Month: October 2016

The Puppy is Growing…

On By Marci WhitehurstIn My BlogLeave a comment

Last spring we unexpectedly lost our ranch dog, Dally. We grieved over her death and buried her overlooking the river.

My hubby said he didn’t want another ranch dog.

It lasted a couple months.

The kids and I were trying to convince him to take a pup from a friend’s litter. The parents are good working dogs. He grumped no, but then darned if he didn’t surprise us all and bring home a pup!

That was in August. cindy-quilts-me-headshots-mags-bday-cattle-and-steer-pics-059

Rye has grown a lot since then. She still chews on everything. We never know what we are going to find in our yard, but it’ll most likely be shredded.

We can’t keep her from working. Some experts say to wait until a pup is six months old before beginning to work with them, but she wouldn’t have any of that. She loves cows and she’s a natural. It’s been fun seeing the excitement of a young puppy. Everything is new. She’s always happy.

It helps with overall morale.

Somehow it helps us feel a little more chipper. A bit more enthusiastic about work. Maybe we should get five puppies. LOL!

cindy-quilts-me-headshots-mags-bday-cattle-and-steer-pics-063
Rye helping us move cattle down the road.

 

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Easy Crock Pot Applesauce

On By Marci WhitehurstIn RecipesLeave a comment

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Welcome fall! Cooler temps, beautiful colors, and harvest–these are some of my favorite things about fall. However, when it comes to food, fall makes for a very happy time. Garden carrots, potatoes, and onions are hard to beat, but when it is time to pick apples, oh my! We all get a little excited. I’ve made apple crisps, baked apples, and dehydrated apples, but applesauce never gets old!

It takes forever though when you have to peel, core, and slice every apple–especially if they are small apples–so I’ve become a huge fan of Crock Pot Applesauce. I originally saw the idea on a recipe page a couple years ago (sorry, I can’t remember which one), but using a potato masher made the applesauce too chunky for my taste.

What worked well this year was simply quartering the apples, removing the core, and throwing the quarters into the crock with a little water, coconut sugar, and cinnamon.

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Quartered apples with cinnamon and sugar.

 

I cooked them on high for 3-4 hours, then ran them through my food processor once they were soft. There is some texture this way since you don’t peel the apples. I put the applesauce in my nutribullet though and it became so creamy! My family preferred the texture, which means one less step for me, so I simply stayed put with food processing. Yum!

 

CROCK POT APPLESAUCE

Fill a 5-6 quart crock pot with quartered apples. (You do not need to peel them!)

Add 1-1/2 cups water.

Sprinkle with 1 TBLS of cinnamon.

Add 1/2 cup sugar. (I used coconut sugar for lower glycemic reasons.)

Stir, cover, and cook on high for 3-4 hours.

When apples are soft, put through a food processor with the S blade. (Or leave them and eat them as is–they are like pie filling!)