How does one pick an apple?
 

Let's get this out right at the start. I'm not a huge fan of fruits and vegetables. I can think of many things I'd rather eat than fruits and vegetables. Sorry, but I have to be honest with you and with myself. But, in the spirit of making healthier eating part of my "new normal", I'm trying to incorporate more F&V into my day.

If I'm going to eat them, though, I want the experience to be at least somewhat pleasant. And I'm having a really hard time picking apples. I hate mealy apples. I just had to stop eating one because it was too mealy. I just didn't like the texture in my mouth (didn't have much flavor, either).

I like red delicious apples, but they have to be crisp and have a smooth flesh texture. I've heard that the darker and harder they are, the smoother they are, but this one is quite dark and hard and it ended up being mealy :(.

How can I tell which ones are hard and smooth when I'm purchasing them?

Hi, Lena,

Your weight loss journey and mine look similar, and I am in 100% agreement that if I'm going to eat an apple, it better be a good apple!

I, too, got tired of using my limited allotment of calories on yucky apples, so I stopped buying Red Delicious. When I thought about it, I realized I bought them because that's what my mother bought. But there are several varieties out there that are much more reliably sweet and crisp. I strongly recommend Galas of Fujis. They don't have that deep red color we all associate with the perfect apple, but the texture and flavor are far superior.

Good luck to you!!

All the best, Rae

Galas, Fuiji's, Pink Lady are all good.

Hey, that's why I buy them too, now that I think of it! :lol:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try a couple of those other varieties you mentioned!

I'm super picky about texture when it comes to apples. :dizzy: I'm a Fuji-only girl. Sometimes the Galas are still a little mushy for my taste.

Good luck!

cheers! :hat:
paula

QuilterInVA has the right idea! Pink Ladies are my absolute FAVORITE apples. Yum! *is now craving apples... but has none :(*

Ok, I have a Gala, a Fuji, a left-over Red Delicious and a something I can't remember the name of in my fruit basket now! Didn't see any Pink Ladies -- maybe I'll try a different market.

It's a little disconcerting to me that they aren't "apple red", but taste trumps looks anyday, right? Can't wait to start chomping down on them!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I buy Gala and Granny smith!

I like Fuji and Granny Smith best. Red Delicious are good in the early fall, around September/October, but not this time of year. I don't care for the Galas. The texture just isn't crisp enough for my tastes. I LOVE apples, but I will not eat a mealy one. ICK!

I wish they sold the Pink Ladies where I live. I have wanted to try them, but haven't been able to find them anywhere.

I've recently started eating apples again because they make such a healthy and filling snack. I wasn't a big fan of apples because I don't like their coldness on my teeth!

Now I core and slice them into wedges and microwave them for 35 seconds. This way they are not cold but also not cooked. I dip the slices in a tablespoon of tahini mixed with 1/2 tsp. sugar. Another way I prepare them is to sprinkle the slices with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. sugar before I microwave them and then dip them in some non-fat topping - yum! It reminds me of apple pie - without all the calories!

I like Gala apples best. Apples are usually mealy when they are old. It's hard to tell sometimes till you slice one if it's fresh.

Well, as you can see from my moniker, I LOVE fruit (and vegetables). Seriously, there aren't many fruits I won't eat. I'm already salivating for summer when all the good stuff comes in.

As for apples, I seem to be in the minority here. I like Empire or MacIntosh apples.

Sometimes I'll spread a little peanut butter on slices -- makes a nice contrast of sweet and savory.

I'll second the PB on apple slices!! I like them crisp and crunchy. My very favorite are Braeburns, followed by Fujis and Cameos. At the Farmer's market in the fall I can get Cripps Pink and I love them also. For some reason I don't see them in the stores here, even though they are grown in Washington.

Mmm! Now I want an apple too!

One of my fav fruits is pineapple. I know they are not for everyone as they are high in sugar, but I just adore them! I buy them whole at the produce market-- often at a very good price -- and divvy them into 150 g "snack packs". Usually I have pineapple as my evening snack.

I grew up on canned pineapple and don't think I can go back.

OKay, sorry for hijacking the thread!

[QUOTE=Less of Lena]I hate mealy apples. I just had to stop eating one because it was too mealy. I just didn't like the texture in my mouth (didn't have much flavor, either).

QUOTE]

Well I am in Washington, where we grow the best apples ever... but if you can get good ones, try the Pink Lady! Oh they are SO good. However, I bought some when I was in MO last year and they were horrid. You might want to give them a try. Other nice crisp ones are Gala and Jonagold. Avoid Fuji as they are mealy.... yuck. If you like tart, the Grannie Smith are good.

Oh I love fresh pineapple too... and I have the little corer that you stick down in it and pull the whole thing out sliced! Pineapple is also great on he dehydrator, as are red seedless grapes, yum!!

Fruit is something I just can't bring myself to do. I've tried, but I can't. I love blueberries, though, I like putting them in my oatmeal. But apples? Yuk. The only way I'll eat apples, or any fruit for that matter, is if they're disguised with another taste - like caramel dip or peanut butter.

It's not that I HATE fruit, it just doesn't appeal to me and isn't my first choice of foods for blowing my calories.

Hi Linda

Yah that's a hard one! I used to not like fruit very well either but once I got started on it and not eating junk I have learned to really LIKE a lot of it... and LOL yah the caramel dip and peanut butter kind of defeats the purpose, huh? :)

I'm really looking forward to trying these apples as snacks today. Hah whodathunk I'd ever happily anticipate eating fruit???

I do like applesauce, though. Could eat that every day! And cantaloupe. I have a nice ripe one onthe counter, just waiting for me. I just hate having to dispose of the rind. Our disposal isn't very reliable, so we don't use it. Cantaloupe rinds can make quite a stink in the trash :(.

I've always thought that you lose so much of the pineapple when you buy it fresh -- don't you lose like half of it when you skin it?

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Not if you do it right! You need one of the little pineapple corers that sell for around $4 or $5... just little plastic things with a handle. You just cut off the top of the pineapple and stick the corer over it, twisting as you turn. When you get to the bottom the whole pineapple lifts out, all sliced. You can also get metal ones but they are more expensive and the plastic one works fine.

After I do that, there is still a LOT of good pineapple left in the skin. I cut it in sections with my electric knife, cut off the bottom too, and lay out the sections on a cutting board, one at a time. Then I take the knife and go sideways cutting out chunks of pineapple. This part is delicious and actually is the BEST if you dehydrate it.

This way I get all of the pineapple out with VERY little waste!!

Like I've said in a few other posts, I learn something new every time I sign on to 3FC. Thanks fo rht e info on pineapple slicers, Dance!

W O W

I'm just now biting into this Fiji and it is DE-LISH-SHUSH!!!!! Wow wow wow! Crisp! Smooth! Yum!!! Thanks for suggesting it!

Next one up will be the Gala, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, but this Fiji definitely gets a thumbs up. Yum!

((Whoda ever thunk I'd gush on about an apple!!! My, how times have changed!!!))

I am amazed you like Fujis! They are mostly thought of around here as cooking apples and are SO mushy! But LOL glad you are enjoying them!!

If you are swooning over a Fuji you will jump for joy over a Pink Lady LOL

I know what you mean though... I can hardly WAIT for my huge crock pot full of mixed veggies to get done for dinner! LOL

Interesting. I'm in WA also (Yakima) and I've rarely gotten a bag Fuji. They aren't mushy or mealy over on this side of the mountains! One of my favorites! Glad you liked it, Lena!

Interesting... I guess we just have different tastes! :) I don't like them at all! But apparently a lot of people on here do! The neat part about being in WA state is that we have so many wonderful varieties to pick from. I love the Jonagolds too but when Pink Ladys are in season I devour them LOL. But I bought one in Missouri last summer and it was horrible... LOL

Yep! I agree WA is a great state for different apple varieties. At the Farmer's Market I'm always love trying out the new varieties. There was a VERY hard one there this year and I cannot remember what it was called. BTW - how do you pick a good pineapple? I hate paying $4-5 for one and then have it be sour. I've figured out how to pick a good watermelon though!

wow -- I really started something with this pineapple talk!

I don't have a corer-- I cut it the old fashioned way -- but I also work to get the most out of it. I can describe if anyone's interested. And, at my produce place they aren't so expensive. Today they were 1.69 each, and they rarely go above $3 each. So, I'm lucky.

As for picking a ripe one, I've heard several possibilities. One is to pull at the leaves at the top, and if they come out, they are ripe. Though I have also read that this DOESN'T work. Then I read that you should smell the bottom, and it should smell like -- pineapple. So, I do both, and it seems to work pretty well!

Hi Wyllen

When I lived in the Philippines, it was funny as none of us Americans could peel and prepare a pineapple correctly. Our Filipino friends DID teach me and all of us how to do it... LOL we all laughed that most of us Americans just started whacking into it until we could find a piece big enough to eat. So actually I DO know how to do it properly...but it sure is a LOT more hard work and effort than using the little plastic thingie <GGG>

And I have NEVER seen a "good" pineapple since after eating THOSE things over there!! Sooooo good!

dance --

Oh, I bet you are soooo right -- the pineapples there must be amazing!!!

Based on your recommendation, I will keep my eyes out for a pineapple corer. I buy one almost every week, so I think I would get some use out of it!

Oh the difference is unbelievable!!! I am drooling right now wishing for one and LOL I can just see my Filipina best friend and I laughing while she taught me how to cut up the thing properly LOL. We had some good times over there!!!

It's the same in Hawaii. You cannot get a bad pineapple!

I cannot believe that you can get pineapples for so cheap there! I'd be eating them all the time. I've tried pulling the leaves and sometimes cannot get any leaves to come out at all - so assume they are all unripe. I'll try the sniff test.

Yah I am amazed at getting them that cheap too... LOL sure not around here!!!! But they are worth it anyway!!!

I LOVE MY PRODUCE STORE! It caters to lots of ethnic cuisines... they have neat peppers and greens and fruits from all over. I had never cut up a pineapple until this summer, but when they got to 99 cents each I felt I had to give it a try! I tend not to buy them when the price soars above $3 each, but that is rare. Actually, lots of the fruit is so much cheaper than regular stores. I shop there every week now. Not only that, but it is not uncommon for employees to go through and cull the bad fruit!

Lena.... I can't resist... here it is... the REAL answer to your question... How does one pick an apple?

Go out into the country, find a farm, climb a tree, reach out on a limb, grasp the apple firmly, and pull hard!!

This also counts toward your exercise challenge. :carrot: :dizzy:

Hehe Dance! When my DS was little, we actually did go apple picking in fall! We'd come back with tons of them, then wash them all up (culling out the not-so-good-looking ones) and take them in to his school to share. We did that a couple of times a year until he was in 2nd grade and suddenly lost interest.

Ok, folks, I tried the Gala this morning. It, too, was mighty tasty, but I think I liked the Fiji just a bit better. The Gala had a little undertaste of peach. Sort of a hard-peach texture, too. Not a bad thing, but just a bit disconcerting.

But both of them were yum yum yummy! And I'd do either of them again!

On to the Macintosh (or is it an Empire?) that's still sitting in the basket! That poor little Red Delicious is going to get mighty jealous with all these new models coming in!

LOL Lena so you really DO know how to pick an apple. :)

Yep, hehe.

That's like deep-frying broccoli.

LOL Linda!

I have lurked and watched this apple board since it started. I had always been a gala apple fan. Reading this apple board made me want an apple so when I walked into the store today I went straight to where the apples were. I seen my gala's but I have heard a few of y'all talk about the Fuji apple being sweet and tasty. I like sweet and tasty, especially sweet. Right by the Gala was the Fuji so I bought the Fuji apples instead.


OMG!! I just could not believe how crispy SWEET & JUICY the Fuji apple was. When I took a bite into this apple the juice just literally ran down my arm and it was MMMM MmMmMm mmmmm GOOD!!!!:T

Okay I am sold. Gala has moved into second place by Fuji taking first place!

well, at least peanut butter has some great nutrients for you. I normally eat peanut butter when I'm running low on fat and protein. It's really a great pick-me-up!

I confess that I also bought and ate a fuji appple today. first one in a few months. it was yummy!

I didn't get to the store today, so no Fuji for me, but I raved so much about it yesterday, even my DH said, "Dang! Now I want an apple!!!" And he's worse about fruit than I ever was (I can almost imagine him telling his mom "Fruit Loops do too count as fruit!")!!!

It's contagious, I tell ya!!!