Crockpot Applesauce

Awhile back I came across a really cool cooking blog, A Year of Crockpotting. Then a few weeks later, one of my friends sent me a link to it, which was nice because I had completely forgotten about it (the downside of having a favorites folder of Cooking Blogs since the folder isn't always open for me to see what's there). Once again, I forgot about it. Then I was reading posts on the Meal Planning 101 blog that I like so much, and she mentioned the crockpot blog in one of her posts. So I went to look at it again and saw this applesauce recipe. I'd been wanting to try making my own applesauce for awhile but never got around to looking up a recipe for it. I thought, "What could be better than throwing it all in the crockpot?!" I bought apples a couple weeks ago and had told the boy we were going to make applesauce. Then I forgot about it. Are you noticing a trend here? I have NOTHING in the way of a memory?! So this morning, as all mornings, the boy's first question was, "Where are we going today, mom?" I told him we were staying home because we've had a crazy week, but we'd do fun stuff around here. He asked if we could make applesauce, and I said, "You know what? That is a great idea!" so we did. I love letting him help in the kitchen. He wants to taste everything we put into a recipe which I think is way cool of him. I also try to use the experience to teach him things, like "How many eggs are we putting into the cookies?" Or with the applesauce, "Can you count how many pieces of apples are here?" yeah, I'm a dork, but at least I'm aware of it.

Crockpot Applesauce
(the title links to the post on the crockpot blog)
4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 T brown sugar
1/4 cup H20

Skin, core, and cut your apples into quarters. Plop the pieces into your crockpot. Add the juice from the lemon, and the water. Pour in the vanilla, and add the cinnamon and brown sugar.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or large fork.

*****

Mine is still cooking, but it's been in for 4.5 hours, so I imagine it will be done anytime now. This was super easy to throw together, and I have to imagine it is cheaper than buying applesauce at the store, especially if apples are on sale. I used Granny Smith apples because that's what they looked like in the picture on the crockpot blog. I also didn't have a lemon (well, I did, but it was definitely past its prime), so I just used a little less than a tablespoon of lemon juice. Desperate times and all. I really like homemade applesauce, so I'm really looking forward to trying this. My mom used to make her own applesauce, and I told her about this recipe and she said it sounds a lot easier than how she used to do it on the stove because you had to watch it really closely or the apples would burn.