Homemade applesauce

Tasty fall treat, delish to have on hand for any occasion... applesauce!

We like ours with vanilla ice cream, homemade whipped cream or just warmed in a bowl (great for those chilly fall nights). 

 This recipe is the only one I have ever made, it's the one my mom taught me and is the easiest I know. There is no mushing, mashing, blending, or pureeing.  I use whatever apples I happen to have on hand.  For this batch, I was given apples from 3 different orchards- one in Washington State and 2 in Oregon.   

SO to start out- WASH the apples- even if they are organic, sometimes they can have little friends still hanging around (our oldest daughter also helped to peel them & our little girls helped wash them all beforehand... notice, I could not leave them out :) ) I peel & slice the apples by hand (I tried using a peeler/cutter/slicer thingy once before- be my guest, I didn't like the hugmongous mess it made), and I only cut the apples around the core then cut each section into 3 or 4 slices, so the slices are pretty big. 

Then I piled them in the pot (I have a BIG pot) like so:

As you can see in the above pic, I filled it to overflowing practically, but I made sure I could still squash the lid on- I also had another pot next to it, just as full.  It will cook down- believe me.

I also add:

-water (for this pot I used maybe 2 cups- the apples create a lot of juice themselves, so maybe start with less & then if you need to add more later)

-cinnamon (a WHOLE bunch!!! Sorry I don't use a lot of exact measurements here, but that's just the way I roll...)  I literally just keep adding cinnamon as I add apples to the pot b/c I don't think I ever had too much cinnamon, but I also really like very cinnamony applesauce, so if you don't like as much, then don't add as much.  This is really up to how you like it to taste.

-nutmeg (maybe a 1 tsp for this pot)

-cloves (1/2 tsp)

Then I cook it for a long time and keep stirring on med-low.  Make sure to keep stirring all the way to the bottom and get the apples on to to get to the bottom and cook.  I literally ruined an entire batch once b/c I let it sit too long at too hot (I was in a hurry, imagine that) and this faint burnt apple smell permeated the whole pot- ICK!  Homemade applesauce should not be made when you are in a hurry, it's a let it cook in it's own time sort of thing.

OK! so, eventually all those apples will cook down to a little over half what you started with (slightly disappointing, I realize)

So after an hour or so, it should look like this:

Now, like I said earlier, I do not mash, mush, blend or puree my sauce.  It turns to sauce all by it's little ol' self.  I prefer my sauce to be chunky, it's got more muscle to it.  Blended or pureed applesauce reminds me of baby food and I've made that more times than I care to think about. Plus, it's one less  appliance to mess up.

At this point, you might want to taste it and see if you want to add anymore spices.  I also add brown sugar at this time as well.  I didn't add it earlier b/c it will just make it burn easier.  I added about one cup for the big pot and a 1/2 cup for the smaller pot (8qt).  Then I mix it really well adding anymore spices to taste and let it cook for a few more minutes (or sometimes just turn the heat off and leave the lid on for maybe 10 minutes or so).  Then I stir and let cool enough that I can fill the jars without burning my skin off.

Jars, da da da DAH!

I got about seven, 32 oz. jars out of those 2 pots.  Not too shabby for a day's work, eh?  They make lovely Christmas gifts too :)
Oh yes, and to seal them (if they don't seal themselves), I just use my biggest pot and heat the water to boiling, plop about 3 jars in at a time & turn it down to medium, put a lid on and let them simmer/boil for about 10 minutes.  Take 'em out, let 'em dry, wait for 'em to cool and sealed they be and sealed they stay!
I don't have any canning equipment but feel free to use that or purchase some if you feel better about it.  If I d0 more canning and with acidic things then I may have to as well.  So far, my canning expertise is limited to apples, peaches & blackberries and tomatoes.

scarves, scarves and more scarves...

ok, so Pinterest has got me going now... besides yummy recipes & other DIY, on scarves!  Guess its that time of year :) I have crocheted many a scarf & knitted one, but I loved idea of just using fabrics from around the house to create a simple scarf.  I challenged myself to not just make one, but two and no sewing either.  Here was the result:

 Scarf one, a sort of purply "tule" material that is on it's 3rd recycle.  Apparently it was a dress once upon a time, turn into sort of a scarfy flag thing and now, a scarf.  It's very soft and a pretty color that goes nicely with lots of outfits.  I simply cut it into 6 long strips about 3 inches wide and then knotted 3 with 3 to double the length.  You don't really notice the knot b/c after I did that, I braided them loosely and then just kind of wrapped & twisted them around each other.  It will probably have a different look every time.

Scarf two!!  This was totally inspired by several other scarves I have seen on Pinterest made from old t-shirts.  Unfortunately, I did not take pics as I was making it b/c I wasn't sure it would turn out (silly me).  If I get enough response, I will make another and take pics this time!!  This was 3 soft t-shirts (not my hubbys) that really just didn't work for me anymore.  I tried to make something out of them but was unsuccessful, so I started cutting them in strips about 2 inches wide from the armpits down.  These were horizontal strips, so when I was done, I had lots of circles.  I took the circles and stretched them out running my fingers along them and the ends just sort of curl, thus no need to hem, etc.  I then cut one of the edges and cut out the seam on that edge altogether (yes, I know, pictures would be helpful here), making them into longer strips (probably about 4 ft long).  I then took one of each color, knotted on one end and braided them.  I did this with all of them and then un-knotted the knot to hold them together and knotted opposite ends of the braid together to form braided loops.  I think I had about 6 or 7 loops when I was done.  These I just held together and slipped over my head (in the pics- our daughter) and voila!  Simple, funky and fun! oh ya, and FREE!!!  I'm kicking myself for all the shirts like this I have gotten rid of over the years that I could have used to make scarves like this.  Oh well, I have the consolation that maybe they are sitting in your closet just waiting to be set free!  I think you could probably come up with your own version of this and there are much simpler ones out there with complete video tutorials as well.  Watch one and make up your own- and I can't wait to see it on Pinterest :)

fairy houses and more....

a fairy house built by Calley...

Ellie's fairy house...

ever wonder what a fairy eats?
why fairy berries & wheat, of course

lavender love

Nasturtium's take over our herb garden

Fall crocuses in a bubble

one of the many hydrangea bushes in our yard...

this healthy purple sage started out as an organic little scraggly plant...
now it's beautiful and adds color to our garden

these little guys decided to grow in our vegetable garden this year

"wake up in the morning, the sun is beautiful, and it is warming you and I..." -Eisley

just a few pics of the beauty I see all around me... 

Cowgirls/Cowboys... Homeschooler FUN!!

Our family officially joined a home-school group this year called "The Navigators" and we really love it!  It's made up of families who have similar ideals and thoughts about education and raising families.  We don't all use the same curriculum's, in fact, there is quite a wide variety represented and I learn about more all the time!

The great thing is, we do lots of fun stuff together and it's really aimed at a wide age range... like horse-riding for example.

This last week we went to the Wild Ones Youth Ranch and Ellianna and Calley who are currently almost 4 and 6 and a half (must be precise, or else...), had a wonderful time.  We were out there for about 2 hours and I thought they might start to loose it, being during Calley's naptime/Ellie's quiet time, but noooooo....., far from it.  They didn't want to go home and we only ended up having to because they both managed to find the only spot of ooey, gooey mud on the property which found it's way up to their shins.  (This being after mommy said about 3 gazillion times, "let's stay away from the mud girls!")
But it was good timing as they had already....
1. ridden in a horse cart pulled by the sweet mini-pony "Honey" and driven by the lovely Sarah Meyers,
2. taken a trip- horseback mind you- on the "Oregon Trail" (carefully monitored by helpers and safety helmets on-these are mommy-friendly people out there),
3. played really cool games by highly enthusiastic young people who also seemed to have endless amounts of energy,
and ended with a yummy homemade snack!! (gotta love that!)
SO... that was a 6 Starr thumbs-up for our family and we will defintely be back there again as they have all sorts of programs for every age (even mommies).
If you want to check it out, click on the link below...
http://www.wildonesyouthranch.com/

Light on the Horizon...

I realized the other day that I haven't blogged in rather a long time, since January, I believe. Also, the realization that I have only had one migraine since I last blogged is an incredibly encouraging thought... incredibly!!

If you have read any of my other blogs, it's easy to see how migraines have drastically affected my life for the better part of (worse part of) the last 20 years approximately. It's a genetic thing and it sucks, for mostly all the members of my family- mother, brother, half-brother and half-sister. Mine just happen to be hormonal which has really taken us a long time to figure out.

In January, we decided to head back to the doctor- something I've hesitated on for years because of all the nasty and non-helpful medication I have been put on- but this time we were prepared. We had done our research and knew exactly what we wanted to try. My doctor actually has a great deal of understanding of hormonal migraines even though he is not a neurologist, a headache specialist or my regular Dr. He was my OB-GYN for our fourth child and had made some recommendations regarding migraines at that time that we sort of put on the shelf hoping, praying, believing that they would just one day, up and disappear! Well, migraines have a way of disappearing, seeming like they are gone, and then rearing their ugly heads at the worst possibly moment.

So, I started taking a low-dose birth control pill every day for almost 3 months now (that means no placebo). About a two months in, I had one migraine. That was a tad discouraging, but my doctor did say that it takes time for most women's bodies to adjust to low dose hormones taken on a daily basis. I tried to remember that and focus on the part of- wow! I didn't have a migraine for a long time, waaaaayyyy longer than normal!- and NOT think about the migraine raging my head at the time.

Now, I will be heading into my 4th month of this new, virtually migraine-free phase of life and I'm really excited. I know that I still may occasionally have one, but that's a HUGE step and a lot less than I could've potentially had.

I'm realizing that I look at life a lot differently as well. I used to not want to plan much as I knew the possibility of migraine-interference might take me down and then I would have to break commitments, and seem just plain unreliable. I absolutely HATE being considered unreliable (the thought makes my stomach churn), and while there are times I have had to back out of something for other unknown, unavoidable circumstances, I hated having to somehow communicate (in the midst of excruciating pain/nausea), "sorry, I can't be there", AGAIN! I also felt like many people don't really understand migraines. A lot of people think they are just a really bad headache. That is a GINORMOUS misnomer... let me tell you.

I won't go into any nasty details, but a migraine is so INCREDIBLY much worse than the most painful headache you have ever had, it's virtually impossible to describe unless you've actually had one.

But, I don't want to talk about THEM anymore. I'm looking forward to doing other posts about life, funny things our kids say/do, events going on, hobbies, etc. So, this "Adios" to migraines and even if they rear their ugly little head again, I'm not going to let it stop me or hold me back anymore from dreams, from life, from so many wonderful things I've missed out on.

I'm also really excited to share this with other women who experience the same thing. Hope is an amazing thing to possess and one my many, many, many dreams is to be a "hope-bringer". So, if this brings hope for you, let me know!!

Hope- phase one... (bye-bye migraines)

For those of you who know me pretty well, you know about my migraine trials- the pain, the misery, the agony. You know we have tried a lot of different things to help. We have tried various OTC meds & prescription meds, herbal remedies, supplements, chiropractic, acupunture, cutting out various foods, even a few folk remedies here and there. Nothing has been a long-term solution and only a few things have helped very temporarily.

After having these horribly debilating monsters in my life, every month for over 20 years now, I have started to just get plain fed up with them. I was thinking about all the significant things I have missed in our kid's lives, us as a couple, things in our friends lives and the horrible (and awful) thought that one day, I might miss one of our kid's weddings due to one of these things. That was just too much to bear!!

Jeff and I have been praying for a solution for many, many years, and just recently started hearing a lot of talk about hormones and hormone-type therapy. We really felt like now was the time to pursue it, which actually seems kind of crazy as we don't have health insurance and our financial situation is well... enouch said. Trying hard not to think about any of that and learning to trust God all over again (this is a daily process me thinks), we called the doctor and made our appointment. We decided to go with the doctor we had when I was pregnant with Calley.

Once the appointment was made, I cannot tell you how elated we both felt. This was really kind of odd because we had pursued so many options in the past, thinking we were heading down the right track, but really just ran into another wall. But we had never felt this excited to actually maybe find an answer!!

Our appointment was yesterday and basically, the long and short of it is that I will go on birth-control pills continously. The hope & idea is that this will help to keep my hormones at the same level all the time. Short of having a hysterectomy or some other major (and expensive), procedure done, this is the cheapest & easiest place to start. If we need to adjust the levels of hormones that I am taking, our doctor can do that easily.

I'm blogging this because I know so many women who suffer from migraines like me and I just want you to have hope. We still don't know exactly how my body will react or if things make take awhile to get adjusted, but at least we have a starting point. I fully intend to blog again on this topic in 3-6 months and say that things have definitely improved.

I know that God has been answering our prayers all along as He has really been pointing us in this direction for awhile. We just really were hoping that we wouldn't have to resort to a medical option, but this isn't like being on a weird medication that wacks my body out.

Trusting in God is still totally a factor as well, because my body needs to respond in the right way and everyone's prayers are so appreciated and always have been. Thank you for standing with us in this new venture of healing, freedom & hope!!

Max Porter's

The place I work, yes! But even better, an awesome place to hang out, drink some good coffee, have a tasty treat, and great atmosphere. I love Max's!!

Josh and Libby...

I was so blessed & honored to take Josh & Libby's engagement pics this week. They are the funnest couple ever!! We went down by the river & found some amazing spots. This is just a sneak peek of a couple of my favs, which was really hard to choose because every pic was SO cute! I can't wait to put up the rest so can see them ALL!! I think you can see by just the few here how much FUN they are!

homeschooling & a little more....

Yes, I am a homeschooling parent & yes, I work part-time as well & I guess part-time again too. The fact is, I have always carried many different hats while being a mommy as most of us mommies do. It's not just taking care of babies, wiping bottoms, trying to discipline, teach & correct that fill my days or never really has. Ever since we married, we both have been involved in ministry, serving, working of some sort together & individually.

Our decisions to homeschool was not just one of those, knew we would homeschool forever moments. In fact, we may only homeschool for one or two years... it's hard to say. Life hands us many unexpected things at every turn it seems.

I guess... that's what keeps it interesting and definitely always guessing.

Inititally, I homeschooled our oldest 2 when they were still preschool age. We didn't really have access to a preschool at the time, so it was up to me to make a schedule, charts and come up with fun activities for each day. I don't remember all the details, but I know we did lots of crafts and reading together. It was fun, just the three of us. I also carried other responsibilities as the need arose and pretty much always met with other moms, had a group of girls to disciple and kept involved as much as I was able. Having two children, 16 months apart certainly wasn't enough, I suppose.

Then, when our oldest was ready, off she went to "Reading Class",which is very similar to Kindegarten, and she pretty much never looked behind. She loved school and she loved me, but she really loved her friends and new social life. Eventually, Josiah followed suit and suddenly, we had two elementary age children in school full-time. This enabled me to get a part-time job, which I did. A few months later, number 3 arrived. And life just sort of seemed to be put on pause for a little while....

Now, about 4 years later, I have one in preschool, homeschool the oldest 2, and have a precious little 2 yr. old that follows me like a shadow. In the last 4 years, I have taught a whole classroom, taught one at home, taught none, and now teach 2.

I still also carry other hats- such as; helping my husband with discipling the junior-high and highschool age girls, serving on the worship team, and most recently working part-time at our local Starbucks. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance all of that, but hopefully, the balancing act will become easier with time.