: apples, water  :)

Core and roughly chop the apples.  There is no need to peel.  I basically cut the apples into eight slices then chopped each slice across in half.  You just want them to be uniform-ish so they’ll cook evenly.  I took no pictures because the light in my kitchen makes me sad.  Put as many apples as you can fit into the crockpot and add about a half a cup of water.  The apples are going to be plenty juicy; the water just keeps everything from sticking.  Today I cooked the sauce in the crockpot because of all the kiddos around, but you can easily do it on the stove as well.  It just takes a little more babysitting and it’s done faster.  Put the lid on the crockpot and set it to low.  Mine were done at about 3 1/2 hours, but there’s plenty of wiggle room there.  When the apples are very soft, you’re good.  I have an immersion blender (love!) but you can do it without.  I just used the stick blender right in the crockpot to puree it.  I like the applesauce very smooth.  You can also just mash it with a potato masher for a chunkier style.  Before I had my handy gadget, I would puree it in batches in the regular blender.  It’s messier, but just as effective.  Each crock put full yielded 4 pints (pictured above).  Because of my back hurting and the 4-5 very small “helpers,” I decided not to can these batches.  Instead, I let the sauce cool, put it into jars (because I love jars), and stuck them in the freezer.  They’ll keep there for several months and I have no doubt they won’t last that long.  :)  I was thinking it would be pretty space-efficient to pour the applesauce into gallon ziplocks and lay them flat in the freezer.  It just wouldn’t be as good for the earth.  :)

I also made some apple “chips” in the oven, but I need to tweak my method a bit before I try again.  The kids liked ‘em though. 

In totally unrelated news, Natalie has been thumb-free for almost three weeks!  Her dentist said she could come back and get a prize after she stopped sucking her thumb for two weeks.  We finally had a chance to stop by Thursday after school.  See what she picked?!

She is so proud of herself and I am too!!

This picture’s been sitting in my “to blog” folder for several days, but it just doesn’t fit with anything.

 

Poor James is pretty good at walking in heels!

Hee hee.