Almond Butter & Apples - This is my new favorite snack!

I told you here that our family has gone "primal", as in attempting to follow the guidelines of  The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson.  While it is still a work in progress (sourcing good meats, etc.) and keeping the kids consistent, we've made huge strides and experienced the benefits we'd hoped for.  We are leaner, fitter, and happier.  Who knew it would be this easy?

Anyway, one of the things I quickly discovered when we began this journey was that none of the snacks I used to eat such as popcorn, tortilla chips, cookies, etc., are primal.   Neither is peanut butter (no legumes).   I had no interest in coming up with "grain-free" versions of our old favorites because I figured we needed to truly change the way we were eating and set about retraining our tastebuds to taste real food again.  It hasn't always been easy, but I have to say I did get lucky with some of the things I attempt. 

For example, this has become my favorite snack.  Apple slices with home-made almond butter.  It is so good.   I would never have guessed, but my friend A brought over some almond butter for me to try and, after initially turning up my nose, I tried it and I was hooked.  I decided I could make it myself and I was right. 

Even better?  Making it was actually easy.

I simply grind up raw almonds, add a pinch of salt, and keep going until I have the desired consistency and I'm done.  Grinding the almonds releases their natural oils and, as they warm up, they become more smooth and the consistency becomes more creamy.  Once completed,  I store the almond butter in a container in my refrigerator.

Primal snack-time goodness.  What more could a woman ask?

Home-made Applesauce

Last week, I tackled the apples I bought from a local orchard.   One of the things I decided to try was home-made applesauce.  I tasked Valiant with finding us "a good recipe to try".  I am so glad I did, because Valiant picked a winner.  I only wish I'd gotten more apples.  This applesauce was so easy and so good.  If you've ever thought of trying to make your own applesauce, I encourage you to give it a try...you won't regret it.

Easy Homemade Applesauce
RecipeTips.com

Ingredients:
3 pounds of apples (10-12 medium) (I had McIntosh and Honeycrisp)
1/2 cup sugar to taste; adjusting for sweetness of apples (I used 1/4 cup of sugar)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional) (I used it!)
Water as needed to adjust thickness.


Directions:
1.  Wash, peel, core and slice apples.  (I didn't peel mine and I cut them in chunks/roughly quarters.)
2.  Place prepared apples in sauce pan.  Add 1/2 inch of water to the bottom of the saucepan and cook, partially covered, over medium to low heat for 15-20 minutes.
3.  Add sugar.  (Adjust the amount of sugar based on the type and sweetness of the apple variety being used.)  Add cinnamon and vanilla.
4.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes.  If sauce is too thick, add a small amount of water. 
5.  10-12 medium apples makes approximately 1 quart of sauce.
6.  Since some apples cook up softer than others, the consistency of the sauce may vary.  If a smoother textured sauce is desired, place cooked sauce in blender or food processor and blend until desired consistency is achieved.

NOTES:

I used more like 20 apples.  The McIntosh apples were softer than the Honeycrisp and cooked more quickly.  I ended up using the blender to get a nice sauce.  Also, I didn't peel my apples, but the blender took care of the peels, too.  I don't know how to can yet, so I put the sauce into bottles and froze all but one. 

Picking Apples

Friday we headed to Green Bluff with the Divine Mrs. M to pick some apples from her favorite apple orchard, Yaryan's.  She's been going to this place for years and it was easy to see why.  These people baby their apples...truly.  They don't let customer pick the Honeycrisp apples because they say the plants are too fragile and they can't take the chance.  We had a terrific selection of McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Jonathan, Swiss Gourmet, Gala, and Golden Delicious (I know there were more, but that is all I can remember off the top of my head.)  My family likes a sweet/tart apple (not so tart as a Granny Smith, but definitely not sweet like a Red Delicious), so I bought us Honeycrisp and McIntosh...at $0.89/lb and $0.69/lb respectively!!!

It was crisp, but gorgeous.

Look at all those bins of apples.

Buttercup picked out the best for us.  (Valiant stood back and declared he doesn't like apples...who knew?)

The Divine Mrs. M got boxes of apples and while I was helping her pick and choose, I discovered this monster Honeycrisp.

It was huge!  Look at the scale...it weighed one pound all by itself!  Crazy...look at the container of Clorox Wipes or the pencil box to the left for visual scale.  That apple was HUGE.  (Mr. Yaryan was talking about how small his apples were this year!!)

...and no, I didn't bring it home.  I had already picked my fill...it went home with Mrs. M.

Apple pie, apple crisp, apple turnovers...they're all in our immediate future.  Yippee!

Fertilizer Friday--Season is winding down.

Nature's bounty...

Look at what our apple trees have produced thus far this year.  Isn't this absolutely amazing?

Buttercup took these fabulous pictures of our first apple harvest and there are still a ton of apples on the tree.

Our tomatoes look fabulous.  They all started growing well and bearing fruit.

Now we're just praying for the freeze to hold off long enough for them to ripen.

We had pollination issues with our zucchinis and pumpkins (as in, they weren't pollinated unless we did it manually with paintbrushes!), so we've planted some "bee attracting" echinacea in hopes that we'll have better luck next year.  (Anybody have any other tips?)

We'll be wrapping things up in the next few weeks.  Two bags of bulbs need to be planted and our poppy seeds need to be planted.  Our vegetable garden needs to be cleaned up and prepared for winter.  I love this time of year, as fall is making herself known and summer is having her last fling.  I'll miss all my flowers, but I like the downtime that winter provides.

Head over to Tootsie's place and join Fertilizer Friday.  You can always learn something new and at the least see some gorgeous gardens.