Slow Cooker Applesauce

There is an apple tree in our yard. Five years ago, when we bought the house, it had about a half dozen apples. The next year about a dozen, then about 25 and over 35 apples last year. Then I gave it a big pruning. This year we had a bunch of apples- I didn't count this year. But it was maybe a bushel's worth of apples.

The tree used to be a "combo" tree with a few varieties grafted together. However one apple has taken over. Not quite a Granny Smith, and not quite a Golden Delicious. Just before they are totally ripe, they are tart like a GS, but if you wait, the skin turns pale, and the flavor is mild. The apples were about half still green and tart, and about half pale and mild. So I picked them all, and made applesauce.

I washed, sliced, and cored the apples. I did not peel them. I think if you peel them it is more work at the beginning, but if you leave the peels on, then it is more work at the end. So you choose.

Add all the apples to the slow cooker, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover it up, and turn it on- I like 4 hours on low for my slow cooker.

Taste a spoonful once in a while, and when you like what you have, turn it off. I let it cool for a bit before moving them to a colander. You can use a colander, and a food processor, blender, or sieve- whatever you like.  My big colander has bigger holes- so my sauce is slightly chunky, and mashing it was pretty easy. This was good for me, since I left the skins on. It was easy to make without clogging everything up with skins. I used a potato masher, and set the colander in a large bowl (to catch the sauce).

This was a small batch that won't last long, so I just put it in a few quart jars, and into the refrigerator. If I have a chance to pick apples again this year, and make a larger batch, then I will actually can the applesauce. Another option is to freeze it.

Dee. Lish. Us.

Dinosaur Prank

I hope this link works, because this video is pretty hilarious!

source

Original Brownies

Just made this recipe. It's actually an original recipe. I read a few others, and figured this would get me in the neighborhood of a brownie.

coconut oil (for greasing the baking dish)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour(starch)
1/3 cup palm sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I like Chatfield's and Enjoy Life chips)
6 tablespoons butter
2 eggs


Heat over to 325F. Grease baking dish with coconut oil.
Combine almond flour, tapioca flour, palm sugar, and salt, then set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate chips. If using cocoa powder, you may want to add that to the dry mix, not the melted butter.
Stir chocolate and butter into dry ingredients.
Mix in eggs.
Pour into greased baking dish.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Since this is my first attempt with this recipe, I have no idea if it's going to be good. Maybe I should have poured extra chocolate chips on the top. We'll see what happens. The brownies should be done in about 5 minutes.

Oil Cleaning Method

UPDATED:

I decided to try oil cleansing after a few things. First, I ran out of  moisturizer, so I tried using olive oil. Then I stumbled upon some blog posts about using oil to cleanse your face. Intriguing. The idea is that like dissolves like. The stuff in my pores is oil. So I should use an oil to clean my face. Sure, makes sense!

Though I was skeptical at first, I am sold and loving oil cleansing. I do oil cleansing every other night or so. (I'm getting better about keeping it out of my hair, thankfully.) In the morning, I only need to splash water on my face.

I've read a few different ways to do it (prewet vs dry skin, ratio of oils, etc) but this is what I do: let the shower water run over my skin, so it feels warm and soft. Shower normally. Sometimes still in the shower, sometimes not, I put about a dime-sized drop of castor oil, and about a teaspoon or so of coconut oil in my palm. When the coconut oil melts, massage it on my face for a minute or two. Then, wipe it off were a warm, soaked rag.

I thought two minutes of oiling up my face would be dull and annoying. But I actually find myself zoning out during the massage. I've read that you may have more breakouts when you first start oil cleansing, though think my skin actually cleared up a bit. I think it has also improved the overall appearance of my skin- as in fewer wrinkles and a better texture. I'll take it!

It's like a moisturizer that cleans your face. And it works so well, you might only need to do it once a day. You've gotta try it!

Bungalow Summer 2013

No home improvement to speak of (or blog about) lately. I've been busy with

 

u-picking strawberries

 

 

sunbows

 

 

sun tea

 

 

and home-grown onions.

 

 

Ahhh.... summer :)

Grilling meat unsafe?

Did you see the latest headlines? Apparently, grilling meat, or otherwise cooking it at high temperatures, creates carcinogenic compounds.

Aw. Sum.

So I kept reading. And googling. And reading. I couldn't find anything on PubMed. What I did find ranged from blog posts to news reports. No telling how concerned I should really be.

I did come across this number a few times: 300F. According to various sources (and who knows how credible the sources really are), the meat should be cooked below 300F to prevent any delicious charring, which would make the meat more delicious potentially create the carcinogenic compounds within the meat. It seems that everyone writing these articles agrees- the delicious charred and blackened meat is what is unsafe. This would include drippings, like bacon grease, which may be used to make gravy.

How did I deal with this? I rushed off to buy some ground beef for burgers. But before firing up the grill (a charcoal grill, using hardwood coals), I put our basic over thermometer on the lower grate, next to the coals. The burgers were above the coals, but I'm estimating the temperature wasn't too far off. The coals never reached 250F. We grilled the same way we always do. I'm sure sometimes the grill is hotter, and cooks burgers faster, but this was totally sufficient.

Just my unofficial, non-professional, two cents. I was excited to add my oven thermometer to the grill and water to share that idea.

Now, back to my dinner!

Cauliflower "Rice"

Threw all my left over veggies from the fridge into the crock pot, with some left over chicken (pulled off my last rotisserie chicken). Topped it off with some spicy seasoning, and broth. Served up the soup over cauliflower rice.

To get the cauliflower rice, thaw your frozen cauliflower. 

Put some into the food processor. I pulse it about 20 times.

The amount shown in one bag of cauliflower. That tupperware is about 6"x6"x2.5". I packed it down with a spatula.  

I use frozen cauliflower- it's way faster than raw, and doesn't need to be cooked before serving with soup.