Apples: Never lost in the sauce!

I've had it with summer: Bring on the fall -- and its abundance of apples. Although I eat apples year-round -- even summer's mealy ones make it into my luncheon salads -- I crave the crisp, juicy apples that are now taking over the markets.

I only buy organic apples, which to me makes sense since apples always top the list of the dirtiest fruits and vegetables. The problem with organic apples is that they don't have the variety of conventional ones, but that's a small price to pay.

Apples are a great source of fiber, in addition to some vitamin C and the flavonoid quercetin, which has antioxidant properties.

At market, look for apples with no bruises, dents, scapes or soft spots. Once home, pop them in the refrigerator, where fresh apples will keep up to three months. Of course, for long storage periods, check them daily and discard any apples that are beginning to rot. You know what they say about one rotten apple.

At room temperature, apples should be OK for about a week. Again, check them daily. When my kids were small, I always kept a big basket on the counter, ready for eating. And it worked! Today, all three of my kids still love apples.

And they also love my applesauce.

I cut at least 10 McIntosh apples into quarters, and throw them into a pot, compelte with stems, skins and seeds. Place the pot on simmer, and cook until the apples are mushy and soft.

I use Macs because of the high-water content in the apples. No water needed for applesauce.

Once they are soft, I place them in a hand-cranked Foley food mill, which immediately turns the apples into sauce -- minus the skins, stems and seeds. But by doing it this way, you capture the fiber from the skins, which pumps up the nutritional value of the applesauce. Add some cinnamon and call it sauce!

Let's hear it for fiber!

I am always searching for new ways to add fiber to my diet. Fiber is the wonder substance: it keeps blood sugar levels even and helps in the fight against cancer and heart disease. And when you are dieting, it just might keep your pipes clean, if you get my drift.

I found a post on everydayhealth.com suggesting some fiber-rich foods we should all be eating. And since I love each one, I think I just might follow the advice.

1. Apple and their skin pack twice as much fiber as other common fruit. With the skin, there is 3.5g of fiber; peeled, there is only 1.7g. Here’s an idea if you don’t want to eat the skin: Eat two.
2. Artichokes contain 10g fiber and more potassium than a banana.
3. Avocado: so many of us avoid these gems because they are high in fat. But it’s monounsaturated fat, which is also found in olive oil and macadamias. It is also high in fiber – 11 to 17g per fruit – half a day’s worth of fiber.
4. Barley is packed with fiber throughout each kernel. A half-cup contains 4g of fiber, helps regulate cholesterol and keeps blood sugar levels even.
5. Beans: A half cup of navy beans packs 10g fiber; baked beans, lentils, black beans, pinto and garbanzo have between 7.5 and 9g.
6. Broccoli: 2g in 1 cup, plus 2g protein, 288 mg of potassium and 43 mg of calcium.
7. Oatmeal and high-fiber cereals have at least 5g fiber per serving. A great way to start the day.
8. Papaya: One cup has only 55 calories and 2.5 grams of fiber, plus nutrients such as potassium, calcium and vitamins C and A, and lots of digestive enzymes.
9. Berries -- especially raspberries – which has 64 calories per cup and 8g fiber. Berries also contain polyphenols and anthocyanins, powerful plant chemicals that help fight cancer, reduce inflammation, and ease the symptoms of arthritis.
10. Pumpkin: It's not only for Halloween. Each cup has only 49 calories and 2.5g fiber, in addition to 565 mg potassium and more than 2,400 mcg of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which help keep your eyes healthy and your vision sharp.

Super foods

The Web site Everyday Health just posted a list of a baker's dozen of the most powerful super foods. They admit that if you ask 10 nutritionists for their own lists, you will get 10 different lists. But this list, the site claims, is a good place to start.

I have to admit that I love lists. It might be my short attention span, but lists are easy to read and stick with me longer that something I read in paragraph form.

Because this post would be entirely too long if I listed all the foods, wrote about what www.everydayhealth.com had to say, and added my own thoughts, I have decided to publish the the list of foods today, and then for the next 13 weeks, I will focus on each one in Wednesday's Pick of the Week. I cannot wait to get to week 12 to write about my favorite food, red wine. I never looked at red wine as a favorite food. Now this is great news!

The list:

1. Avocados
2. Apples
3. Blueberries
4. Cabbage
5. Fish and fish oil
6. Garlic
7. Mushrooms
8. Almonds
9. Eggs
10. Flax seeds
11. Pomegranates
12. Red Wine
13. Dark chocolate