An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Apples can be used for so many things, after doing a bit of research, since I have sooo many apples to deal with I’ve found a bunch of neat things to do with them! First, we had a whole bunch to make cider with. Then I had some more, so have been drying slices, then had so many peels that I didn’t know what to do with them, and found out that you can also dry those until they can be ground into a powder and used in things like oatmeal, or granola as extra flavor (plus that is where a lot of the fiber is!) or use the powder in things like potpourri, and other things you might scent. You can boil the skins and cores of the apples to make jelly, or syrup (we are going to try apple syrup! Yummm). You can freeze apples, or even just the skins and use those in your smoothies as an extra boost too! You can turn extra apples into sauce, or even apple butter!

My aunt lent me this AWESOME kitchen gadget for peeling and coring apples, I’ll put a link to it at the bottom of this post. It’s amazing, I was able to peel  4 trays worth of apples in just a few minutes, and didn’t take a chunk out of my thumb this time ;)

Dehydrated Apples: Core and remove skins, if you don’t like the “brown” you can spray with lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar (I used that last time, and they are good!) Place on dehydrator 6-8 hours until dry but still pliable.

I ran out of space on the dehydrator so placed the skins on a tray in the oven on the lowest setting for a few hours, checking every hour on their progress.  

We use dried apples in granola bars for kids lunches, you can dehydrate other fruit and make a mix, add some nuts, pretzels, and enjoy a healthy snack, or add to oatmeal. Make an apple chutney for a pork dish, oh the possibilities are endless! 

Tip for drying fruit** Place in a Ziploc bag. If it steams up right after you remove from the dehydrator, they still have too much moisture in them and could mold. Place back onto the trays checking each hour. Would be such a shame to have dried a whole batch only to come back to it next week and it’s moldy L

Peels can be boiled to make hot toddies, or simply to perfume the room without the chemicals of synthetic deodorizers. Add a pinch of cinnamon for a holiday smell. 

This is the link to this awesome tool, it can also be used to peel potatoes and make curly fries! 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DE2SS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000DE2SS&linkCode=as2&tag=fanthagaran03-20

Cheesy Pepperoni Sticks

This recipe was easy peezy! Use this breadsticks recipe to make the dough for around the pepperoni sticks. Instead of making the rolls first, make the dough and let rise until double in a bowl, about half an hour. Roll out to about 1/4 inch, and try to roll into a rectangle on a floured surface. Grate some cheese for your cheesy sticks into a dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and start to get your dough ready! Place your pepperoni stick onto the dough and slice the dough big enough that you can wrap the pepperoni in it like a blanket. Before rolling add some cheese on the inside and roll and pinch the edges so it's closed up tight. Place on a greased sheet and continue until your tray is full. Use some more cheese and put on top of the rolls. Bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and the rolls are nicely browned.

Needed:
Pepperoni sticks (we sliced into 3's and made smaller sticks for snacks and lunches)
Cheese
Dough