Easy Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

I’ve made my own apple cider vinegar long enough I really don’t know how much it costs per quart at the store anymore.  But, I’m pretty sure homemade costs less and taste better than store bought. If you are using apples for any apple dish, you can make your own apple cider vinegar.

Tricks for Home Cooked Food Fast

During the weekdays I leave my house at about 7:30 in the morning and don’t get home until about 6:30 that evening.  This doesn’t leave a lot of time to cook a meal when I get home.   Here’s a few tricks I’ve learned to make home cooked food fast.

On the weekends when I’m really motivated to cook, I’ll cook up a storm.  I’ll make big batches of something, have some for supper and freeze the rest, in meal size. for later.  Or I’ll make several meat loaves or hamburgers (sometimes both), have some for supper and freeze the rest for other nights.  Maybe cook a large ham and use a small portion and freeze the rest in batches for quick ham and beans.  I’m not always in the mood to cook, but when I am, I try to cook big.

In the last year I’ve learned to can meat.  This is a great time saver because there’s no thaw time.

UPDATE: Homemade Applesauce

At the end of last month I wrote about homemade applesauce.  Today I made some.  I bought some apples from the store's discount rack, they were spotted and not perfect, so I got a good price and the bonus was most were organic.  If you've read any of my blogs about cooking you know I don't do precise measuring much, but it usually works well, but I generally followed the recipe.

I quartered the apples, cut out the seeds and the core, and pealed them and then cut them in half again when I put them in the crockpot.  I added about 3 small fingerfuls (as opposed to handfuls) of brown sugar and about 3 table spoons of lemon juice I had squeezed a few months before for use in cleaning liquids.