Homemade Pecan Pie

The holidays have a way of feeling a bit chaotic at times, but I so much enjoy the baking that goes with them. I had not made pie in years, but really wanted to make a pecan pie for Thanksgiving this year. First hurdle, was I could not find my box of recipes anywhere. I think it may be waiting to be unpacked. Thus, this left me starting completely from scratch. I looked over numerous recipes online, looking for something that would lend itself to modification with greatest chance of working. I ended up modifying a crust recipe from a cook book and a filling recipe that I made up using what sounded feasible. I was taking this pie to a large family Thanksgiving get together. Thus, I really wanted it to turn out, but had no way to check until the pie was served.

Pecan Pie Recipe

Pie Crust
3 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
3-4 tablespoons water.

Mix salt and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Beat egg, add water to egg, then pour into flour mixture and mix until dough forms. Roll out to desired thickness, fit into pie pan.
Notes: I suspect this was supposed to be a double crust based on amount of flour and butter, the amount it made confirmed this guess. However, with whole wheat crusts, I find it more challenging to get them rolled as thinly as with all white flour, and I find whole wheat crusts to be a bit more fragile. Thus, it is easier if there is excess dough. the excess dough scraps bake up nicely as "crackers" of sorts.

Pecan Pie Filling
2 cups pecans
1 cup honey
3 eggs
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Spread pecans in bottom of pie shell. Mix together honey and eggs, stir in melted butter, vanilla, salt. Whisk all together. Pour over pecans in pie shell. The pecans will float to the top. I pressed them in enough to make sure the tops of the pecans were coated with the filling mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees ~25 minutes, with foil covering edges of crust. Then remove foil, bake additional 20-25 minutes until knife in center comes clean, or the filling is set.

The pie came out of the oven absolutely beautiful! I was so excited. But, I still was not sure on taste. The extra pie crust scraps gave us a sneak preview on the crust--it was really good! Thanksgiving Day came and pies were brought with us. The pie turned out well! I was not the only one who liked it! So pleased it worked!

Homemade Pecan Pie!

Note: this post was written 11/29/18, but I did not get photos edited before surgery early December 2018, then have not gotten around to finishing the post until now. The pie turned out well and I made it again this year, relying on the draft of this post for my recipe!

Copyright © 2019 by Only By God's Grace. All rights reserved.

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola Recipe

I woke up this morning to frost on the ground and below freezing temperatures. I have been noticing more leaves falling. It really feels like autumn.

Cool weather makes me feel like baking.  I make granola often and have previously posted my basic recipe and a few modifications. However, I keep experimenting. There are more recipes coming once I actually get them consistent enough to be an actual recipe. I tend to start with ideas and make things up as I go. Anyway, I finished the last of the previous batch of granola this morning, so planned to make more. The last batch was applesauce spice. I wanted to try pumpkin spice. This flavor was given family approval on the first try and I knew what I did. The applesauce granola and the banana nut granola recipes are in constant flux, but hoping to get them finalized and posted one of these days. Spoiler alert, the pumpkin and apple granolas steal ideas from the banana nut granola. Anyway, this recipe has some seemingly odd ingredients but they work well. As usual, no guarantees that I won't change the recipe in the future. In fact, I can almost guarantee I will change the recipe over time. I always do.

Pumpkin Spice Granola

6 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup walnut pieces
1 cup pecan pieces

1 cup cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 eggs

1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt

Mix oats and nuts together. Mix peanut butter, oils, honey, and maple syrup, whisk in eggs. Stir in salt and spices. Pour liquid ingredients over dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased baking pan and bake at 300F for about 1 hour,  stirring every 20 minutes. Let cool in pan. It will harden more as it cools. I store this in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy! 💗

Notes:
Essentially, there should one cup of oil/fat, one cup of sweetener, one cup of pumpkin.

I used canned pumpkin. I planned to use all peanut butter, but was running short so added virgin coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil. The unrefined coconut oil has some coconut flavor, which I like in granola recipes. I planned to use maple syrup and no honey, but there was just a tiny bit of honey that seemed to be begging to be used up. I  debated adding molasses, but decided that is a future experiment. I was going to add coconut, but was out. I have used the pumpkin, peanut butter, maple syrup combination before, but not in granola.
I have been using peanut butter in granola for quite some time and had updated my earlier recipe to reflect this. This summer I have been using mashed bananas in place of honey and peanut butter in place of oil and it gives a good combination of flavor. The eggs were just an idea to boost protein some. I quickly discovered that they also make granola clumpy and stay that way instead of disintegrating into individual oats as most of my homemade granola does. Thus, eggs have become a normal granola ingredient for me. I also added chia seeds to this, but just poured. I would guess maybe a couple of tablespoons? I used two 9x13" pans. If using only one pan, it will take longer to bake and may need to decrease the baking temperature.

Obligatory note reminding that infants under one year of age should not have honey.

Pumpkin Spice Granola! 

PS: this is my first blog post completely written and edited from my phone. This is my latest trick. 😊

Copyright © 2019 by Only By God's Grace. All rights reserved. 

Easy Tomato Soup Recipe

I grew up having tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I still love this combination but my body does not love canned soups. I just went without....until this idea. This is just as fast and easy as canned soup.

Easy "Homemade" Tomato Soup
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch black pepper
pinch celery salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups milk

Heat all ingredients except milk together, whisking to mix. Add milk last, heat through.

This recipe can be easily multiplied. I have made a double batch and I am sure it can be tripled just as easily. This can be made on the stove top or in the microwave. I sometimes do not add the milk at all, but rather add milk to preference when serving.

The amounts of chicken broth and milk are based on preference. All chicken broth and no milk works great. If no chicken broth, it may work better to use 1 cup of water for the first step, then stir in 2 cups of milk later. I also sometimes do not measure how much liquid I add, so sometimes the soup so thicker, or thinner than other times. If I add milk too early it curdles.  The soup is still OK and tastes fine, just looks weird.

Copyright © 2018 by Stef. All rights reserved.

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits Recipe

It seems like it has been a while since I have posted a recipe.  I am still creating new recipes, modifying older recipes, plus have never typed up all of my regular recipes in the first place. This recipe is something I had made a variation of before, but could not find my notes on what I did. So, I experimented and made the recipe up again. The result was amazing!

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Biscuits
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 egg + milk to make 1 cup

Topping
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley

Stir together dry ingredients, then add cheese.  Melt butter. Beat egg in a glass measuring cup, then add enough milk to fill to 1 cup.  Add melted butter and egg/milk mixture to dry ingredients and mix. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake ~12 minutes @425. Remove from oven, brush tops with melted garlic butter. Return to oven and bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.

These are amazing fresh from the oven. They make a great side for soups or stews. Or, they can make a great egg sandwich in place of toast, regular biscuit, or bagel, etc.

Copyright © 2018 by Stef. All rights reserved.

Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

We recently had a cold day, windy, snowing, and with blizzard warning.  It was a great day to stay inside. Lots of organizing in the morning, PT exercises in the afternoon, more organizing. Then, baking with my sister! This is a recipe that I no longer recall where I first got it, nor to what degree I modified it from original. This is one of my "healthy" cookie recipes. But, it is still a cookie.

Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

½ cup butter, softened
1/3 cup molasses
add honey to the molasses to make ½ cup
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves

Cream butter, molasses, and honey. Add egg and mix well. Sift together dry ingredients, then add to wet ingredients. Mix. Roll dough on floured surface. Cut into desired shapes. Bake ~350° for ~10 minutes, or until firm in center. Baking time may vary depending on size of cookies. Decorate as desired, if desired. 

Enjoy!

Copied from here:

I am not sure where this was copied from....or why baking info is missing. Yes, I increased the butter. I use blackstrap molasses. The dough can be chilled and then rolled, cut, and baked at a later time.  I made up the baking temp and time. 😉
*Note: infants less than one year of age should not have honey.

Although I typically think of gingerbread with Christmas, these can be used for numerous seasons, holidays, etc.

 

Christmas

Valentine's Day

I have made them in the shapes of leaves, acorns, and pumpkins for fall. I have decorated with icing, sprinkles, chopped walnuts, etc. The iced gingerbread people above, do not require any fancy decorating supplies.  I used a baggie and snipped off one corner with scissors, then piped the faces and typical gingerbread look with that. Super easy!  (Warning, I cannot recall how many baggies I went through....they have a way of bursting.  Oops.)

This scene was created by my sister and me using gingerbread cookies and only basic items.

Little House in a Small Wood

Copyright © 2018 by Stef. All rights reserved.

Festive Sweet Potatoes

This is one of my favorite holiday recipes.  I think cranberries make things look festive. I managed to lose the original recipe and had modified it anyway, so just go by memory, thus it is probably a little different each time I make it.  Below is what I did this time.

Sweet Potato Casserole

~4 lb sweet potatoes (I think this was closer to 4.5 lb)

1 red apple (I think I used Fuji because that was what I had)

1 12-oz pkg cranberries

1/4 c honey

cinnamon

-Scrub, cut up, boil sweet potatoes until tender.  Drain, peel, cut into desired size, layer in 9x13" pan (this step can be done in advance and the sweet potatoes stored in fridge until ready to finish/bake).

-Rinse and drain cranberries.  Boil cranberries and honey until the sauce is desired consistency (~10-15 minutes? berries will pop and soften)

-Thinly slice apple over sweet potatoes

-Pour cranberries over top of apple/sweet potatoes

-Sprinkle cinnamon over top of cranberries (I don't ever measure this, just sprinkle liberally)

-Bake @ 350 until hot through and apple is tender (~45 minutes)
Please note that infants less than one year of age should not have honey. 

Enjoy!

Update Thanksgiving 2018
These are very good using pure maple syrup in place of the honey and dotting the top with butter before baking. They are also very good served with chopped pecans.

Update Thanksgiving 2021

These are very good using a 12-ounce can of undiluted apple juice concentrate in the cranberry sauce in place of the honey. I also sprinkled the cinnamon on top of the apples and then topped everything with the cranberry sauce. 

Notes 

This can be made with frozen cranberries. The sauce will take a little longer. 

Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and/or ginger can be added to the cranberry sauce. 

The cranberry sauce is also very good on pumpkin pancakes. 

Sweet potatoes ready for the oven. 

Copyright © 2016 by Steph. All rights reserved.

Mexican Casserole Recipe

This is a super easy crock pot recipe, as are most of my recipes.  This one was made up sort of on accident, again like most of my recipes are.  This actually started out with the intention of making chili, but part way through I changed my mind and started just adding things that sounded good.  It turned out really well.  I was planning to make chili again today, but once I got it started, began to think of changing it into this recipe...which is exactly what ended up happening.  This is modified from the chili recipe I posted a few years ago.

Easy Crock Pot Mexican Casserole

1 cup pinto beans
1 cup black beans
1 cup red beans
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons celery seed
1-2 pounds ground beef or turkey
1 cup brown rice
1 10-ounce package frozen, chopped spinach
~1 ½ teaspoons salt (to taste)
1 can tomato paste
V8 (a few cups, I just poured)

Sort and rinse beans, cover with several inches of water and let soak overnight.  In the morning, drain the beans, pour beans into crock pot and cover with plenty of fresh water.  Add all seasonings except salt. Cook on high.  If using at least 90% lean ground beef or turkey, I crumble it in raw and let it cook with the beans.  If not, then I brown and drain the meat before adding it.  The spinach may be added frozen, and it will thaw and cook. I usually add the spinach and rice once the beans are mostly tender.  Once beans and rice are both tender, I add the tomato paste, V8, and salt. I usually turn the crock pot to low at this point, but it does not really matter. The V8 I add until it reaches the consistency I want. I did add additional onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder but did not measure any of them.  This works best in a large crock pot. This does freeze and thaw well.

You can use any mix of dry beans, but I usually use the ones listed.  The meat is optional, the spinach is optional. Even the rice is optional, but I like the combination of all of them.

Copyright © 2016 by Steph. All rights reserved.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

The only way I have ever roasted vegetables before today was with roast beef or roast turkey.  I had 5 pounds of potatoes that were still fine but really needed to be used up sooner rather than later and none of the usual means of fixing potatoes sounded interesting.  So, I decided to try roasting them.  I started with no recipe whatsoever.  Just 5 pounds of potatoes, a glass baking pan, olive oil. seasonings, and an idea.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

potatoes
olive oil
garlic powder
onion powder
dried parsley
salt to taste

I did not measure anything at all.  I used the entire 5 pounds of potatoes (minus one potato that looked iffy), scrubbed the potatoes, cut them into smallish size pieces.  I drizzled olive oil in the bottom of the pan and sprinkled the seasonings over that, added a layer of potatoes, more oil. more seasonings, more potatoes, etc. until the pan was full.  I baked them at 400 degrees, stirring every time I remembered to do so, and until the potatoes were tender and browning.  Super easy! Also, really yummy!

Next question: what am I going to do with 5 pounds of roasted potatoes??  Actually I can think of lots of things--as a side dish, in egg skillets, to snack on, etc.

Life is rarely boring when one cooks without recipes and from random ideas. :)

Copyright © 2016 by Steph. All rights reserved.

Homemade Granola

This is an old recipe but one I had not made in a long time until recently.

Granola

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup oat flour  (optional)
pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/8 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix oats, salt, and spices together  Whisk together honey, oil. water, and vanilla and pour over oats mixture.  Stir to mix and evenly coat oats.  Pour into 9x13" pan and bake @ 300' ~40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Granola is done when it is starting to brown.  It will harden as it cools. Let cool fully, then store in an airtight container.  I usually keep it in the fridge.

For the oat flour, I grind rolled oats in a coffee grinder, but a blender also will work.

Granola lends itself to modification!  Any combination of nuts, seeds, or dried fruit can be added. A favorite alternate version of the above is replacing the honey with pure maple syrup and the oil with melted butter.  The original recipe had 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup honey, but this seemed too sweet and rich for me, so I decreased the honey and replaced part of the oil with water. When I was making this for my family may years ago, we quadrupled the recipe and made it in four 9x13" pans.  I also found this works well on the stove top if you have a stock pot large enough.  I figure it also would work in the crock pot but have not gotten as far as trying that yet. :)

Edit 8/29/18 to add notes from 3/26/17: Crock Pot Granola
Well, after thinking of trying for years, I finally did it!  I tried making granola in the crock pot.  I considered looking online for recipes, but since I had already made granola the normal way in the oven, plus on the stove top as an experiment years ago, I knew it pretty much had to work.  So, I just used my regular granola recipe and put it in the crock pot.  Except, I rarely follow even my own recipes, so substituted pure maple syrup for the honey and mix of coconut oil and butter for the oil, just because it sounded good, was another idea from the past that I do not think I ever tried.  So, two experiments in one attempt!  It worked great!  Unfortunately, I was working on other projects and did not keep track of how long things took. Basically, just dump everything into the crock pot, mix well, cook on high stirring every 10-15 minutes until browned, then pour onto cookie sheet or into large bowl to cool.  Once cool, I store it in an air tight container in the fridge, but it can be stored at room temperature.

Edit 2/20/19: Peanut Butter Granola
This is very good with peanut butter replacing both the oil and water! I ended up adding an extra spoonful of peanut butter and more honey to make sure it all mixed well. I also tried mixing the dry ingredients in the pan, pouring the wet ingredients over and mixing it right in the baking pan. That worked well. This experiment did give me yet another idea....for later experimenting.

Copyright © 2016 by Steph. All rights reserved.

Easy Crock Pot Minestrone

This is not a new recipe, but rather something I have been making for years and before that was modified from a stove top recipe.  But, I just realized that I did not have this recipe posted yet.  Plus, since I am feeling creative, I decided to try something a little different, because that is just the way I cook.

Minestrone

1 pound white beans (I used navy beans)
1 pound ground turkey
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/16 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 pound frozen mixed vegetables
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
V8 (a few cups--I just poured)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
olive oil (to taste, optional)
1-2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni (optional)

Sort and rinse beans, cover with plenty of water, and soak beans overnight.  Drain beans, pour into crock pot.  Cover with fresh water.  Add ground turkey--it is fine to add it raw, it will fully cook, but it can be browned and drained, then added.  Add all seasonings except salt.  Cook on high until beans are tender (usually takes a few hours).  Add frozen mixed vegetables, frozen spinach, tomato paste, V8, salt, olive oil if desired.  Cook until all vegetables are hot through..  I usually let this simmer on low once it is done to give more time for flavors to blend.  If adding macaroni, add it only about 30 minutes before severing.

This recipe works better in a larger crock pot!  I made it work in my 3-quart crock pot, but it was thicker than I liked.  This makes a really big batch, but it does freeze, thaw well.

Copyright © 2016 by Steph. All rights reserved.

Crock Pot Spaghetti

Just because I am recovering from surgery, does not mean I am not cooking or creating new recipes.  On the contrary, I am adding new crock pot recipes since crock pot cooking is the easiest anyway and especially now. I am still trying to incorporate as large a variety of whole foods as possible, thus playing with new ideas for recipes.

This was an idea from quite some time ago after successfully trying crock pot Alfredo.  That success opened the door to all sorts of pasta recipes in the crock pot.  I first tried the spaghetti before surgery and it was fine, but not really the way I wanted it.  So, the second attempt was today and turned out much better.

I make my own spaghetti sauce and Italian sausage and used those for this recipe, thus am including these recipes as well.

Crock Pot Spaghetti

Spaghetti sauce (see recipe below)
1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach
1 pound Italian sausage (see recipe below)
6 ounces additional water
~1/4 cup olive oil (I did not measure, but just poured)
~6 ounces Parmesan (I did not measure)
1 package (13.5 ounces, I think) whole wheat spaghetti

I did not make the sauce in advance, I just dumped all of the ingredients (except salt) in the crock pot, added a frozen block of spinach, frozen pre-cooked Italian sausage and let the frozen items thaw and cook and the sauce simmer to allow flavors to blend.  I then added the olive oil, then the Parmesan and let that melt.  When it was nearing time to eat, I added the spaghetti and let that cook until tender.  For angel hair spaghetti it only took maybe 15 minutes to cook?  I was not keeping track.

This was really, really good!  The previous time I did not add cheese and I used chicken instead of Italian sausage.  It was good, but not as full of flavors.

Spaghetti Sauce

2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
3 cans water
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon celery seed
salt to taste (start with 1/2 teaspoon)

Combine all ingredients and simmer ~30 minutes (either on the stove or in the microwave).

Italian Sausage

1 pound ground turkey
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon salt (try less)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/16 teaspoon cayenne

Mix all ingredients together, brown and drain.


Copyright © 2016 by Steph. All rights reserved.   

Homemade Granola Bars

I have been making my own granola bars for a few years now.  They are easy, taste good, and make a great snack.  However, it always seemed like something was not quite right.  Sometimes they seemed too sweet, sometimes too dry, etc.  So, I have been playing with the recipe every so often and finally have a version I really like!  For now....no guarantees it will not change again at some point. :)

Granola Bars

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups trail mix (I make my own, see below)
3 tablespoons coconut
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons flaxseeds (grind, then add)
1 1/4-1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil

Mix all of the dry ingredients together.  Mix together the peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil.  (Melt the coconut oil if needed.) Stir the peanut butter mixture into the oats mixture and make sure all is well mixed.  Pour into a greased pan (I use 7"x11") and press down.  Chill, then cut into desired sizes. I tend to cut these small. Store in the refrigerator.

Note: any combination of nuts or dried fruit can be used in place of the trail mix and in place of the seeds and coconut.  Almond butter can be used in place of peanut butter.

Trail Mix

6 cups mixed nuts (OR 1 cup each peanuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, hazel nuts)
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried apricots (cut into smaller pieces)

Mix together!  This is great as is for snacking, or used in other recipes.  Chocolate chips are a fun addition but not so great for having trail mix stashed in the car for emergency snack needs as the chocolate might melt. :)  Trail mix really is open to endless creativity.  Any combination of nuts and dried fruit or seeds can be used.  I am not a fan of seeds or coconut in trail mix because they fall to the bottom.

Copyright © 2016 by Steph. All rights reserved. 

Crock Pot Lentil Soup Recipe

Here is another really fast and easy crock pot soup recipe.

Crock Pot Lentil Soup

8 cups water

1 pound (~2 cups) lentils

1 pound baby carrots

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon celery seed or celery salt

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook ~5-6 hours on high or until lentils and carrots are tender.  May add additional salt to taste.

Split pea soup: substitute split peas for lentils.


Copyright © 2015 by Stephanie. All rights reserved.  

Apple Spice Crock Pot Overnight Oatmeal Recipe

Here is another crock pot recipe I have been making quite often recently.  It is something I can quickly mix up in the evening then it cooks overnight and is ready when I get up in the morning.  Perfect for busy days--which are most days.

Apple Spice Crock Pot Overnight Oatmeal Recipe

6 cups water or milk

2 cups steel cut oats

2 cups applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup coconut oil (optional)

Spray inside of crock pot with cooking oil spray, add all ingredients, stir, cook on low 8 hours (overnight). 

Note: need ~8 cups total liquid.  I had more than 2 cups applesauce and was trying to use up the rest of the jar so ended up with 2 ½ to 3 cups applesauce, but made it to 8 cups total liquid.  I like it better with more applesauce so now I usually make it with 3 cups applesauce and 5 cups water.  I also used mashed ripe bananas in place of applesauce once and that was pretty good.

Note 2: this is actually a double batch, so feel free to halve it if wanting to try with a smaller amount. :)

Copyright © 2015 by Stephanie. All rights reserved.