Canning Tomato Sauce - The EASY way!!!

I read how Heavenly Homemakers did her tomato sauce
and I adopted it!!! Be sure to read her post here.

This works so great. I've done it about 6 times so far
and have about 32 Quarts of tomato sauce and 35 pints.

I'm over 1/2 done but, I'd like about 15 more quarts
and maybe 20 more pints. Then I'd also like
some salsa and tomato soup.
Come on tomatoes keep turning red!!!

Start with tons of tomatoes! Simply wash them and take off the tops.
Some I take off the bottoms and some I take out bad spots. Take out
the core if it's big. My tomatoes are Roma so most of the cores are tiny.

Cut them in half or fourths.
Leave the peel on and leave in the seeds.
(how easy is that!)

Next take your tomatoes and put them in your blender.
Smash them down a little with a big spoon.
Start it up and it should look like a big smoothie!

You can even add in some zucchini. Just cut it up and
blend it with the tomatoes. I peeled mine so that
there weren't green pieces in the sauce.
I added 1 zucchini per huge bowl of tomatoes.

Heat it on high until it starts to really cook. At that point I turn
it down to a strong med. It will begin to froth up so if your
pan is too full it will run over. I sometimes prevent this by
dipping out some of the froth before it goes overboard!

When the froth is gone you have tomato juice. I let it cook
about an hour longer and I have tomato sauce.
Total cook time is around 2 hours give or take!

After that, dip it out and put it into your jars.
Make sure and sanitize your jars, lids, and rings.

I water bath my sauce. Be sure to follow your water bath
or canning instructions. I did mine for around 40 minutes.

Pull them out and you're done!!!
Add them to your stash after 24 hours.

I use tomato sauce for all my
pasta's, pizza, and chili.
I just add different spices when I pull it out!

Anyone else use this simple method for tomato sauce?

Homemade Applesauce

Here's how we make Homemade Applesauce.
You can either Freeze or Can this recipe!

First you will need to know how many apples to get. You should yield about 20 quarts or 40 pints of applesauce out of 1 bushel of apples. I used 4 bushel from the trees in my yard and my MIL bought 1 bushel of apples. So altogether we did about 5 bushel of apples and it made ALOT of applesauce!!! It also took us all day and into the evening. In fact my MIL was up until 12:30 am canning them (thanks Debbie!) . If you freeze it, it is a lot quicker.

Usually you will want to stay away from the red or green delicious and get more of a baking tart apple. We have no idea what kind of apples grow on our trees but they are red, small, and kinda tart. They make excellent pink applesauce.

Around here apples are around $13-$15. per bushel to buy. I'm sure that varies around the country but gives you a starting point.

First you need to cut the apples up. All you need to do is cut them in fourths and make sure the stem is out. No peeling or coring is necessary. Some people make sure every spot is off but I don't. It makes it much faster if you don't worry about little tiny spots on the peeling.

Next you put the apples in a pot and add water. This is the trial and error part. How much water to add??? We've found that it totally depends on the kind of apple you chose. My SIL usually adds 1 cup for a big pot. But with my apples I was adding almost 2 quarts and it was still pretty thick applesauce. Just make sure you add plenty of water so you don't scorch the apples in the bottom of the pot.

Let them boil in the pot until very soft, stirring regularly. I really don't think you can do it too long as long as you have water. I think our average was around 45 minutes per big pot maybe even up to an hour.

Next is the first piece of equipment that is really almost necessary to make bulk applesauce. I found it on Amazon here for only $60.68 I used my wonderful SIL's machine who actually even came and helped! Oh and also took these pictures since I'm forgetful and forgot my camera! Thanks so much Gen!

Okay back to the machine. You hook this on the counter and it does all the work. Okay almost! All you do is take the cooked apples (do not drain) and put them in the top holder and start cranking. The yucky guts come out the side and the pure wonderful applesauce comes down the shoot in the front. Catch it in a bowl and you're all set!!!

I then take the huge bowl full and add 1 1/2 cups of sugar, mix it up and dip it into the jars or freezer containers. You can use less or more sugar. I make it pretty sweet so I doubt you'd need more. You could also add cinnamon. I forgot mine this time so I didn't bother.

If you're freezing it, you're DONE!!!
That's it slip it into the freezer and enjoy it all winter long!!!
I usually try to put it into the fridge the day or two before I need it to allow it to totally thaw.

If you're canning it you probably already know how to do this next step. My MIL handled this part since I've really never canned before. I have always put it in my freezer but my freezer is way too full this year to put this much applesauce in.

From watching her I learned you put it in the canner with a little water. Let it go until it steams and then time it for 15 minutes. Then take it off and let it cool. Take the jars out and they should be sealed. Like I said if you're doing the canning I would go by your canner's directions or find someone who knows how. It looks like it can be very dangerous if you don't do it correctly.

In the end I yielded about 65 Quarts, 20-30 pints (forgot to count), and about 15 freezer containers! My MIL got about 50 pints. It was a full day and a lot of work but I only had about $20. invested (sugar and seals) in it since my apples were FREE!!! This makes for a lot of really cheap applesauce!!

You can also see the difference in color between my MIL's and mine. That's just the difference in apples that we used!
If you make applesauce, What kind of apple's do you use???

Please feel free to give your tips if you can or freeze applesauce
or ask a question if something didn't quite make sense!!

***
It's still apple season so there's still time!!!

For more wonderful recipes and ideas visit
Blessedwithgrace - Tuesday's
In Passionate Pursuit- Tuesday's
Grocery Cart Challenge- Friday's