BIG CUP - giveaway

I'm a snacker. I like to eat little bits throughout the day. It's more satisfying to me than 3 big square meals. But even with so much snacking, fruit cups can be kinda tiny. I feel like I need more than 1 of them to make ends meat of things. I think Musselmans read my mind. Introducing... the BIG cup

BOOM. Look at that thing! 3/4 of a cup of YUM.

I must admit I like to go all kindergarden snack time with them and use animal crackers as my own personal dunking devices/spoons. Don't hate, it's totally normal for an adult to be sitting at work dunking animal crackers into her BIG CUP of applesauce. The all natural no added sugar is my for sure go to favorite. I do love cinnamon but tend to bring my own bottle along to snack time and shake a dash in on my own.

Another great snack. Applesauce oatmeal. Yup. It's fall people, bring on the oatmeal mixins!! Warm and over the top delicious. (recipe at the end)


Want some more BIG news? Next Saturday, October 12, they are attempting a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ achievement for the “Largest Bowl of Apple Sauce” at the Baltimore Running Festival. You can find more info about the event here.

Want to win a giftbox with all three flavors? Just comment here about your favorite thing about apple sauce! US residents only. Enter by Sunday Oct 13th 2013 for your chance to win.

Apple Oatmeal
recipe by ::steph chows::
makes 1 serving
prep time: 2 minutes
cook time: 5 minutes

½ cup old fashioned oats
½ cup apple cider
¾ cup apple sauce (all natural no added sugar)

optional toppings:
nuts
granola
cinnamon
added sweetness of choice

Mix oats, apple cider, and apple sauce in a large bowl. Microwave on 50% for 5 minutes. Remove an top with preferred toppings. Enjoy.


Applesauce was provided to me for free. Opinions are all mine.



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Get Outside - giveaway

Is it springtime by you? Hard to tell around here with the ping ponging between freezing and 80 degree weather! According to Musselman's it is indeed spring and time to get outside! This time of year is perfect for reconnecting with nature, family and friends, by getting outdoors for a spring hike, complete with healthy snacks made with apple sauce!

You may have seen my post about the fruit and nut trail cookies earlier in the week. That was one of many recipes I received from Musselman's along with a big jug of their natural apple sauce! I always prefer the natural ones, no HFCS that way.

Another favorite of the bunch is their granola, I've been making granola using apple sauce for years and I'm so happy to see others doing it as well. Theirs is chocked full of oats, almonds,flax seeds and agave! You can print the recipe here.

As for the giveaway, want to win a box full of Musselman's products? Just leave a comment below with your favorite way to bake with apple sauce! (US shipping only. Must comment by midnight EST May 16th for your chance to win)


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Frozen apple pops

Musselman's peach apple sauce + pop mold + freezer = AMAZING SUMMER TREAT!

(yes I was pretending the rocket ship was flying.. and yes I'm 5 years old...)

Whoever thought this up at Musselman's is a genius!! I'm addicted to these things and keep making them in all the different flavor varieties. The freezer somehow transforms the apple sauce into an even better and more refreshing summer treat!

The wonderful people at Musselman's actually sent me a whole gift basket of their products and recipes to try out (full disclosure it was sent to me for free).



I've tried these two recipes so far and really want to try the third one super soon! But I've got to say out of all of them, the simplicity of just freezing flavored apple sauce seriously blew my mind. Go try it! Betcha the kids will love it too :)

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Mixed Berry Sucanat Granola

OOO I forgot today starts voting for project food blog! head here to vote for me! Just an FYI you have to join or be a member of Foodbuzz to vote (it's free) but I don't expect anyone to sign up just to vote, but if you are part of foodbuzz and want to vote I'd appreciate it!! :D

The people at Musselman's contacted me the other day and asked if I'd like to try their latest and greatest flavor additions to their apple sauce family. Sure thing I would!


Delicious on their own you know I couldn't just eat them all and not try baking with them right? The first thing I thought of was a berry granola using the mixed berry variety. It's flavored with apple sauce, strawberry raspberry and blueberry puree plus fruit juice concentrate to sweeten it.

I kept the granola pretty simple because I really wanted that berry apple sauce flavor to shine through but feel free to toss in whatever you have on hand. I also wanted to try a granola sweetened by sucanat and am so glad I did, it was a delicious combo!


Wild Berry Granola
recipe by steph chows

In a big bowl toss together
4 cups old fashion oats
1 cup almond slivers
1 cup unsweetened coconut (if you like a sweeter granola use sweetened)

In a small bowl mix together
1/3 cup sucanat (if you don't have any you can use brown sugar)
1 cup (2 small containers) Musselman's Mixed Berry Totally Fruit

Toss wet into dry until everything is incorporated and slightly wet. Pour into a thin layer on greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 until crisp. I like to take it out and toss it around every 10 minutes. Takes about 30-40 minutes to be done.

Remove from oven and let cool then toss with dried berries of your choice or eat it up plain.

Apple sauce granola

We all love the pumpkin granola recipe Jeanne made awhile back as a guest blogger here... now I've got an apple sauce version for you... which is perfect since I can't find any pumpkin around here!! BOOO!!!! I thought this pumpkin shortage was over?? Why are we only getting hit now??


Well either way, I love this new recipe, and another great thing is it uses agave to sweeten it... this seems to have made it a little more susceptible to burning... so watch this batch with a closer eye than normal! John called me and I went gabbing away... when all the sudden I remembered... THE GRANOLA!!! OK honey... gotta go... no not in a second.. NOW! I got it just in the nick of time... another minute and this would have been charcoal! That would have been sad, sad indeed.

I plopped some into a mason jar for pictures... but truthfully this would make a lovely gift... you hear that extended family... guess what you're all getting next year :D (did I mention almost everyone on my christmas list got jam this year?? fun right :) )

OK onto the granola, as always, mix it up with whatever you have on hand, it's more fun that way :)

Apple sauce granola
by steph chows

Toss together in a large bowl:
4 cups old fashion oats
2 cups corn puffs
2 cups kamut puffs (i find the corn and kamut puffs in the organic section of my grocery store)
1 cup sunflower seeds (unsalted)
1 cup shredded coconut

Stir together in a small bowl
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup apple sauce (all natural)
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup agave nectar


Add wet to dry and toss until everything is coated. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet so there is a thin layer. Bake at 325 and toss around every 10 minutes. If you like larger granola chunks toss more gently and don't break up the chunks... like small chunks... break things up a bit as you toss them around :D Let cool fully and then add in dried fruit to taste.

I normally mix in the dried fruit as I eat it, that way I can change it up depending on how I feel!

Apple sauce for your boobs

Yeah I know... weird title... but it got your attention right?? Or maybe it just scared you off... hmmmm... well for those of you who clicked on over I want to tell you about Musselman's apple sauce and how they are helping breast cancer research.

To start the year off with a giving spirit, we’re donating ten cents to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) for every package of Musselman’s Natural Apple Sauce purchased in the month of January. The NBCF is dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need. Here's a link to a video featuring Peggy Fleming talking about her experience with breast cancer and sharing details about what Musselman’s is doing to help others in need of support.

I love baking with apple sauce (come on it's one of my go to butter substitutes!) and was super excited that they sent me a big jar of the all natural kind! Let the baking begin!!!!

Some of my favorite apple sauce using recipes:

Raspberry Almond Quick Bread

Butterscotch and Chocolate Cupcakes

Kitchen Sink Muffins

Amish Friendship Bread

Gift baskets for me and YOU

Don't you love this time of year? Gift baskets showing up for all types of people? Such was the case when I got home last night and this was waiting for me to unwrap...


The wonderful people at Musselman's sent it to me and it was chocked full of tasty treats!



There was all natural apple sauce, a lite apple sauce (ingredients look the same except this has a little artificiall sweetener added in at the bottom of the list) I also got lunch packs of all different flavors of apple sauce. I busted the pom/blueberry straight away... the verdict, totally tasty! I brought them into work with me for random snack time. They also sent me two kinds of pie filling, I see pie in my near future for sure!


Here is the great part, they want to send one of my readers a gift basket too!! Wicked fun right?? Everyone loves gift baskets! To enter leave a comment before noon Sunday the 19th, and I'll pick a person via random.org. Winner will be announced Monday!


You can even become a facebook fan of Musselman's if you like here. But if you do, you better be a facebook fan of mine first! LOL not that I'd be jealous or anything...

Chunky Apple Sauce

So my roomie and I went apple picking a few weekends ago and have had a perpetual very large trash can size container of apples sitting in the garage. She's made 2 batches of apple sauce, and I've made 2 batches... there are still more apples out there... hahaha She wants to make apple butter this weekend mmmmm I can't wait to try some!

Apple sauce can me a very very simple thing, if you pick a bunch of different sweet varieties of apples you don't need to add extra sugar to the mix. This is the simplest way to make apple sauce! Grab an apple slicer/corer and fill a large pot to the top with sliced and cored apples. No need to remove the skins or anything (adds fiber mmm fiber!). Let it simmer for about an hour on low, stirring it up every so often. When the apples are to the point that they fall apart easily when you poke at them with a spoon you're all set. Mash them up with the spoon or potato masher until your desired consistency. Add a little fresh lemon juice, cinnamon and any other spices you like. Jar it up in sterilized jars and boil the jars for 10 minutes. Remove from water and let cool. Add a cute little label and give as a great gift!

chow!