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Applesauce and Juice Preserving

27 Sep 2009 by

We’ve been blessed with an abundance of apples again this year. Of course, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to preserve them all! I made dried apple rings with those without worms and major blemishes. Thanks to my apple peeler/slicer, I can get them done quickly. I simply run it through the peeler, cut it down the side for rings, put in lemon water for a couple of minutes, and then place the rings in my dehydrator. It takes about half the day to dehydrate them enough. I can get about 10-12 medium-large apples at a time in the dehydrator. Instead of making apple-pie filling in jars this year, we’re just dehydrating the apples to use later for the same purpose. It saves the use of new lids and jars as well!

So, I sort-of made a tutorial for Applesauce and juice. I hope it’s helpful!

Applesauce and Apple Juice
Step 1: Pick apples from tree
Step 2: Wash Apples, throwing away rotten ones and any leaves

Step 3: Cut up apples. (Mine are golden delicious apples.) Large apples should be cut into 6-8 pieces. Smaller apples can be cut into quarters.

Step 4: Put clean, cut up apples slices into the colander part of the steam juicer. Steam for 12-15 minutes depending upon size of apples and fullness of juicer. If you don’t steam them enough, the applesauce will be too juicy. If you steam them too much, they will be to pasty; however, too pasty means you can add back the juice from the steam juicer. It’s harder to take the juice out of the sauce, so steam the apples more.

Step 5: Take steamed apples and put them in the victorio strainer and push down through hole and crank handle.
Each batch in the steam juicer (if filled fairly full) makes about 2 1/2 quarts of applesauce or about 5 pints.

I use a cake pan for the applesauce because it fits nicely underneath the strainer, but you can use what you want/have/like.

Step 6: Put 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice in each quart jar for acidity and color preserving. If using pints, use 1 tablespoon per pint.

Step 7: Using a jar funnel, scoop applesauce into jars on top of lemon juice. Fill to bottom of funnel or about 1/2 head space. Use a knife to help get large air bubbles out.

Step 8: Wipe top of jar clean and put on a warmed new canning jar lid. Put on ring. Your applesauce is now ready for the steam canner.

Step 9: Put jars into steam canner. Make sure there is always enough water. The water should be just below the rack. When steam is continuously flowing out of the holes 8 inches, start counting the processing time. Process for 20 minutes at sea level. (Adjust according to your altitude. Add 2 minutes for each 1000 ft above sea level.) Let sit for 2-3 minutes after turning off heat. Carefully remove lid so that the steam escapes away from you.

Step 10: Remove processed jars carefully from canner. I love my jar tongs! Place on flat surface, and on dry towels if you’re worried about the surface you’re putting the jars on. Never put the jars on a very cold surface. They will crack or break. Make sure your bottles are where you can leave them alone for 24 hours to cool.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor! Don’t they look pretty?

To help you get an idea of how many batches of apples I went through, I had to follow steps 2-8 twice to have enough to process 7 jars in the steam canner. As I finished each jar, I would place it on the canner until it was full. Then I would start the canner.

Apple Juice
Remember to carefully pour the apple juice out of the steamer into HOT jars. You simply unclamp the tube and pour into hot jars. Reclamp after you’re done. Sometimes I pour the juice into a plastic pitcher so that I don’t need to worry about changing out jars before the juice is gone from the steamer.

Put a clean lid and ring on them and process with applesauce or on their own (they take 10 minutes per quart, add 1 minute per 1000 ft above sea level). It won’t hurt to process them longer though.

P.S. Gotta love our “clamp” for the juicing tube. It’s not normally what would be used to clamp the tube closed during steaming, but we didn’t have the proper clamp, and my genius husband made one for me. Thanks, honey!

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Category: Education, Physical Health, Recipes
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Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

21 Sep 2009 by

I made this recipe again last night for my dessert. It’s so yummy! I’ve made a pie crust with coconut oil instead of shortening in the past, but I didn’t have the coconut oil this time. I didn’t want the shortening in my system, so I made it crust-less. It was delicious, even without the crust. The best part? The only significant fat in this pie filling is in the eggs. Not bad! Of course, if you add a crust that’s a different story, but you can choose the kind of fat you ingest. I highly recommend coconut oil or butter over shortening any day.

I adapted the recipe from here.

Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

  • 1 1/2 cups Rice Milk
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 Tbsp. Cornstarch
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  • 2 cups pureed Pumpkin (pie pumpkins make the best kind, otherwise use a 15 oz. can)
  • 1/2 cup Flour (I’ve used both whole wheat and oatmeal flour, but you can use whatever flour you want)
  • 2 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 3/4 cup Sucanat (regular sugar can be used)
  • 1 tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. Ginger powder
  • 1/4 tsp. ground Cloves
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray. You’ll need a deep dish or use another small pan because it makes more than will fit in a regular pie pan.

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a blender or use a hand-mixer. Mix well. Add pumpkin and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix for 2 minutes. Pour into pie pan and bake for 60 minutes. This is a custardy pie, so it should still be moist in the middle when it’s done. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the counter. It sets up best when put in the refrigerator for a couple hours before serving.

{Update 11.23.2011}
Pie Crust made with Butter

  • 2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
  • 1/2 cup Butter or Coconut Oil, cold
  • 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
  • 5 to 6 Tablespoons cold Water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in cold butter or coconut oil. Add in cold water a tablespoon at a time until it forms a dough. Roll out on waxed or parchment paper. Cover pie plate, cut off excess, and press the edge of the crust. Pour in pie filling and bake according to pie directions.

{Update 11.26.2009}


Here’s one I did for our 2009 Thanksgiving dinner. It just has a crust (you know, most family members want it!). I just used my very fattening crust recipe:

Pie Crust

  • 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
  • 3/4 cups Shortening
  • Dash of Salt
  • 1/2 cup Ice Water

Cut shortening into flour and salt until crumbly. Add water and mix well to make dough. Cut in half (makes 2 crusts). Roll out on floured surface and place in pie pans. Cook according to pie directions OR 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F if you’re saving it for later.

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Category: Physical Health, Recipes
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Summer and Birth

15 Sep 2009 by

I’ve been busy lately with so many things, I can hardly write about them all. So, I’ll try to summarize it…

Knights of Freedom Summit is through! It was an amazing experience, and I was so excited to meet new people and get out of my comfort zone. I was Volunteer Coordinator, and although it took a lot of leg work, it paid off in the end. With very few exceptions, it went off extremely well! We had very few problems, and nothing we couldn’t handle. I could feel the excitement and the awesome impact that the event was having on these 130 boys and everyone else who volunteered–from a distance from it all! It was simply awe-inspiring. Thank you, Emily, for asking me to help. I truly needed and appreciated it! If you want to know more about the event click here, and if you want to see the wonderful photos taken by my friend, Tamra, click .

I’m still getting into the AYLI Secretary thing. I had been so caught up in the KOF Summit, that the other stuff has gone to the wayside. So, I’m playing catch-up. Gratefully, it’s not a huge deal. I’ll be working on updating the database which will be quite the task. I think it’ll take longer than Diann wants it to, but I have a family life too. I can’t spend all day calling hundreds of people. She knows that, however, so I’m not even worried about it.

I may be released from my ERSA position as secretary this month. We’ll see. They may just vote me into another position. I won’t mind either way. I can’t give it up! I’d have to move far away to give it up again. By the way, for those who don’t know, ERSA is the Eliza R. Snow Association, and it’s the wonderful book group I belong to…and I mean, belong!

I haven’t posted many pics of the kids this summer. We’ve been hanging out at home a lot and working on our school work…because they want to! David has been home a lot this summer because of unemployment. So, we occasionally go out and about as a family. David’s working on his writing. He’d like to become a syndicated writer and write a book. It’ll be exciting to see what he does with it!

I have a garden this year…amazing, I know! We’ve grown tons of zucchini and tomatoes. We also have had radishes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins, and my favorites: peaches and watermelons. I get at least 3-4 medium-size zucchini a day off of my 8 plants. I get lots of pear tomatoes, and some romas and beefsteaks too. I get at least one cucumber every-other day. We just harvested our second extra-yummy watermelon today. It was so exquisitely tasty! I need to harvest some of my pie pumpkins to cook and freeze. I’ve shredded some zucchini in 2 cup amounts for breads and such later in the year. I froze almost all of my peaches, but I did bottle 9 quarts in sucanat syrup instead of the refined sugar syrup. I made tons of apricot jam (as previously posted) and some strawberry jam earlier this year. I look forward to getting more tomatoes and apples for bottling. My friend, , gave me a bunch of her concord grapes to juice–which reminds me I need to borrow a juicer tomorrow! I’ve been abundantly blessed with a bounty of food this year! I’m so grateful!

Okay, so on to birth…and no I’m not expecting to give birth myself any time soon.

My sister-in-law, David’s sister, is expecting her first baby in February. I’m so excited for her, and I really need to get some books and other resources to her so she can read up on birth. She wants to do it unmedicated and as natural as possible. I’m praying she chooses to educate herself a ton, because that’s really the only way to get what you want, in birth or life.

My friend, Tamra, went on vacation this week, and she asked me to take her baby (aka Digital SLR Camera and lenses) while she was gone. It’s not only to take care of her equipment, but so I can photograph our friend Julia’s birth if she goes into labor while Tamra is gone. Is it selfish of me to want her to go into labor this week? I’ve played with the camera and lenses a bit. It’s been fun, and it only makes my excitement and desire for my own DSLR someday stronger! So, that being said, I’ve been combing the internet for birth photography and looking back on my own attempt at photographing Tamra’s birth. I wanted to get some ideas for labor and birth shots. I went to Tamra’s birth barely knowing how to use her camera and played everything by ear, literally. I didn’t look at anyone else’s pictures for ideas, and I used auto on the camera. This time I know the basics of her camera and I can use the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings without freaking out about it. I thought it would be fun to get some ideas about what else to take pictures of. My midwife, Cathy, is Julia’s midwife too this time around. I’m excited to be able to work with her again! Both her and Tamra trust me to not mess up the photography, and knowing Tamra’s abilities, that says a lot! If the photography thing doesn’t work out, well, I still may be assisting at Julia’s birth as Cathy’s assistant. We’ll see. No pressure, Julia, I promise! You know I love ya!

I have several other friends, besides Julia, waiting to welcome their babies into the world in the next few weeks. I wish all of them immense joy and peace during their birthing times. Know I’m praying and thinking about you and your families, my dear friends!

P.S. I fixed the theme again. I hope it stays this time.

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Category: Education
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General Conference Prep

08 Sep 2009 by

It’s almost General Conference time again! I’m excited to hear words of inspiration from our Prophet and other church leaders. I’m always uplifted and edified.

I print out a packet for each of my children to help keep them focused on conference and still have fun. They look forward to filling out and coloring them each conference time. I’m so grateful to the wonderful generosity that this wonderful lady put into making the packets fun and for sharing her talent with so many people! Here’s the link if you would like to print one for your child:

2009 October General Conference Packet

I’m sure there are other places to find similar things to keep the children focused on conference. I’ll try to update when I find them.

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Category: Relationships, Spirituality
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