I'm also going to share a few nutrition facts for apples so you'll know why Mom or Grandmom says to eat several servings of fruit every day! (Be sure to check out my recipe for apple cake with caramel whiskey sauce too!) There's so many wonderful things to do with apples!
Now's the time to stop by your local farm stand or farmer's market for fresh fall produce!
We've been taught in health or home economics classes that the food pyramid tells us to get a certain number of servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But, all fruits are not created equal. They may all have a benefit for our health but not necessarily the same benefits. What’s inside of these foods determines how they will impact our health.
Apple Pandowdy
Nutrition Value in the Apple
Apples make a good overall showing in the healthy fruit category. They're small enough to carry along with you wherever you go and don’t bruise as easily as other fruits with softer flesh. Apples come in several varieties that have been bred for certain features.
If you're a baker who loves Sourdough recipes, try this wonderful Sourdough Apple Cake recipe!
They sound like champion racehorses, but really they're the champions of the fruit world. If you look a bit closer, you’ll see that that crisp, white flesh is hiding a fat attacker—fiber. Insoluble fiber isn't absorbed by the body but removed. As it passes through our digestive system, it binds to fat molecules and takes them out with it.
Apples also contain plenty of Vitamin C. This vitamin plays an important role in our body. Vitamin C is needed for essential brain functions and to maintain the structure of blood vessels and bones in the body. The majority of our daily dose can come from eating an apple or two. With the incidents of osteoporosis in older women, consuming a healthy amount of Vitamin C can prevent this condition from happening to you.
Apples also contain antioxidants. Vitamin C is an antioxidant but they also contain some that are unique to apples. One is phloridzin. Researchers have found that this antioxidant called a flavonoid helps to reduce bone loss in women going through menopause.
Pectin found in apples works to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood. Bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol, or lousy cholesterol as my doctor likes to call it) increases the chance of plaque formations in the vessels. This can lead to heart attacks or strokes. In combination with antioxidants, the amount of LDL is reduced and the vessels maintain their elasticity and prevent the clumping of platelets.
Quercetin is another antioxidant compound found in apples. Researchers believe that it functions to prevent certain diseases and cancers along with limiting the damage caused by free radicals in the body. Free radicals cause all sorts of problems as we age and antioxidants work to stop that damage and restore our bodies to a healthy state.
Apples contain no cholesterol, no fat, and very little sodium. Apples are low in calories and high in fiber. When choosing a snack or a healthy addition to recipes, look no further than your local farmers market or pick-your-own apple orchard.
Easy Kitchen cleaning with reusable Handmade Cotton Dish Cloths from Moomettes Crochet
Apple Pandowdy Recipe
white bread
melted butter
4 large green cooking apples
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Line the bottom and sides of a baking dish or cast iron skillet with fingers of bread (crusts removed) which have been dipped in melted butter.
Fill the center with the apples, peeled, cored, and sliced.
Sprinkle the apples with a mixture of the sugar and cinnamon.
Add 1/2 cup of water and cover the top with a layer of well buttered fingers of bread.
Sprinkle top with additional sugar.
Cover and bake 1 hour in a 350 degree oven.
Serve hot with whipped cream.
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© Frugal New England Kitchen
Source: Yankee Magazine's Favorite New England Recipes