A few weeks ago, I got a coupon from Earth Fare for a FREE 3 lb. bag of (my favorite) honey crisp apples.  Obviously I wasn’t going to miss out on such an awesome deal, but I had just bought a 5 lb. bag of honey crisps at Trader Joe’s the day before.  Rather than miss out on 3 lbs. of free apples, I got them anyways and figured I’d find some way to use them.

Fast forward about three weeks, and there are still apples left.  Apples that I might add, are starting to look a wee bit past their prime.  What to with apples that are on their way out?  APPLESAUCE!

So tonight, I made a quick and easy dinner, centered around delicious homemade applesauce.  I started by quartering all the apples, and dicing them into large cubes.

Next they went into my rice cooker (aka the wonder machine) pot, and I added a splash of light apple juice so that they would have some cooking liquid.

Added a touch of cinnamon, and gave it a good stir…

And popped it into the Zojirushi!  Have I not written a post about this bad boy yet?  It is the appliance that has single-handedly transformed my meals, and oatmeal.  Post to come – soon – I promise.  Set it to regular cooking, and hit GO!

Abut 40 minutes later I had this…

And that is not bad picture quality – that is piping hot STEAM!  Soooo delicious and gooey – I left the skins on to give it some texture (and fiber!), and tried to not over-stir to leave the applesauce a bit chunky. 

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, piping hot homemade honey crisp applesauce, served with simple maple roasted carrots, and my favorite baked tofu.  (And a tiny bit of leftover lentils from last night.)

All together, made a super fast, completely easy, and totally satisfying dinner out of kitchen leftovers (lentils and apples) and pantry staples (carrots and tofu).

YUM!