The secret ingredient in this recipe is the applesauce. When everything's cooked up, you wouldn't know it's in there...yet the taste's just a bit sweeter. My mother and grandmother once ran a beanery for a train crew. That inspired a lot of my cooking. In fact, I adapted this recipe from one of theirs. Luckily for me, my husband likes to eat what I fix as much as I like to cook it! He and I have three children, all now grown, and six grandchildren.