Brace yourself for the cuteness.
Typically I make a boat load of canned applesauce each year. Still, there are always times I end up buying the little packaged applesauce cups to take on the road with us to soccer or basketball games. It feels so silly to spend money on the pre-made applesauce cups when I have home-canned applesauce in the pantry. Still, I do it. We need food for the road, after all.
This year, I got a brilliant idea. (My one and only of 2015. We’ve been waiting ten months for this.)
I checked online for little cups with lids to fill with applesauce to take on the road.
Small jars with lids work great for to-go applesauce, but those make our cooler weigh 380 pounds. Plus, I wanted to give some to Asa for his dorm fridge but didn’t want him to have to mess with saving all the jars to bring home. The cups with lids are a great solution!
~~Let us all pause here to say nice things about avoiding plastic and disposables in general. Plastic disposables are not our friend. I agree and I know there are strong opinions about this. Right now I’m the mother of many teenage boys who are active, hungry, and on-the-go frequently. It was either compromise and buy these plastic cups in an effort to save us money and help us eat well on the road – or spend more to buy them pre-made – or buy junk from concessions or McDonalds. I chose the plastic disposables and I am excited about what this provides for my family right now. Now, back to the cute applesauce cups.~~
Organic 100% fruit applesauce cups cost around 74¢ each. Non-organic are around 33¢ each. My homemade organic applesauce cups just cost me 15¢ each. This makes me very excited. Plus if it’s okay that I say so, my homemade applesauce tastes better than store-bought. :)
This batch of applesauce turned out such a pretty shade of pink because I used a variety of dark red apples with very white flesh (Empire, I believe). No one who eats this can believe I didn’t add sugar. No need for sugar, my friends. Not when God made apples this good and sweet.
The cups with lids I chose are a perfect 5.5 ounce size. I filled them about 3/4 full, put the lids on top, then froze them. (I tested one to see if it froze/thawed well. It did. Now I have a freezer full!)
Next time we need travel food, we’ll grab several homemade applesauce cups from the freezer. I am so excited about this!
Have any other good ideas to share for fun travel foods?
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Hi Laura, I have been very happily reading your blog for yonks without even letting you know I’m here! All the way from Sydney Australia, how you manage your household inspires me, and gives me ideas to make changes in our home too…so thank you. BUT this applesauce thing has me flummoxed. There seems to be so much applesauce in America, yet I have no idea what on earth you do with it all. When, and where to be more exact, I grew up, applesauce was made along with the pork leg roast (and crackling…oh yeah, crackling crackling!) and that’s it. What exactly do you mean to do with your little keep cups of applesauce that you take with you when travelling? Do you come across roast pork (and Crackling!) that demands a side of applesauce? Please help this antipodean understand your strange ways :)) cath
Oh yes, I should have mentioned the pork leg roast we take on the road! Thanks for the giggle! :)
We simply eat applesauce as a side dish (to any meal) and as a snack. My family loves applesauce in a dish with breakfast. So, we don’t really “do” anything with it. We just eat it. Like crazy! :)
*scratching head* I just don’t really understand, and most likely never will. the mac and cheese obsession all over amercian blogs also confuses me. we just call it and all pasta, pasta, and we’re done with it. I wonder what we eat that you would find bizarre!
vegemite!
YUM!! I use applesauce in some recipes to cut down on the fat.
I am so excited about this idea! I will definitely pin it for later. I don’t think it would work this year, though Mitch does love applesauce. However this will be perfect for Rebekah next year!
I make our applesauce without sugar too! It is fine for us. I love the pretty red color of yours.
One of our favorite things to take on the road are tortilla wraps. Anything melted together will stay in a tortilla for a mess-free lunch. We like sandwich meat and cheese. Just bake a few minutes until everything is warm and melted. Or try Lazy Dogs! Roll up a boiled hot dog and a slice of cheddar cheese. :)
We also make a breakfast one for our early morning travels. You can cook eggs like you are making an omelet (don’t flip) and sprinkle in your toppings (we like cheese and green onions) to your eggs. Once your eggs are done, just roll up the egg in the tortilla. You can add a few spinach leaves and hit the road! :)
We have a large family, so we just spray a cookie sheet (with sides) with cooking spray and then crack about 18 eggs in a large bowl, scramble them well, and add our toppings, bacon or ham, salt, herbs, shredded potatoes, cheese, onions, etc. , into the eggs and then carefully pour them on the pan. Carefully move to the oven and then cook at 350 until they are done (about 15-20 minutes.) Cut them into large squares. Wrap in a tortilla. Very easy and you can freeze them!
Or you can make the big pan of eggs and then cut them and put them in a toasted English Muffin, bagel, or biscuit. Makes a quick breakfast sandwich! :)
I have to tell you Laura, that my kids all want me to read your emails out loud to them. It is our laugh for the day!! :)
wonderfully, smart idea!!
Crazy I do the same thing, with the prepackaged travel packs!! I just bought some peaches for our Co-op day, the whole time thinking we have peaches in the pantry, but I don’t want to deal with a whole quart. I just saw some cups similar to this at Walmart for pretty cheap.
I looked at all the stores here in town and didn’t find anything! Glad your Walmart has some!
I put the cups you linked in my cart but need to know: Do the lids stay on well? I just imagine ooey gooey applesauce all over our lunch bags. Thanks!
If you squeeze the cups, the lid may pop off. Otherwise, we’re finding these to be pretty sturdy. The lids definitely “click” when they are on properly, which is reassuring!
Thanks! :)
A wonderful idea that I have to try. I’m thinking it would work to freeze individual cups of peaches too!
I should probably make applesauce, as go through a large jar every week or two, but I never have and with two two & under & one on the way its one of my concessions right now. I buy the Simply Nature unsweetened applesauce at Aldi. Its 4.1cents/oz. I try & keep applesauce in the diaper bag for the baby in case we’re out longer than expected etc since he can’t eat just any solid food yet. I hate paying for the more expensive premade cups, but since I already buy a big jar, but its nice being able to have it available & unrefrigerated & not leak everywhere if it gets tilted.
All that to say – have you had these tip on their side? Did applesauce juice leak out when you did this? I havent trued these exact cups, but have tried some similiar & leaking was a problem, so I want to make sure before I invest in something like this! I suppose I’d still need to refrigerate the little cups though since the seal would be broken on the mother container…
I haven’t found them to be leaky, but I would hesitate to throw them into a diaper bag. I’d probably stick to a small jar with lid for a diaper bag.