Applesauce Bread

My mom is on a fixed income and not only is she taking care of herself, she is also taking care of her 6 year old grandson (it's a don't ask, don't tell family situation).  Lucky for her we live in a wonderful community with even more wonderful people who keep an eye out for each other.  Mom gets the occasional meal, fresh fruits and vegetables and canned goods.

Today I want to write about her abundance of canned applesauce.  No one in my family likes applesauce  and even if you do appreciate it, there's only so much you can eat before you get bored with it.

I searched for a recipe that included ingredients I already had in my kitchen AND mom's surplus of canned applesauce.  I found this recipe for Spiced Applesauce Bread and it was a huge hit!

No one is complaining about eating the applesauce now

Applesauce Bread

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs 3 tablespoons milk 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2.	In a large bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar, oil, eggs and milk; beat well. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; stir until smooth. Fold in the pecans. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3.	Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

I woke up one morning and realized, "I can't keep living like this."

I felt horrible.  My husband, not realizing exactly how horrible I was feeling, told me it was just part of aging.  I couldn't believe that.  I refused to believe that.  I didn't have the energy to cook a meal which is something I had to do every single day.

And I felt out of control not only with the way I was feeling but with my home.  Times are hard and it makes things easier if I can stretch our food budget as much as possible but I couldn't deal with the shopping trips.  I had turned into a domestic zombie.

So, I quit sugar.  Yeah, that came from out of no where but for some reason quitting sugar just made sense to me and  it worked.  I feel better.  I'm cooking meals and baking breads and desserts.  My family loves it.  The first thing the kids do when they come home from school is take a big sniff and see if they can figure out what I'm cooking for dinner.

Anyway, I hope to post recipes I try out here and things I've learned about realistically living on a tight budget.

Making Dough

Okay so we are a one income family of five with an extra house guest most weekends.  After the bills are paid whatever is left is what we have for household items, groceries and savings.  Needless to say; we do not have anything in our savings account and going to the doctor only happens in emergencies.

Ahh...to pay for insurance and not even be able to afford our deductible.   Who came up with that brilliant idea?  Oh yeah...big business.

Anyway, so we're trying to scrimp and save every little, tiny cent.  We were already cooking our meals and rarely going out.  Now I am attempting to make and bake foods I normally bought before like breads and desserts.

Oddly enough though, we're having more fun than ever; roasting marshmallows by the fire, teaching the kids how to cook and trying out new recipes for the family to enjoy or laugh at the 'oops'.