Troubled Apple Season 2012

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I use apples constantly, either for smoothies as the primary sweetener (which they are perfect for, especially the red delicious variety) and as a favorite weekday “dessert” food, occasionally topped with just a touch of cinnamon.

Except for lately.

My grocery store has been completely without organic apples for likely three months now, which is a very long stretch.  They keep a very long stock of apples, exactly how they are stored I’m not sure, but they hold up exceedingly well in whatever ways their storage works, minimal to no flavor sacrifice that I am aware of.

There remains plenty of the pesticide-poisoned, waxed apples, but none of the healthier organic ones.

I found out that our season in the northeast was hit hard enough that we will be shipping in most of our apples from Wisconsin this year, without any shortage concerns.

Thing is, apples are such a part of our Fall in the northeast, that not having any local apples available will be a real bummer.  Kinda takes a touch of the fun of the season out of the mix when we will not have much of any of our own harvest.  We of course will have some, just not in comparison to other years. 

Apples are an asset to any whole-food nutrition plan, the nutrient content of which is rich and when eaten whole, can be eaten by those in the maintenance phase of my program quite freely.  I’m working on a modified “apple sauce” of sorts that I will be trying to put together this Fall with my awesome Ninja blender that I’ve featured elsewhere, and I look forward to it as an occasional “cheat.”  I may look for organic pears if available or another fruit to blend it with to experiment with flavors without over-sweetening it naturally. 

We’ll see what this experimenting, non-competent, self-designated “Shef” comes up with….;)

Love, Happiness, Health and Peace……………Tim

 

Cherry Season Coming to an End…Bummer.

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One of my favorite fruits!  The season does not last long, but this year it seems Washington (state) has been able to pump out a nice additional supply’s worth to the country, and the quality has even come back with the plump, “popping” varieties that are so delish.

Was awesome to see the organic supply keep mostly in tandem with the regular, pesticide-laden ones.  Although the organic supply is always smaller here, there was almost always enough and only on occasion were they not bought up before they began to go bad.  The past week or two, they did jack up the price by a dollar…a full six dollars for the pound’s worth of them.

But the costs need to be kept in perspective.  Yes, the organic ones are giving a much smaller quantity over the others and for higher cost.  But cherries are also one of the most pesticide-dense fruits (I’m sure placing in the top ten most pesticide-coated) and the potential dangers and toxicity…along with what you do get for the cost…is well worth it to me.  The six dollars worth becomes equatable to me to an expensive “dessert,” since I use fruit as a timely natural “cheat” food and carb provider for workouts (see my program for more details on how to use fruit most effective via the Home tab above).

Much of my diet revolves around my fruit intake.  In other words, I am one of the many who has something of a “sweet tooth,” but I’ve been fortunate to not have it in extremes.  I never liked pastries, cakes, or many cookies, and almost no donuts.  But I did have other fixations like ice cream and puddings, and some of the more elaborate fancy cakes, cheese cake, etc.

I have not eaten any of the above since the holidays of last year.  Not even ice cream, which was my weekend go-to cheat food.  I wanted to experiment with a little more raw foods in my diet over a long haul, and have used fruits as my cheat food, AND, have found a way to use them in a really fun and satisfying way.

I will be elaborating more on this in my new program over at Over40andRipped.com and be sharing it with the FLFL community as well.  It’s really exciting and fun stuff.  🙂

Love, Happiness, Health and Peace…………..Tim