Homemade Applesauce

So I know this isn't exactly a new idea, and most people probably know how to do this, but I thought I'd share anyway!  I first tried making homemade applesauce last fall and it was a big hit with Ellie.  Back then, she ate oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast pretty much every day, so when apple-picking season came around we got a bunch of apples and I tried out this "recipe."  We haven't gone apple picking yet this year, but we had some apples in the fridge that were looking a little sad and I don't think anyone wanted to eat them in that state, so I made applesauce.  It really doesn't get much easier than this!

First, wash and peel the apples.  I have one of these handy dandy apple peeler-corer-slicer gadgets that makes this task so much easier.

Peeling the apples...

An apple slinky!  Not really...but it does look cute.

Shelley really appreciates when I make applesauce because she gets the cores.  Look at that vicious beast.

Throw your apple rings in the Crock Pot.  Since this was only about 6 small apples and it only filled the Crock Pot halfway, I added about 1/2 cup of water.  You could also add cinnamon, but I didn't this time since I'm intending for this applesauce to be eaten by Piper.  It's definitely yummy with cinnamon, though.

 Cover and cook on low for a few hours until the apples are soft.

In the past I've used a potato masher to mash the apples into a chunky sauce, but since this is for Piper I dumped it in the blender and pureed it on low.

 Lovely, smooth applesauce.

I filled an ice cube tray with the applesauce so that I would have easy baby food portions in the freezer. You can also dump the applesauce in an airtight container or ziplock bag to freeze.  Once my applesauce cubes are frozen, I plan on just throwing them in a freezer bag and pulling out a cube as needed.

And that's it!  Super easy.  My little muncher is getting so big, she had 1/4 of a mashed banana today for lunch and gobbled it up.  I plan on trying to stock up a little on baby food now that she's starting to get into solids.  I think this week I'll try to buy some sweet potatoes so I can make that into a puree.  I'm looking for the most cost effective options to feed my baby, so I'll probably do a combination of homemade baby food from produce that's in season as well as baby food jars that are on sale.  Has anyone out there had a lot of success with making homemade baby food?  I'd love to know more about how other people do it!