Seasonal eating – waste not want not, simple applesauce

In England, it feels like the seasons are suddenly changing. It is dark when I wake up in the morning for work, and it is dark before I go to bed. The beautiful summer weather we had for the past few months (thank goodness we had it) has changed to wind and rain, and I am feeling the need to hibernate.

However, on a positive note, a change of seasons means a change of seasonal foods. And I have noticed these changes far more over the past few months thanks to our local greengrocer trips.

To be honest, I love summer fruits and all of the fresh food…but there is something nice about the nights drawing in and the weather turning colder, pulling on warm sweatshirts and sweaters (hoodies and woolly jumpers in UK speak) and stocking up on root vegetables rather than summer berries. I may need to be reminded of this in a couple of months (or perhaps weeks) when I am fed up with winter and there are still many months of it left, but for now, it feels nice to be making stews and warm comfort foods again.

One of my favorite fall foods is apples. Now, I can eat a lot of apples, but the first couple of weeks when British apples were available, I may have bought a few too many.

But I couldn’t stand to throw them away, and I was feeling too lazy to bake anything complicated. This is how this simple applesauce recipe was born.

Waste Not Want Not, Simple Applesauce

Waste Not Want Not, Simple Applesauce

Ingredients:

5-7 small or medium, preferably local, apples (doesn’t matter if they are a bit past their prime)

1.5 tbsp sugar (I used raw cane sugar)

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

Chop apples into small pieces, leaving the core to one side. If you peel the apples, there is no need to chop the apples into such small pieces, but if you leave the skin on, chopping them finely means you won’t end up with great big bits of skin.

Put all the ingredients into a medium saucepan, and cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples have softened enough to mash. For me, this took approximately 25 minutes.

Mash with a potato masher, and enjoy.

This applesauce was delicious on its own, over (non-dairy) ice cream, and mixed into overnight oats. I’m sure it would have also been good lots of different ways, but it ran out far too quickly. You can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week, if it lasts that long!

Also, I am sure you could double or triple the recipe, but I haven’t tried it myself yet. It may be a good idea to cut down on the water slightly if you do a larger batch, and then add more water if needed.

IBS Note: Lately, I have been able to eat apples (and most things for that matter) without any problems. However, apples used to be a trigger food for me. If they are a trigger food for you, proceed with caution, but you may still be okay with this recipe. I have generally been able to tolerate foods much better when they have been cooked and blended or mashed, and removing the skins of the apples might make this a bit easier on your stomach as well.