Apple Crisp

Apples are filling and satisfying, so if you are keen on losing the extra pounds, consuming an apple before a meal can keep the weight off.  The fruit’s soluble fiber shows the release of sugar into the bloodstream, enhancing feelings of satiety by up to 32%, so you eat less during meals.  Keep the skin on for extra nutrients.

Here’s another simply delicious way to enjoy the fruit.

Apple Crisp

Mix 3/4 cup of whole-wheat flour, 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/3 cup of brown sugar and sprinkle over 8 cut-up apples.  Bake in 375°F oven for 1 hour.  Top it with vanilla ice cream before serving , if desired.

Orange You Glad?

Orange help lower cholesterol levels.  Thanks to the fruit’s high supply of herperedin, it alleviates high blood pressure and reduce levels of LDL or bad cholesterol.

Italian Orange Cheesecake

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 box (11 oz.) mini brownie bites
• 1 orange, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 box (3 oz.) orange gelatin
• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

1)  In bowl of food processor, pulse brownie bites 2 minutes, or until finely ground.  Press brownie crumbs into bottom of 8″ springform pan.  Arrange orange slices around sides of pan.

2)  In bowl, pour 2/3 cup boiling water over gelatin.  Stir 2 minutes or until completely dissolved.  Let cool slightly; transfer to bowl of food processor.  Add cream cheese and ricotta cheese.  Pulse 2 minutes or until well blended.

3)  In bowl, whisk together gelatin-cheese mixture and whipped topping.  Spoon into prepared pan;  chill 3 hours, or until firm.  Garnish with whipped topping, berries, kiwifruit and mint, if desired.

Upset Tummy?

Quell it with figs.  This fruit contains benzaldehyde; a compound that’s shown to soothe tummy aches, alleviate constipation, heal stomach ulcers and kill gut parasites.  Here’s a simply delicious fig recipe from Jamie Oliver.

For the baked figs you will need:

• 24 figs, halved
• 2 clementines
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar

For the fig bruschetta you will need:

• 1 loaf of rustic bread, sliced
• hard or soft goat’s cheese
• a handful of walnuts
runny honey

To store you will need:

• 1 large jar runny honey

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 110ºC/ 225ºF/ gas ¼. Lay your figs, cut-side up, in a baking tray. Using a fine grater, zest your clementines over the figs then dust the figs with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar. My flavoured sugar is also great for this so if you’ve made a batch of that, feel free to use that instead.

Pop the figs in the oven to bake for 4 hours, checking on them every hour or so. When they come out of the oven you’ll have semi-dehydrated figs, which will be a bit like wine gums.

Fig bruschetta
Get yourself a few slices of nice warm bread, crumble over some lumps of cheese, and a few pieces of walnut then put a few fig halves and a drizzle of runny honey over the top to finish it off. I think the combination of salty goat’s cheese with these figs and a bit of honey is absolute heaven.

Figs in honey
You’ll be able to put any leftover figs to good use in all sorts of ways. A really nice way of using them up Christmas is to turn them into a bit of a gift by popping a stack of them in a sterilized jar, covering them completely with honey then sealing the jar with an airtight lid. They’ll be beautiful as part of a cheese platter, baked in a tart, a sticky toffee pud, or even thrown into a roasting tray with some pork or other meat for a bit of added sweetness. Give them to your mates when you go round to theirs for dinner. They’ll love getting something unique, especially when you explain all the different things they can do with them.

Eat Raisins

Another way to strengthen your bones is to eat a handful of raisins.  They are loaded with boron, a mineral that shuttles calcium into bone tissue.  Studies suggest eating a quarter of a cup daily could slow calcium loss to 50 percent, and trigger new bone growth in as little as three months.  Don’t like raisins?  Try dates, they’re loaded with boron, too.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

For this recipe you will need:

• 4  tablespoons (1/2 stick) margarine, softened
• 2  tablespoons heat-stable sugar substitute equal to 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4  cup egg substitute or 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 3/4  cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4  cup frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate (thawed)
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1  cup all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4  teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1-1/2  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1/3  cup raisins, chopped

Directions:

1)  Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2)  In large bowl, beat margarine and sweetener or sugar until creamy. Add egg substitute; beat well. Add applesauce, apple juice concentrate and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

3)  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

4)  Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until firm to the touch and light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

The Blue Jewels

Want to stay sharp for life?  Top cereal or yogurt with fresh blueberries or have a blueberry muffin.  Studies show that just half a cup every other day or so improves learning capacity, motor skills and memory.  Here’s a recipe I got from Dinnercraft.com.

Blueberry Buttermilk and Flax muffins

For the muffins you will need:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup oat bran
• 3/4 cup ground flax seed meal
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 cups blueberries, divided
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1)  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray.

2)  In a large mixing bowl, stir together flours, oat bran, flax seed meal, salt, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice  & baking powder. In another large mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and apple sauce.

3)  Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Stir until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter. Do not over-mix. Toss blueberries with the reserved tablespoon of dry ingredients. Fold 1-1/2 cups of the blueberries into muffin batter. Fill muffin tins with batter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of muffins, pressing down lightly.

4)  Bake 20-25 minutes until muffins are lightly browned.