Homemade Applesauce

     Applesauce is so simple to make that it has dropped off my grocery list completely. Homemade applesauce is also much healthier than the store bought variety which contains high levels of sugars, including high fructose corn syrup. This post will focus on making homemade applesauce for serving, and a second post later will provide instructions for canning it for enjoyment during the off-season. 

While applesauce can be made with some spice like ginger or cinnamon, I prefer to keep mine fairly basic by letting the apples be the predominant flavor. Certain apples are naturally sweet, and so by selecting these varieties I can reduce the amount of sugar I need to add. A great chart for selecting apples can be found at Pick Your Own. When we have apples in the pantry, it's usually Galas which work well for sauce as well as eating. For my husband and I, I will use about 2-3 apples to make sauce. (The following instructions are for two servings, and so you may need to make adjustments to the quantity if you're serving more people). 

Peel and cut the apples into small pieces. The smaller the pieces the faster they will cook. 

Place in a pot and add about 1/4 c. of water. (The amount doesn't have to be precise. You're not boiling the apples like you would potatoes. The water is just to get the pieces cooking.)

Continue cooking until the pieces easily mash with a fork. For chunky applesauce, use a potato masher to blend. For smoother sauce, a Stick Hand Blender  is wonderful. (I rather like the chunks of apples, so I just get it mostly smooth.)

If you wanted to add sugar, cinnamon or any other flavors then add them now. Whether you add additional flavors or not, the final step is to simply chill and then serve. Enjoy!

Up Next: Canning Homemade Applesauce

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3 Ways to Use a Whole Chicken & Homemaking Link-up #4

     Purchasing a whole chicken is the most economical way to meet the need for the majority of our uses . I can get three different purposes out of the one purchase. Furthermore, I can spend a few hours preparing and packaging the products for future use. When I'm short on time, the ability to simply pull out of the freezer the baggie of what I need is fabulous! Did I mention that it also saves us money? I'm all about saving time and money without compromising homemaking or wholesome foods. 

   

      I spent a few days recently preparing two chickens. From these two chickens I was able to put in the freezer: 4 uncooked chicken breasts and tenderloins, 5 quarts of stock, and 7 cups of cooked chicken shred. I can use the chicken breasts for whatever meal necessary. The stock will be great to have for soups and such as that this winter. Finally, the shred is great to have on hand for chicken enchiladas, chicken pot pie, pizza, soups, etc.

1) Chicken Stock

Ingredients:

*Note: The ingredients listed below are estimates. I rarely measure stock ingredients. Making stock is essentially tossing in whatever I happen to have on hand. 
1 whole chicken
3 carrots
3 celery stalks (I have used dried celery seed if I'm out of celery)
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
about 8-10 whole peppercorns 
couple of teaspoons to tablespoon each of dried thyme, parsley

Directions
1) I prefer to cut the breast and tenderloin meat off and freeze it separately. 
2) Roughly chop the carrots, celery, onion and garlic and add to 7 quart pot. Add remaining ingredients.
3) Add enough water to cover the chicken plus an inch or so more. 
4) Simmer until meat pulls away from leg bones or chicken falls apart when lifted from pot. 
5) Allow to cool. Remove chicken from pot to cool some more. 
6) Strain stock and pour into labeled baggies or freezer containers. 

2) Uncooked Breast Meat

     While the stock is simmering, I wrap each piece of breast meat in aluminum foil. Then, I simply place all in a gallon size freezer bag. Whenever I have a meal requiring chicken breast, I simply take the appropriate amount out of the freezer to thaw the night before or morning of use. This would be the equivalent to those big bags of chicken breasts sold in the grocery at a higher price and lower quality. 

3) Chicken Shred

      Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, I pick all the meat off the bones. I then portion about a cup of meat per baggie. I prefer to do a cup at a time because many meals like chicken pot pie, enchiladas and others only require a small amount of chicken. If I need more I can always pull out more than one bag. It's easier to do it this way than to thaw two cups or more of meat and not need that much. 

 The result:

One chicken produced 2.5 quarts stock, 2 uncooked breasts, and four cups of shred. 

 From two chickens I was able to put in the freezer: 5 pints & 2 quarts of stock, 4 uncooked breasts, and 6 cups shred. That should give me a good start to preparing future meals!

Linked up at: A Mama's Story, The Modest Mom Blog, What Joy Is Mine, The Better Mom, An Original Belle, Mom's the Word, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, Serving Joyfully

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      Welcome to the Weekly Homemaking Link-up!   

     Each Wednesday will feature an opportunity to link-up your posts, as well as read through many others linked-up here. Connecting and sharing with others is a wonderful way to preserve and grow in the art of homemaking! Topics to consider include, but are not limited to:

• ·         Simple and economical living (one-income living, frugal ways, simplifying etc.)
• ·         Food (selecting and preparing various types, recipes, menu planning etc).
• ·         Kitchen skills/tips (essential tools, knife skills, cooking techniques etc.)
• ·         Home Organization (small space living, storage solutions, function + style etc)
• ·         Personal Organization (routines, planning etc)
• ·         Clothing (sewing, modesty, outfit ideas etc)
• ·         Sewing (needlework, pattern construction etc)
• ·         Marriage and family (tips for building strong home, family, and marriage)
• ·         Cleaning (homemade products, management etc)
• ·         Christian faith

To enter:

     - Enter the direct link to your post (not your blog)

     - Please reserve links to product sales, Etsy shops, consultant sales or other business 

          related links for the Small Business Saturday Link-up. Links of such content may be 

          referred to this second link-up instead of published here. 

     - When you leave a link, visit the link before and after yours. Let's encourage the 

          homemaking community! 

     - Note: You will be required to enter a back link. (In other words, you must have 

          somewhere on your post that it is linked-up here)The back link will be the 

          web address for this specific post. . Thanks!

*Note: I reserve the right to accept or reject link submissions. I maintain a priority of protecting the interest of the blog and readers by displaying only information and links that are appropriate for the audience (ie obscene or otherwise disrespectful content will not be published). 

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Blog Hops!

Visit the two blog hops currently going on :)

Homemaking Blog Hop

Small Business Link-Up

(ebook, Etsy, consultant and other small business endeavors)

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(Your name (first name + last initial) and comment may be used in the upcoming Reviving Homemaking ebook. If you wish for your name to not be included, then please simply use "anonymous" or "guest." Thank you for your input!)

Handwashing vs. the Dishwasher (Part 1)

       Does handwashing dishes clean them as well as a dishwasher? Does a dishwasher cost more in terms of repairs and replacement or energy usage? There are a few areas such as cleanliness, cost, time and consistency that must be considered when determining which method of washing dishes is better. 

        Let's begin with cleanliness. According to Real Simple, a water temperature of 140° is necessary to kill bacteria. The hot water from the facet will not reach this temperature, and for a good reason- it would burn your skin. Based on water temperature, the dishwasher is superior at sanitizing dishes. However, bacteria can still be eliminated in the dishwater with the use of antibacterial dishsoap or a small amount of bleach. Each of these has a significant drawback, though. Bleach, for instance, poses significant health and environmental risk.   Antibacterial additives to soap has recently raised concerns as a contributing agent to a growing antibiotic-resistance in the environment. I do not use either of these substances in my dishwater. If a dirty dish has sat on the countertop or in the sink for a while which would promote bacterial growth, then I would use another method. For everyday meals, good ol' soap and water is sufficient to clean dishes in my opinion. 

        A second aspect in the dishwasher versus handwashing debate is the matter of cost. Both methods require some degree of cost. Handwashing dishes involves the expense of water usage multiple times a day. A dishwasher also requires the expense of water usage, as well as electricity usage and the cost of eventually needing to repair or replace the appliance.  With a price tag of about $300-500, the sudden expense of replacement can hit a family budget pretty hard. With regard to electricity use, an energy-efficient dishwasher uses only 1kwh of energy (source: Huffington Post). Lastly, the dishwasher uses less water than handwashing if the dishes have not been pre-washed prior to loading into the dishwasher. I have always thoroughly rinsed my dishes prior to loading them into the dishwasher because as a renter I haven't always been able to rely on the older dishwashers in the units. This practice, however, adds to the cost of using the dishwasher. 

      Convenience and time requirements are also a consideration. Automatic dishwasher have lessened the work and time required by domestic tasks. It would by far take more time and energy to wash every dish by hand after every meal. As wonderful as it is be alleviated of this demand, I also believe there is a great good than can come from not having a task completed for me. Great gains can be found in domestic work! For example, my grandmother once wisely told me that your more resourceful and appreciative of how you use your dishes to cook when you've had to spend time and effort bending over the sink to wash them. I find myself not as mindful and well..spoiled and lazy when it comes to caring for my possessions, including my kitchen dishes. 

      The last consideration is in regard to lifestyle. When I had a residence of my own prior to marriage, I would wash by hand because if not I'd run out of dishes before I could fill the dishwasher. Now, I cook full meals a few times a day and never lack in filling the dishwasher. Yet, I have a bad habit of leaving dishes for a later clean-up. By the time "later" arrives, I'm also needing to cook a meal but have little work space or cooking utensils. Or, someone drops by to visit and I'm too embarrassed of the mess to extend an invitation inside (our home has an open floor plan, so there's no avoiding the kitchen). I've discovered the best means of combating this bad habit of mine is to wash all the dishes after each meal. I tend to have so many dishes and cookware that are not dishwasher safe that I have to wash by hand even if I'm using the dishwasher. So, I decided to just wash everything by hand after each meal, and the kitchen stayed cleaner. (Of course, knives or cutting boards that dealt with meats or eggs were placed in the dishwasher anyways). Even though the dishwasher is more efficient, it's been more beneficial for me to develop better habits the old fashioned way. If you find yourself with piles of dirty dishes all the time, I suggest to begin washing by hand to: 1) develop a better mindfulness of your (over)usage during meal prep and 2) develop a better habit for keeping dishes caught up. In time, you can shift from the sink back to the dishwasher. 

Up Next: Part 2 (How to properly handwash dishes and load the dishwasher)

Linked up at: Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Christian Mommy Blogger, A Mama's Story, The Alabaster Jar, The Modest Mom Blog, The Better Mom, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife

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5 Simple Ways To Save Water

      One discovery that is made when you move frequently is that rates for utility services are not the same everywhere. I was rather shocked when I received our first water bill in our current home. I initially thought that perhaps we had gotten into poor habits of greater water consumption. However, after comparing our current usage with our usage at our previous residence I learned that despite the gallons consumed being the same our bill is 60% higher now than before. Ouch! I then determined to try to make some simple changes that would better conserve water usage in our home.

      Conserving water isn't just a matter of financial concern. It's also a matter of preserving the environment. Environmental concern can become pushed to the side when supply is seemingly abundantly available. However, the truth is that the supply is relatively small and the processes for purifying and transporting it are complex. According to the EPA:

      less than 1% of all the water on Earth can be used by people .. The rest is salt water (the
      kind you find in the ocean) or is frozen. Communities across the country are starting to
      face challenges in maintaining healthy and affordable water supplies; that's why it's more
      important than ever to use our water wisely and not waste it. In addition, it takes large 
      amounts of energy to produce and transport clean water and to process waste water.

      It's so easy to simply turn on the faucet and let the water run unnecessarily. Or, perhaps enjoy that hot shower a bit too long. These expenditures come at a cost. Interestingly, many times when an issue is unsustainable to the environment it is also unsustainable for my family budget. And so, my husband and I determined five very simple ways that we could begin to conserve water in our home.

5 Simple Ways to Conserve Water

1. Place a bottle of water in the toilet tank

      We used a 1 Liter water bottle. The water in the bottle displaces the water stored in the tank. The tank then uses 1 L. less water with each flush. 

2. Replace shower head with a water conservation/low flow head
     This was the one area that I was really hesitant to change. I was dreading having to shower with a low flow shower head that left me cold and with suds in my hair. But, we looked carefully at the various models available and purchased a multi-setting shower head that permits 2.0 gal/min. flow. It even has a drip setting for when you're not needing full water flow. Yet, we've found that this setting is sufficient to keep it on at all times. 
     Waterpik has a great calculator that can be used to determine the savings produced by investing in an "eco flow" shower head. According to the calculator, we're now saving  9,855 gallons of water! Hooray!

3.Shorten showers
     I will admit that I'm notorious for taking long hot showers. Nevertheless, we've set a goal to limit showers to 10-15 minutes. 

4. Rinse dishes in filled sink instead of running water
     I habitually rise my dishes before loading them into the dishwasher, which lessens the workload placed on my dishwasher. A lot of water is wasted by leaving the water running while rinsing each dish. Instead, I plug the sink to fill with a small amount of water. Since the dishes are merely being rinsed and then loaded into the dishwasher, I'm not overly concerned if the water gets a little dirty. Periodically, I let the water drain out and then refill. I actually save quite a bit of water this way.

5. Thaw frozen foods overnight instead of under running water
      The ideal method of thawing frozen foods like meat is placing it in a dish and then in the refrigerator for a period of time (typically overnight). When in a time pinch, an alternate method is to place the food under running water. Some foods, like fish, can take up to 15 minutes using this method. Yikes, the waste of water! A little thinking ahead and planning early for meals can prevent needing to resort to this unnecessarily consumptive method. 

Linked up at: A Mama's Story, The Alabaster Jar, The Modest Mom Blog, What Joy Is Mine, The Better Mom,  Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife

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(Your name (first name + last initial) and comment may be used in the upcoming Reviving Homemaking ebook. If you wish for your name to not be included, then please simply use "anonymous" or "guest." Thank you for your input!)