The B-Side

I’m Steamed!

A few months ago, I needed applesauce for a recipe.

I could’ve bought it at the store. $4 for a jar. But when I looked at the label, there it was: added sugar. Why? Apples are naturally sweet if you buy the right mix. The sweet spot is half tart, half sweet.

So I asked Claude how to make it in a pressure cooker.

The Method

Claude gave me the method: Buy 4 apples. Two sweet (like Gala), two tart (like Granny Smith). Peel, core, halve, rinse. Place them in the elevated basket in your pressure cooker on steam. 8 minutes later, perfectly steamed apples.

Transfer them to a wide-mouth mason jar. 30 seconds with an immersion blender. Four pinches of cinnamon. Done.

The Problem

The problem was the warm applesauce.

It was SO good I could barely stop eating it long enough to save it for the recipe. No preservatives. No additives. No weird stabilizers. Just apples and cinnamon. Pure. Simple. And it took me 15 minutes.

I thought: Why have I been buying this?

One Month Later

I was at Aldi’s and saw baby-bite potatoes. Tiny. Perfect. And I thought: Wait. Could I steam those the same way?

I could.

Ten minutes in the pressure cooker. Let them cool. Into the fridge. Snacks for the week. Warmed up for dinner. Easy.

Suddenly I had a system: Potatoes first (10 minutes). Take them out. Apples go in right after (8 minutes). Under 25 minutes total. Two ingredients prepped and ready to use all week.

The Shift

That’s when it clicked.

I started looking at my fridge differently. Those carrots leftover from the holiday party? I could steam those. The bunch of onions sitting on the counter? Steam them for stock.

In fact, yesterday I decided I wanted to make white bean rosemary soup – it’s cold and rainy – and realized I needed vegetable stock.

Then I stopped. Wait. I have vegetables. I have onions. I can MAKE stock.

And I’m doing it tomorrow.

The Freedom

This isn’t just about steaming vegetables. It’s about shifting from “I need to buy this” to “I can make this.”

It’s faster than I thought. It tastes better than store-bought. And it saves money.

The applesauce I make? I eat it warm. I use it in recipes. I throw it in oatmeal. I even bake it into an oatmeal applesauce cake – just mix 1 cup old-fashioned oats, 1.5 cups applesauce, 1 mashed banana, 2 eggs, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp baking powder, and whatever add-ins you want (craisins, nuts, your imagination), then bake at 350°F for 40 minutes. (butter the cake pan well)

But the bigger thing is this: I’m not defaulting to store-bought anymore.

Unused Veggies, Lookout

Now when I open the fridge, I see potential. Carrots that might go bad? Steamed and ready for snacking. Potatoes? Prepped for the week. Onions, celery, herbs? Vegetable stock waiting to happen.

Healthy CAN be quick. You just have to rethink what prep looks like.

It’s not hours in the kitchen. It’s 15 minutes here. 10 minutes there. One ingredient at a time. Building a routine that makes the rest of the week easier.

And it starts with one simple question: What if I just made it myself?

Your Turn

What’s sitting in your fridge right now that you could steam? What are you buying at the store that you could make in 15 minutes?

Apples? Potatoes? Carrots? Sweet potatoes? Beets? All of them work.

Try it once. See what happens. You might be surprised how quickly “I should buy that” becomes “I can make that.”

Get steaming mad. Share what you’re steaming on IG @remixology