My husband’s cousin had some dental work done and now she can’t eat anything that isn’t soft and pureed. I thought I’d whip up something tasty for her, since she mentioned being tired of the stuff she’s been eating lately.

It was the perfect opportunity for me to use up the apples in my fridge that weren’t quite right for eating raw.  I’ve been telling myself for a while now that I needed to either juice them or make some applesauce, so I was happy to have an opportunity to put them to use.

Easy Applesauce

5-6 apples peeled, cored and chopped

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (or lime– I was all out of lemons)

1 TB maple syrup

2 cinnamon sticks

pinch of whole cloves

Put all ingredients in a large saucepan and pour in enough water to cover the apples.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until apples are tender.  When cooked, remove the cloves and cinnamon stick and puree or mash.  If there is a bunch of water left at the bottom of the apples, drain them before pureeing.  The water in mine had all evaporated during cooking.  This made about 3 cups of applesauce.

In the other jar is my Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, which I haven’t made in a really long time.  I LOVE it, but it’s not my husband’s favorite and I just never think to make it.  Thankfully, this batch made 2 quarts of soup, so that’s what we’re having for dinner too!  Since I wanted this batch of soup super smooth (didn’t want to risk any chunks getting stuck in her stitches), I used my food processor to puree it.  If you opt to use a blender or food processor to puree instead of an immersion blender, let the soup cool a little beforehand to be sure you don’t burn yourself.  Yummy!  I can’t wait for dinner tonight!