My Ode To Apples!

Well, In the Jewish Religion, tonight at sundown is the holiday of Rosh Hashaha, which celebrates the Jewish New Year! It is a joyous holiday filled with an extreme amount of homemade delicious food, family and friends. I love Rosh Hashana mostly because the apples and honey!

Apples and honey are eaten on Rosh Hashaha to symbolize the SWEET New Year. You can imagine I will be eating my heart out with this delicious combonation of tart and sweet this weekend 🙂

In honor of this joyous holiday I would like to share some of my favorite APPLE PACKED recipes!


Healthy Apple Crumble

~Ingredients for the apple mixture:

~4-6 medium sized Apples (I like the crisp ones such as gala, braeburn or macintosh!) ~The Juice of 1 lemon (You can eyeball this if you like it more or less tart

~4 packets truvia, splenda or 1 tbsp sugar

~Handful of raisins

~1-1 1/2 tsp cinnamon ( i like alot!)

~1/4 Cup chopped walnuts (healthy fats!!)

Ingredients for the ‘crumble’

~¼ cup whole wheat flour ~1 tsp cinnamon
~ t tbsp melted butter ~1/4-1/3 cup oatmeal
~Now the best part! Putting it all together!

Directions:
~ Peel, core and chop the apples into bite sized pieces and mix them with the lemon juice to prevent them from browning.
~Combine the apple & lemon juice mixture with the raisins, sugar, cinnamon and walnuts
~ Place THIS mixture in a shallow pie dish or baking dish (about 8 or 9 in) and shuffle it around so its evenly distributed
~ Set this aside and let the crumble begin!
Crumble Directions
~ Mix together the flour, cinnamon and sugar (or sweetener) in a bowl and set aside
~Place the butter in the bowl and cut it into pieces. Use your fingers or a butter knife to work it into the mixture until it is a breadcrumb like consistency
~ Finally, add the oats in the breadcrumb-like mixture and fold it all in with a spoon (its ok, you can try a bite I wont tell )
To finish
~Slowly dump out the crumble mixture over the already dished apple mixture and make sure everything is evenly coated in the dish
~Bake at 250 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the top begins to turn golden brown till top light brown and the apples are nice and soft
~Allow to cool or dig right in!!! Serve with fat free cool whip or low fat ice cream!

Jazzed Up Baked Apples
Ingredients
1 apple (I like honey crisp or Pink Lady for this recipe!)
Lots of cinnamon
2 packets Truvia or 1 tbsp brown sugar
Quick spray of butter spray
Juice of half an orange
Watahhh (yup I am from Boston!)

-Wash, core and cut the apple in quarters (4 pieces) and place in a baking dish
-Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a separate dish
-Give the ‘quick spray’ to the apples with butter spray
-Place the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the apples.
-Squeeze the juice of ½ an orange over it to Jazz it up
-Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes and EAT! Yummmmmm

Appleicious Turkey Burgers
Once you try these, you will NOT go back to the boring ole’ turkey burger recipe you are used to! The apples add a delicious tart crunch AND add a fiber punch!

Serves 4

1 lb lean ground Turkey
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1-2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup ground up oats (throw ‘em in the food processor/magic bullet
1 egg white or ¼ c liquid egg whites
1 diced up apple

Combine everything but the apple in a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon (or fingers!)
Add the diced up apple at the end and fold it into the turkey mixture
Form even sized patties to your liking
Throw these babies on the grill and cook about 5-7 minutes each side or until fully cooked throughout!

These burgers have SO much flavor, I like them the way they are, but feel free to add all the fixing’s you would like!

Baked Apple Oats!

Serves 1

· 1 apple diced up into bite sized pieces (I like Gala or Honey crisp for this recipe!)
· squeeze of lemon juice
· ½ C oats
· 1 C water
· ¼ c skim, almond or soy milk
· 1 egg white
· 1/2 tsp baking powder
· 1 tsp vanilla extract
· cinnamon to taste
· 2 packets truvia, splenda or 1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions
· Preheat oven to 400 degrees
· Combine the oats, baking powder, and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside
· In a separate bowl, mix together milk, egg, and sugar.
· Combine the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients
· Place in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes
—after 20 minutes, throw in the diced apples and continue baking another 20 minutes—–
*** TIP I like to broil it the last minute or 2 so the top gets golden brown!

———————————-

Why I love Apples??

They are versatile
They cook beautifully in recipes
There are over 30 varieties so you never get bored!
Sweet? Tart? There’s an apple for your mood!
They are full of fiber
Only about 100 calories a piece!
They are AWESOME to travel with and wont get smushed in your bag!

My favorites

Pink Lady
These are my #1 favorite apple! The skin is light red, almost a pink, hence the name “Pink Lady” These ladys are very firm and crisp and perfect for taking a big ole’ bite out of! The flavor is a bit more acidic than say, a fuji, but they are SO good and easy on the eyes J

Honey Crisp
These guys are crisp and juicy and always on the bigger side—NOW we’re talkin’. They have a aromatic flavor and sweet as pie! I like these at room temperature

Gala
These apples are a bit smaller in size and usually red with some green tints on the skin. The skin itself is very thin and tasty I might add. The flavor of gala’s are sweet and mild and incredibly crisp! These are great in the baked apple oatmeal!

Fuji
These are medium sized and very sweet, just like biting into candy J They are a bit on the dense side and have a juicy flesh bursting with flavor. I love these diced up on salads or with a side of all natural PB