Strawberry Applesauce

This picture courtesy of Foodnetwork.com

The only applesauce I ever loved was from the cafeteria of South Junior High School, which is now South Middle School. I know most people prefer the homemade stuff, but I loved that applesauce and only that applesauce.

I'm looking for ways to incorporate more fresh vegetables and fruits into my diet. I'm not dieting, I just want to eat healthier. So a few years ago, I fell in love with another applesauce, this time it was Mott's Applesauce Strawberry. I'm trying to purge high fructose syrup from diet and all other artificial ingredients, when I noticed that this brand of applesauce contains the dreaded high fructose corn syrup.

So I decided to make my own without the fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring and stabilizers. I wanted to make a strawberry applesauce that used all of the nutrients of the apples and strawberries. You can use honey instead of sugar, but I ran out of honey. Use as much or as little sugar as you need. I used about 1/4 cup. Some people may want to double that amount.

I love this as a snack. However... it tastes really good when mixed in with a fresh cup of oatmeal. You make any kind of variety of applesauce. You can use blueberries, raspberries, or even cranberries instead of strawberries. Instead of using cinnamon, you can use Cardamom.

An easier way to make this is to use your crockpot. Just double the ingredients, lesson the water, and put into your crockpot on low for about 8 hours.

This is a pretty cheap snack to make. If strawberries aren't in season grab a bag of frozen whole strawberries. You can buy them organic or if you're on a budget like me, Aldi's has a big bag for two or three dollars.

This makes about two cups. It will keep in the fridge for about two weeks.

Ingredients

5 apples (semisweet. I like Honey Crisp Apples)
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup of water
10 strawberries
Sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Instructions

1. Do not peel the apples. Core and cut into small chunks.
2. In a large saucepan, bring apples, cinnamon stick, sugar, and water to a boil and then simmer.
3. Cook until apples are tender when poked with a fork, which is about 15 minutes
4. Add strawberries and cook for about five minutes more.
5. Remove the fruit from the heat and pour into a blender or food processor and blend until desired thickness.
6. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate for a few hours. Or you can serve right away.