Wednesday Kitchen - Homemade Apple Sauce

Happy Sunday everyone! My name is Michele, and today I'm going to share with you one of my favourite apple recipes. Now, I don't know about you, but I can buy apples and tell everyone in the family to make sure they eat them, but the apples just lay there uneaten in the fruit bowl. Yet, whenever I make apple sauce, they all ask for more! Go figure! My sauce is so easy to make, and can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Sometimes I sprinkle coconut flakes on to my apple sauce as an extra treat - as shown in image 4 below. You can also add ground flax seeds or even granola for that extra treat, or eat it just as it is. Whichever way you choose to eat it, it sure is yummy - and it also makes the house smell good while you're making it!

Ingredients:

3 cups of apples
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon
small saucepan

Method:

1. Skin and core the apples, and remove the seeds
2. Cut up the apples into chunks (not too small) and pop into a small saucepan
3. Add all the other ingredients, and place the pan on the stove on a low light/heat
4. Stirring every so often, bring to the boil and let simmer until the apples become soft
5. Mash gently with a potato masher - but not too much if you like your sauce chunky!

I'm no expert, but I do know that apples are good for you. Whether whole or as sauce, apples contain both fiber and vitamin C. Apple sauce can supply as much as 80 percent of your daily vitamin C needs, and it also contains fiber in the form of pectin - dietary fiber keeps your digestive system functioning regularly.

A cup of unsweetened apple sauce only contains about 100 calories, so it's a much healthier option than eating sugary treats. Not only that, but the other ingredients in my apple sauce are good for you too! Cinnamon has great health benefits - did you know that just one teaspoon of cinnamon packs as much antioxidant potency as a half cup of blueberries?!

Cinnamon has also been shown to slow down stomach emptying, which helps to curb the sharp rise in blood sugar following meals and may be beneficial in helping diabetes. Finally, vanilla acts as a sweetener so is better for you than sugar, and vanilla extract can also be used to help calm the stomach if you are feeling nauseous.

I'm sure there are many studies out there on the benefits of all these ingredients, but for me personally, apple sauce is simply one my favorite snacks to eat. If you have a favorite recipe for apples, please share it with us.

I do hope you will try my recipe, and enjoy it too!
Michele