Apples apples everywhere!

This is my first year hunting and gathering apples :)  I have gotten into canning a lot in the last 2 years, finally bought my own canner last fall.  I almost always can with my girlfriend and we are always trying out new recipes and ideas.  I really wanted to do something with apples because you can usually get your hands on some for free.  You really can't get cheaper than that. 

We decided to make applesauce.  I went with my Aunt and we picked a lot.  We got 2 superstore bins full and 3 reusable shopping bags full.  It only took us an hour and we got them from my cousin in law because she had so many we were able to go and get as many as we could.  Apparently she doesn't want to see another apple this year lol.

After collecting I took my 2 bins full to Christy's and we peeled and cored them, that also took about an hour.  Brandon was in such a good mood and he helped us a lot.  He was ripping up the apples into small pieces and putting them all in the bowl for us.  It was so cute, he loves helping in the kitchen.

Basically we cooked down the apples, added some cinnamon to taste and then used an immersion blender to mix, blend and make the apples all smooth so there wouldn't be any chunks.  To can the applesauce you just take the hot apple sauce, hot jars, we run a sink of hot water to put them in, and then fill the jars to a 1/2 inch from the top.  Then you stir with a chopstick or something to get out any bubbles, wipe the rim, add a hot seal and screw on a lid to finger tight.  You put it in a water bath, and once the water is boiling you time 10 minutes and then you are done!  Simple, and so cheap.  Just be sure that all of the jars seal, if not you can redo them or you can just throw it in the freezer or eat it right away.  We ended up needed to buy 125 ml jars for this so this cost us $22 for over 55 jars, all natural and soooo cheap and next year we will have the jars and just need to spend about $9 on seals!

What do you make with the apples you get?  Check out the easy recipes on Life Made Delicious!

Disclaimer: I am part of the Life Made Delicious Connector program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.