Cinnamon Applesauce Pouches

 

Every year I buy a bushel or more of apples and preserve applesauce to last us the next (hopefully) year, until they go on sale again. This year is no different. A health food store in town (Sprouts) recently had a sale on Gala apples, $.48/pound. So I bought a bushel. The week before, we had visited the Happy Apple Farm and bought some apples there too. So I have a ton to work with! I decided instead of canning the first couple batches, I would put them into squeezy pouches I had bought for making baby food. I froze them to be able to take to their one day a week homeschool enrichment program. They LOVE go-go squeeze applesauce but I just cannot afford to buy them for 4 kids. I am going to show you my applesauce recipe (you can use whatever one you like!), along with how I used the Infantino Pouch Maker. You can buy one on Amazon for about $18, (it includes 10 pouches) you can even go in with a friend and share it since it's not something you would both need at the same time. Once you buy it, all you have to do is buy more pouches, on Amazon the pouches are $12 for 50 pouches. ..which is a good deal! Plus you know the applesauce is good and homemade!!

Applesauce Recipe

8 lbs Apples
1" water in pot
1 Cup Sugar (optional)
Cinnamon (optional)

I DO NOT peel my apples, I just use the Pampered Chef apple slicer & corer. (This is the cinnamon I buy from Sam's, it lasts a lot longer than those little bitty jars from the store)

The kiddos love to help, so I had them peeling the stickers off of all the apples, and Little Brother just wanted to throw the apples all over the kitchen!!

 I put about 1" of water in a big pot then start filling it up with sliced apples. Once its just about to the top I sprinkle the whole top with cinnamon.

  

Next I put the lid on and put it on the stove. I turn the heat to medium and check it every 15 minutes or so.(If you find your water is boiling over I would turn the heat down to low-medium) I stir the apples around every 30 minutes to make sure the cinnamon gets mixed up good. It usually takes an hour and half to two hours to cook them good. Once they are done I put them through the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid (I rarely use it to grind meat)  By using this attachment I am able to avoid the apple peeling process. The tough skin gets stuck and won't even go through the grinder, the rest gets ground up and you don't even know its there! Before I put the applesauce through the grinder I add a cup of sugar and stir it around. You don't by any means have to add the sugar, but I do just because we like our applesauce a little sweeter.****If your apples are juicy you do not want to add all the liquid that you end up with when they are ready to go through the grinder, so make sure you notice that your applesauce has a good consistency. I had a pint of juice left over on my last batch***

Once it goes through the grinder it is ready to either be canned, frozen, or eaten right then (we like it warm with some Cool Whip on top!) With this batch I chose to put it all into my Infantino Fresh Squeezed Pouch Maker.

I'm not sure how many pouches I made, maybe 25. This should last a good while for the kids to take to school and I won't have to buy the little cups of applesauce or remember to buy plastic spoons to send with them. The night before you want to put them in their lunches I would recommend putting them in the fridge to thaw, that way they are all ready to go in their lunch bags the next morning.

When I can the applesauce in jars I usually get about 2 quarts and 2 pints per batch. I use a pressure canner and it takes 20 minutes, but you can use a water bath canner as well. They need to boil for about 20 minutes to be processed correctly. Let them sit to cool and you will hear them pop. Once they are cooled label and date them and store them away!! Good Luck!

** I am not in any way being compensated by Amazon or Infantino for this post, this is just something I highly recommend and believe Amazon has the best price for it. **