Enchilada Sauce

So...I think I cook in spurts. 

I'll get a little fire in my belly and try all kinds of new recipes, experimenting in the kitchen. 

Then, nothing. 

For weeks. 

I get too tired, busy, unimaginative, stuck in a rut. I rely on the tried and true, boring and basic food. 

Have you noticed there haven't been any posts about food for a couple of weeks?

Apparently, I'm in another rut. 

Yikes! My poor hubby. Good thing he'd happily live on cans of baked beans if I let him. (Yuck-A!)

It's a good thing I keep the camera close at hand when I get into my cooking spurts. 

Today, I just happened upon these enchilada sauce photos. Enjoy!

I think I got the recipe here?

This must be a can of tomato sauce (8oz) with 

flour (3 T), chili powder (3T), oregano (1T), garlic salt (1/2t), and cocoa powder (1t):

Stirred into a paste:

Combined with water (1c) and reduced on the stove over low heat:

Oh! 

Look-y here. 

More photos. 

I guess I made enchiladas that night as well!

That must be the sauce reducing on the back burner, 

black beans up front, and onion & garlic in the skillet. 

Oohh...I see some yummy cheese all shredded up over there as well.

This is making me drool. They look sooo good. 

We need a fiesta so I can make these again!

There it is in a jar: 

Beautiful red enchilada sauce. 

I wonder how authentic it is?

Thanks for taking this stroll down food-memory lane with me!

Crockpot Applesauce

Apparently I have been on a blog hiatus! 

It's back-to-school time, and I swear it was just last week that school started. I'm still not sure what happened to the month of September...where did it go? But, I have 24 bright-eyed first graders keeping me hopping during the day and pool supervising to keep me busy in the evening. But enough about that! 

We have apples!

Yum! 

I bought a box of the produce my state is famous for (Washington Apples, ya'll!), shared half with my mother, and last night I made applesauce. This is so easy that I slept through most of it. So dig out your Crockpot and let's get that heavenly aroma started!

Diced Fugi Apples

Dice up enough apples to fill your Crockpot all the way up to the top. This will reduce by two-thirds as it cooks. The peeling of apples is left up to your personal preference. I happen to have peeled every-other apple I diced.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar.

And a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Looks good enough to eat already!

Put the lid on, and turn your Crockpot to low.

Now go to sleep (that's what I did, anyway), or go to work. Or do whatever you want for the next 8-10 hours. The timing all depends on how chunky or mushy you like your sauce. Whatever you do, it will turn out yummy. This is practically no fail!

 This morning, I woke up to the mouthwatering aroma of fall.

(See how much it cooked down.)

 A quick breakfast of toast topped with applesauce before my Yoga class.

Alternative recipe, equally easy:

Apple Butter

My mom took a different route with her apples, she made apple butter (and shared with me!)

This is basically the same process, with a couple of adjustments: 

Use a 1/2 cup of sugar, peel all your apples, and when everything is mushy, use an immersion blender to smooth it out.

I think I'll have to make some Oatmeal Pancakes to use as a vehicle for yummy apple-goodness!