Practical food tips for parents from a RD and mom of three

Monday, September 20, 2010

Apples

Fall is apple season here in New England. Apples are on sale at the grocery store, available as part of my CSA farm share, and abundant for picking at several local farms. We have a big bowl of apples on the counter so we can all enjoy this sweet fruit.

Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? Apples contain fiber – both soluble fiber that can lower cholesterol and insoluble fiber to aid digestion. Apples also contain quercetin, a powerful antioxidant. A medium-sized apple only contains about 80 calories but can be a filling snack.

We can't keep apples in the house long around here. We love to eat them plain, sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar, smeared with peanut butter, or baked into a tasty treat. I posted a recipe for delicious maple-apple muffins last week. Here is a simple apple recipe, applesauce.

I don't think this even qualifies as a recipe... it's pretty vague. I just wanted to let you know that homemade applesauce is easy to make.


Homemade Applesauce

Step 1: Peel, core, and chop apples (whatever amount you have on hand) into large chunks.

Step 2: Put the apples and a bit of water in a saucepan. Today I made applesauce using 7 apples and about ¼ cup of water.

Step 3: Cover the pan and heat the apples/water on medium until the apples are soft enough to mash. This takes a different amount of time for different varieties of apples. I used McIntosh apples and they took 20 minutes to soften.

Step 4: Use a potato masher to mash the apples to a chunky applesauce. Use a blender or food processor for a smoother puree. Cool and enjoy.

Today's tip: Make your own applesauce – it's easy, natural, and delicious.

1 comment:

  1. I will say that I got my hands on a food mill (old school, hand crank and all) so I just quartered them, took out the core roughly, left the skin on and put a dash of water in before putting them on to boil. I added the juice of half a lemon and cinnamon (love the stuff so I went a little heavy) and then ran it all through the mill. The skin on gave it great color and I hope gave it a few extra bits of fiber. Just an idea! OH! And it was the smoothest ever and like a dessert or something. HEAVEN. No sugar at all.

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