Apple Butter

If I ever start to wonder what I should be doing with my time, I often end up in the kitchen.  This was hard at first when we changed the way we eat, which is still a learning process, because I was used to making cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies, etc.  I had to gather some healthy recipes, but no matter how you eat, it's fun to try new recipes, have suggestions from friends, and spending time on your feet in the kitchen.  It makes sitting down eventually that much more rewarding!  At least for me.


And the good thing about this recipe is that it's really really easy.  I've made mine the the stove-top twice, but it can also be made on low overnight in the crock-pot.  Wake up to your house smelling wonderful.


Thanks to my friend Teresa for introducing me to apple butter.  It's the perfect blend of natural sweetness from the apples and the perfect addition of spices.  It can have added sugar, but I don't think it needs it at all.  Try it without first.


Apple Butter

12 apples, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups water 
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice

Cut your apples into chunks, peels on.  Put apples and water in a pot with the spices.  Let simmer together until apples are softened.  In batches, blend (this is where I wish I had an immersion blender). Put blended apples back into the pot and let cook down on medium-low until the mixture is thickened.  It should be the consistency of a soft jelly preserve.  Store in the fridge in airtight container...or eat in one night.  

For extra goodness, spread on Honey Whole Wheat Bread!

3 comments:

  1. yum that looks so good!! And one could can it, no? I can get apples for cheap sometimes (50 cents/lb) and this looks like it'd be amazing to try. I am finally cracking open Eat To Live this week, so I'm resisting asking you a hundred questions til I'm done.

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    Replies
    1. I'm loving the questions! It's keeping me going. I think you should read "Food Matters" next http://www.amazon.com/Food-Matters-Conscious-Eating-Recipes/dp/1416575650/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360215185&sr=8-2&keywords=food+matters. I just cracked it open and I really like the approach he makes over "Eat to Live." Or try the cookbook one, it still has a good explanation about his approach in the beginning...I just checked out both from the library. http://www.amazon.com/The-Food-Matters-Cookbook-Revolutionary/dp/1439120234/ref=pd_sim_b_1

      I still side on the vegetarian/vegan side of things, but I like what he has to say and the change that needs to happen.

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  2. oooh, I do too. In the end I almost feel like I end up at the same spot. Word of wisdom. Meat sparingly, and I mean,... spaaaaaaringly. Just the other night I told Jared I was making haw. haystacks. He's like, "are you using chicken?" I'm all, Na! and he just replied, "ok", with kind of a soft sigh... haha... but he hasn't really missed it in a long time. I've basically started back in Davis by discovering veggies, and let's be honest SPICES!! Then leaving meat out of normal dishes, then substituting unhealthy ingredients for better ones. Now I'm venturing out to find real "foodie" recipes and it's so fun. The black bean taco filling is AMAZing! Eat to Live surprised me with no salt, no oil, but it was no huge deal... and no dairy, which wasn't SO surprising... Before Lukas was born I'd heard all kinds of crazy things about cow milk from my health nut friends, and figured I'd leave out milk and do cheese & jogurt instead. But now I'm not sure what I can do in place of joghurt... granola goes well with granola, but can a person make an almond milk yogurt? Or I've considered leaving that alone, and just making my own all the time (crock pot!)... but I do want to find a better way to make something like it. Or just ditch it altogether. Usually we eat just lots of fresh, real food, and if there are treats, then homemade. I've probably just got to go get a cookbook huh! Have you tried cashew cream in place of dairy before? Or heard of that? I have a DIY four ingredient cream of chicken I love for broth, and the veg broth powder in it stores well (that chick nish stuff). I have to finish the book . LOL. Aaaaaand get that other one. :) Just want everybody to eat WELL... especially Lukas, whose DNA is riddled with heart failure,diabetes, high blood pressure and heart attacks. Yeah. Awesome. But he eats really good foods and is outside a bunch, so I'm hoping his difference in how he's raised saves him from the perils of all those nasty health problems. Sometimes, when people offer him stuff and he's not around I just want to lie and tell people he has some condition so he stops offering it to him, or so they don't think I'm just that crazy food lady. LOL.

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