AppleSauce

For the 5th straight day in a row my head has been killing me! Now that I have my complaining out of the way, let's talk apples and sauce.

The neighbor brought over some apples yesterday along with a HUGE piece of homemade apple pie! Her husband always squawks at her for giving me a piece of his favorite pie. Let me tell ya, he hasn't met a pie he doesn't like and neither have I. Now my arse on the other hand, well it really doesn't need the extra layer of insulation, but non the less, I ate the piece of pie (and wished for another).

The secret is her crust and she has had some practice. She has baked a pie every other day or every third day for the past 55 years. How many pies do you think she has baked so far? And you thought word problems were such a waste of time. Well the answer is C: A (bleeping) lot.

In addition to the pie, she gave me about 10 apples from a local non-commercial orchard. They were labeled, "soft, excellent for sauce," but the variety remains a mystery. I'll let you know if the label was correct.

I usually peel and core my apples when making applesauce, but my neighbor advised me to keep the skins on because, "they add color and fiber." True on both counts. "The farmer doesn't use bug spray either," she added.


Applesauce

Large stock pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom
10 apples, chopped and peeled or not
Boil apples, reduce heat and cook till tender
Remove from heat, let cool slightly
Once slightly cooled, puree to desired texture using a blender or food processor
Transfer pureed apples back to stockpot, low heat
Add sugar and cinnamon to taste OR try cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, allspice, mace, other pureed fruits

If you are going to can your applesauce follow your canning directions. I am going to freeze this batch.

Note: If you like your applesauce chunky, peel the apples and use a potato masher to mash.

Happy Fall!

Darn Funny

I have a 92 year old friend and she is a riot most days.

Yesterday, she made a copy of an article that she reads to me (almost) daily.
She said she wanted to make sure I had a copy of this article because, "When I am gone I want you to laugh and think of me." Then she added, "I know you will be sad, but don't be too sad because I will be where I want to be. "

I was curious to know where she thought she would be so I playfully asked, "And where will your bucket be?" as I motioned up then down. She swatted at me and replied, "UP!"
"Just checking." I replied.

I hope you enjoy a taste of her humour! The original author is unknown.  This article was reprinted in the Record Courier, Gloria Prendergast's column. The original author is unknown.

1. Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
2. Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3. Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
4. If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
5. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again it was probably worth it!
6. Never buy a car you can't push.
7. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to
stand on.
8. The second mouse gets the cheese.
9. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
10. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
11. Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
12. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
13. We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some
have weird names, and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.
14. Life is short. Enjoy it!

Fuel Up!

You wouldn't fuel your car with bad gas, so why do you fuel yourself with bad gas? Yea, I'm even funny in the morning.

Some days I feel like crap.

Then I think about what I ate or didn't eat that day or the day before. I don't know about you but my body will turn on me if I fuel it with bad gas. Believe me, if I eat fast food...I'll be sorry in an hour or so and regret it for the rest of the day and into the next. I can still function, I just have to put forth the extra effort and pray a bathroom is near. A little too much information? So sorry, but I'm sure a lot of you are in agreement with me and can relate.

If I eat processed, junk, fried or high sodium foods (just to name a few), my body hits the reject button. What's a girl to do? Well this girl has learned to comply and provide her body with the best fuel possible, which includes not over eating, eating only what my body needs, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and removing toxic things from every day living.

Eating only what my body needs? What does that mean? I find that if I eat unprocessed, organic, semi raw (except meat) foods my body is happy. Don't get me wrong, I love doughnuts and sweets, I just know I'll be sorry if I have more than just a rare bite.

I know that if I eat nitrite containing meats, aspartame or drink soda pop, I'll get a headache.
Listen to your body, fuel it properly. Don't go on a diet, change your diet. Eat healthy, and respect yourself and your environment. Do the same for your kids, teach them early to love and respect themselves and their body type.

School Starting...What's for Lunch?

School lunches, fan or not?

Do you let your little bundle of love flesh buy or pack his/her lunch?

If your child packs, what's he/she packing?

What's his favorite school lunch to buy?
What is the daily or average price of your school lunch?

Does your child eat lunch before or after recess?

Does your child eat breakfast?

Smoothie

Needed a smoothie booster!

1/2 c organic frozen strawberries
1 banana
1 heaping T of organic flax seed
1/4 c vanilla low fat yogurt
1/2 cup filtered h20

Blend on high till blended, drink.
I like to use frozen strawberries v. adding ice. Ice gives me a brain freeze, frozen strawberries add just the right amount of chill.

Berry Couscous

Meet my new BFF, a box of couscous.

If you can boil water, you can make couscous. Just chop and dice a few additional ingredients and add them to hot or cold couscous and wa-la! Then send it packing in your kid's lunch and your lunch too!

I buy Near East plain couscous and dress it up with whatever I have on hand. I let this couscous cool a bit in the freezer before I added wild organic blueberries, a stalk of celery, a green onion, parsley, basil, lemon pepper, and fresh ground pepper.

I like sauces, dressings on my food, always have. I'm not talking about a blob of gooey cheese, or an artery clogging mess, but something simple that compliments the dish. So to satisfy my palate I made a simple dressing of 1 T apple cider vinegar, 2 T wild flower honey, 1 tsp whole grain Dijon mustard. Taste your dressing or sauce before pouring it to make sure it is just right, then drizzled it on and stir. I also like my flavors to absorb and blend together, so I refrigerated this dish for at least an hour before I indulged. Couscous can be served hot or cold.

For lunch today I packed a few radicchio and bibb lettuce leaves, plus a side of berry couscous. Berry couscous lettuce leaf roll-ups.

Other Ideas
Couscous plus...:
1. Feta, diced tomatoes, cucumbers parsley, basil, pepper (good hot or cold)
2. Organic strawberries, orange slices, grated ginger, cinnamon, almonds (serve chilled)
3. Sliced grapes, feta, cranberries, parsley, cinnamon, pecans (serve chilled)
4. Cucumber, green onion, blueberry, parsley (chill it)

Drizzle a bit of low fat plain or vanilla yogurt over top, serve on lettuce leaves or just eat it already!

Chicken Soup is Good for the Soul, and a Cold

Soup and Grilled Sandwiches...coming soon!
Nothing like roasted, toasted fresh summer veggies on the perfect bread, and maybe cheese, or egg or fish or meat or ....it's endless and all fabulous. Fab-delicious to be exact!