Apple Week!

I am a woman of themes. I don't know why - but I always have theme parties in the back of my head. Sadly, most of these theme dreams are never realized (though I did get to do a little Harry Potter themed party once!) but it has still stuck with me.

So I thought - why not have a theme for new recipes? What's on sale at the store - and what can I make from that?

This week: the simple apple!

I already discussed many of the benefits of this little guy in an earlier post with the Winter Salad; but it's been a while, so I thought I'd refresh a few points and share a few ideas!

The apple - a good source of vitamin C, antioxidants, insoluble and soluble fiber, and flavonoids - if you eat that skin!

The University of Illinois has a page on some fun facts about apple. My favorites:

*The crabapple is the only apple native to North America (yay crabapple! These grow near my apartment, and every spring, people make sure to avoid the one parking spot under that tree as those mushy apples topple down, leaving your car looking like a poor, helpless victim!)

*2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States (And yet, I feel like I only see 4 or 5 different types in my store...)

*The pilgrims planted the first United States apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

*In colonial time, apples were called winter banana or melt-in-the-mouth

Hmmm... I saw no mention of Johnny Appleseed....

Ah well - on to the recipes!

The first recipe I found was for an apple-carrot "cake" (though I would describe it more as a dough; I should try dehydrating it!) It called for carrot and apple pulp which meant it was time to pull out the juicer!!

So, I guess, technically, the first recipe we made from the apple was fresh apple juice (yum, yum, yum, and YUM! SO much better than store-bough processed stuff!!) And then we had to juice the carrot to get the pulp, so that added an interesting tang of apple-carrot juice. Still delicious! Dave has asked to make fresh juice a bigger part of our diet. Sure thing! So I just need to find some more recipes that use the pulp - I hate the idea of just throwing that away! (...unless I started composting at some point.)

So, the next recipe was apple and carrot pulp mixed with blended raisins, walnuts, and cinnamon. The recipe also called for shredded coconut, but the store was out :( I think it could add a good texture to the "cake." Instead, I topped it with more raisins and walnuts. Some oats may have been good too!

It will need some tweaking, but all in all, not bad! The taste is good - just want to work on the texture to make it a little drier, and hold together better.

Veggies, fruit, and nuts; dairy free, gluten free... All natural, all health! So I ate some for breakfast this morning :) Cake for breakfast - what a good life!

~Katie

Other recipes planned this week: Sauteed apples; apple cabbage slaw, and baked apples!