Nutrition and Labeling - This Weeks Healthiest Food - Apples

http://www.whfoods.com/index.html?PHPSESSID=f82ceb4573c29c3891cf68e93580e 481

Oh it's a good week! Apples. Yummy. Back in the day when I was 287 lbs, not all that long ago, I rarely ate apples. They didn't "do it" for me. Now, having elminated most added sugars and the such, I really, REALLY appreciate them. I LOVE them in fact.

What are some of your favorite varieties and what do you like to do with them, besides just eating them whole?

I am loving the Gala apples. I also love the tiny lady apples. They're expensive, but sometimes I want just a quick few bites of something sweet and they really satisfy me, without having to eat a large apple. I also love making fresh applesauce - so easy and sooo delicious. Decadent in fact.

My favorite these days are Empire apples. I love those little guys :) Mountaineer apples are pretty good too.

I never cared much for apples, I was much more of a plum, nectarine or peach girl but I do think I am learning to enjoy apples. I have one today, it is a mystery apple because I bought 3 kinds from Whole foods that kind of look the same and took the tags off and put them in a bowl.

I have just recently discovered Minature Golden Delicious Apples - they are small, perfect for one portion, and quite sweet. I do like to eat them sliced, but since it's fall and I am the Lady of my own homestead (I just got married, and my mom was never really into changing with the seasons), I would love to find good healthy recipes for baking apples and the like. I can't wait to read your ideas!

Oh recipes? hmm I am not too fond of cooked apples.

I did make a recipe last year from the Superfoods RX book that was basically an apple crisp with sliced apples and a oatmeal topping. I was actually thinking of making it for Thanksgiving for my inlaws because they liked it. Maybe I'll dig the recipe up and post it or if anyone else has the Superfoods RX book, they can post it as well.

Edited to add -

I just put up the Apple tart recipe from the World's Healthiest foods site. It looks pretty good and may be a contender for Thanksgiving.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1901224

It's not very exciting, but for me, it's Red Delicious. My grocery store sells a bag of very small apples -- they're organic. So one of them is really truly a medium apple. An apple a day may not keep the doctor away, but it does lots of other good things for your digestive system :)

I also use nonsweetened storebought applesauce as a snack.

I bought some honey crisp apples this week -- don't love them yet, but I like them. I'm going to try to buy a different kind each week this fall, just to try them.

Yay! Thanks, Robin ;)

I admit I'm not a huge apple lover, but I love apple slices dipped in either peanut butter or caramel.

So yeah.... I desecrate them, LOL!

Every now and then I get in the mood to just bite down into a whole apple, but I'll tell you one thing I ate that was positively yummy - you've had (or heard of) the typical peanut butter and banana sandwich, I'm sure. Well a friend of mine introduced me to a peanut butter and apple sandwich. Thin slices of apple with peanut butter on yummy bread.

Now that was good! :)

HONEYCRISP! HONEYCRISP!!!!!!

Sorry, had my first of the season today. Oh, they are soo good.

I make a whole wheat baked apple cake for desserts...its basically a semi-sweet whole wheat pancake batter, poured over thinly sliced, lightly cinnamon/nutmeg/splenda or sugared apple slices that you layer in the bottom of a ramekin, then baked. Turn it out and its sooo tasty.

When I go to McDonald, I always get the kids meal. Instead of me getting the french fries, I always get the apple pieces with the caramel dipper!

Apple cake last night was tasty. I am currently on a quest to make things that taste like dessert that are made with "non-dessert" ingredients. That is to say, they have small amounts of fat, low sugar, and are made with things I eat as healthy choices anyway...fruit, whole wheat flour, etc. This cake fit the bill perfectly.

Spiced Apple Upside Down Cake

1/2 apple, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided
1/4 tsp nutmeg, divided
pinch of salt
2 tsp unpacked brown sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur White Whole Wheat)
1/4 cup Splenda (optional - depends how sweet you like your cake)
1 small lunchbox/snack size container natural, no sugar added applesauce
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
Cooking Spray

In a small bowl, combine the sliced apples, brown sugar, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of the nutmeg. Toss to combine. Take the coated apples and lay half of them in each of two cooking-spray coated 10-oz ramekins, arranging in a pretty pattern on the ramekin bottom.

In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining cinnamon and nutmeg, along with splenda if using, and stir to combine. Add the applesauce and vanilla and mix until just combined. Divide the batter between the two ramekins, spooning on top of the apple slices.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15-18 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. While the cakes are still hot, invert onto serving plates to show the pretty apple slices on top.

I'm with Mandalinn - Honeycrisp apples are my absolute favorite apple for eating out of hand. Sweet, juicy, crisp - apple perfection!!

My second favorite are Gala, with the good ol' Golden Delicious taking third.

I mostly eat apples as they come, but sometimes make fresh applesauce (great with a little cinnamon and nutmeg - like apple pie without the crust!) and a warm blueberry/apple compote. Basically, you just dice an apple, toss it with a small handful of frozen blueberries, then microwave it until the apple softens, the blueberries thaw, and the combined juices make a sort of syrup. It's much tastier than it sounds!! :)

I used to juice fresh apples, but not so much anymore. I prefer to keep the fibre, and the juice (while tasty) just isn't filling....all the calories and taste, but without the hunger-satisfying benefits! :p

:thanks:THANK YOU ROBIN!

Angie made the green apple tart, from the link you gave, for all our evacuees tonight. Everybody loved it!

Thanks again, Gary

Gary, we've got LLV to thank for that. She's the one who has been posting This Weeks Healthiest food for a looong time already. She just kinda passed me the baton. But it was LLV who first shared this wonderful weekly info with us.

Stay safe Gary. It's great that you guys were able to help out.

I love apple season, there are lots of great little orchards and farms around here where you can pick your own. I made a huge apple crisp a couple weeks ago with jonagolds using just a couple tablespoons of brown sugar and stevia for sweetening, with a rolled oats and walnut topping. So yummy! I found some soy ice cream that's all natural and sweetened with fruit juice, it's only 110 cal for 1/2 c and perfect for dolloping on top of apple crisp. I'm drooling just thinking about it right now.

I like gala, fuji, golden delicious, pink lady…I like almost all apples except red delicious, I think they have a mealy texture.

Gary - It's so great you're helping people out there. My friends back in SoCal tell me the air quality is terrible.

Manda, I'm trying that apple cake recipe sometime in the next week or so. It looks great and I love how it's the portion size for just my boyfriend and I since we're the only 2 in the condo. :) I hate having leftovers.

Gary, we've got LLV to thank for that. She's the one who has been posting This Weeks Healthiest food for a looong time already. She just kinda passed me the baton. But it was LLV who first shared this wonderful weekly info with us.

Yes, I've gone into retirement ;)

Thanks, Robin, for taking over for me. It's kinda nice to have someone else doing it and I can peek in on a Monday, wondering what this week's healthy food will be. Like I said, I don't get the newsletters, I'd have to remember to go check out the site. Most weeks I would, but sometimes I'd forget.

Maybe I need to start drinking this ------> :coffee:

:lol:

Well then....thanks to you LLV and to Robin.

SHAN ~ the air is pretty bad....but....I am breathing it IN MY OWN HOME that I AM STILL IN....my kids are here...homeless from evacuations...so we have a full house which is FUN!....but we are all stir crazy with the cabin fever.

Later ~ Gary

Amberelise - it is one of a long line...pumpkin cake, banana cake, pumpkin chocolate chip cake....

Buy some 10 oz baking ramekins and you can make a healthy, single portion dessert any time!

Fuji apples are my favorites, but I've been putting off buying any because I know that in the dead of winter they will be just about the only fruit available. I love Fuji apples, but by February I start to really wish for some other type of fruit. So I won't be buying any apples until there are no more plums or peaches available at the farmers' market. The renowned Honeycrisps haven't made an appearance at my farmers' market yet.

It's not a dessert but here is a great main dish that incorporates apples: Apple-Spinach Chicken (http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1571540). This one of my regular go-to meals. It's easy to make, it always comes out great, and it's really low in calories. I make it with a granny smith apple and sub swiss chard for the spinach (my SO doesn't like spinach).

mandalinn, I made the Spiced Apple Upside Down Cake for dessert last night and yum! it is really helpful to me to make single serving desserts b/c i have problems with sweets portion controls. i could definitely envision the same recipe with just about any fruit - pears, peaches, berries, etc. etc. i might mix a little bit of oatmeal in with the flour too. thanks!!!

BARBARA ~ I made the apple-spinach chicken tonight. We loved it. I had some issues on timing...I forgot brown rice takes longer than the basmanti we use (Angie usually does the brown) and the chicken breasts I used were thicker and took longer than the recipe said (Angie usually does the chicken dinners in the house)...but next time I will know...it was very good. Thanks!

Gary, I'm glad you enjoyed the Apple-Spinach Chicken! I usually cut the chicken into bite sized pieces so that it cooks faster (or I pound it flat with a meat mallet). But there's no way to speed up brown rice. I usually cook my rice before I start on the rest of dinner and just heat it up in the microwave right before we eat. Lately when I need to cook brown rice, I've taken to cooking large batches in the oven, setting aside whatever I need for immediate use and freezing the rest in single serve baggies. Then in the future I can just pop the rice I need for dinner in the microwave. Or I buy Trader Joe's pre-cooked frozen brown rice.

Thanks Barbara for the ideas!

You're welcome!