Thrifty, easy Apple Brown Betty

OK, I'm posting my first ever recipe just for my Tweeps on Twitter.

This recipe is neither low carb nor Paleo but is v. v. thrifty, so I'm posting it here (rather than on my diet blog). It's also v. easy and is a slow cooker recipe (I have an old Rival 5-Quart Crock-Pot that I found in a thrift store, way back in the way back time, when I first set up housekeeping, and it's been going strong ever since.)

This recipe is perfect for when you have apples or hard type pears going bad on you and you don't want to waste them. I suspect that you could experiment with other 'baking' fruits like apricots, cherries, etc with excellent results. It's also good for using up any bread that's getting stale. If I have a loaf of bread that's just getting a bit too stiff to foist off on my family (I don't eat bread), then I'll toss it into the freezer to use as breadcrumbs or in recipes like this Apple Brown Betty.

Right.  Here we go. Oh, this recipe is so easy that you could follow it in print, but being the bad cook that I am and a visual person, I love pics in with recipes, so I shot ya a bunch of pics.

Blue's Thrifty Crock-Pot Apple Brown Betty

5-6 apples or hard pears abt the size of your fist (not those jumbo kind!)
1 1/2 slices bread per apple
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
abt 5 tsp butter or oleo

Peel, core, and slice your apples and butter your crock pot.  I used 6 pears in these pics and oleo because I need to use it all up (trying to get rid of all the hydrogenated soy oil in my children's diets. Switching to butter.) Break up your bread slices pretty small - fingertip sized. I used 9 slices of whole wheat bread with the crusts on (don't feed my kids that bleached flour crap white 'bread' - not that I'm opinionated about it, LOL!)

Now comes the fun part. If you're like me, you have a drawer full of bread bags. If not, then go fish that bread bag out of the rubbish bin. If you're one of those posh money-burners who buys zippered bags ("Burn her!  Burn the witch!"*) then I guess you can use one of those, lol.

Anyway, roll down the top of your bread bag, set the bottom on the table and carefully pour your apple slices into the bag.  You have to keep track of the edges and keep 'em tight on the sides.  Spoon them in if it makes you really nervous.

Here's our bread bag o' pears:

Now keep the bag rolled down (it should sit, open on the table, now that the fruit is in it) and add your salt, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

When all the sugar and spices are in, twirl the bag closed at the top, trapping the air inside - like the guys at the WalMart do when they bag a goldfish for your kid. You should have a pillow of spicey goodness:

Hang onto the twisted part with one hand and use the other to gently lift, knead, tumble and generally massage the ingredients together. It's the super easy and quick way to blend everything WELL without getting another bowl and spoon dirty - works for apple pies as well!  Here's the results:

Now just upend the breadbag into the bowl with the breadpieces in and mix well:

Dump into the crockpot, lavishly dot the top w/ teaspoonfuls of butter:

(I'm holding the pot so awkwardly because I almost scooted it off the table!)

Put your crock in your crock-pot, cover, and cook on LOW for 3 hours.  Finished Apple Brown Betty:

NOM!  The pear version gets the girl seal of approval from Bitty and THCTD (who had already taken a huge bite):

And that opinion was shared by Boy and Bulk (Fiver refused to taste it until he'd finished his milk, so no pic of him).

And this is the crock 15 minutes later:

So give it a try, if you'd like. It's insanely popular here at The Burrow and a fast, cheap alternative to apple pie.  Oh, and it makes a FAB breakfast!

*Xtra points for getting this reference w/out Googling!