DISCLAIMER:

live with physical challenges.
I am NOT a DOCTOR!!! I don't even play one on TV!!! It is my goal to live a more healthy lifestyle. Living well and being happy is what this blog is all about.

"Nothing,' wrote Tolstoy, 'can make our life, or the lives of other people, more
beautiful than perpetual kindness."

- Gretchen Rubin




I write about my own experiences and what works (or does not) for me. Nothing I write is to be taken as medical advice.

Only your health care provider, personal physician,Disclaimer:
I am not a doctor - I don't even play one on TV! This
or pharmacist can provide you with advice on what is safe and effective for your unique needs.








Thursday, September 26, 2013

A Warm Welcome to Apples


With so many varieties to choose from, apples offer such a powerful nutritional punch that they are worth talking about!  Many times people overlook the common apple in favor of more exotic fruits (usually more expensive fruits as well).  I challenge you to give the humble apple another chance at the number one spot in your kitchen.

I'm the first to admit that I am an apple-holic!  What Kryptonite is for Super Man, Apples are for me!  I love apples so much because they have done so much for me.  They provide much needed fiber to my diet and the pectin in apples keep my skin clear and blemish-free.  I confess - I do eat an apple a day.  They have helped me shed 80 pounds.  I will also state for the record - that apple a day really has kept the doctor away.  That's a very good thing! 

I want to honor my favorite food today with some fun facts that you may or may not know.  Some of this stuff is relevant and some of it is - well, trivial - so the only time you would need to know it is when playing Apple Trivia.  One never knows when the opportunity may arise!  Well, here goes...

The Adam's apple is so-called because of a popular idea that it was created when the forbidden fruit got stuck in Adam's throat when he swallowed it.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no mention of an apple as the forbidden fruit in the Bible. It is referred to as "fruit from the Tree of Knowledge" with no specification as to which kind of fruit. It was Hugo Van Der Goes who first implicated the apple as the forbidden fruit in his 1470 A.D. painting, The Fall of Man. After that, it became popular to depict the apple as the forbidden fruit.

Johnny Appleseed was the nickname for John Chapman, a kind and generous American pioneer born in 1774 who planted apple seeds in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

Apple trees don't bear their first fruit until they are four or five years old.

Half the United States apple crop is turned into apple products like applesauce and apple juice.

The only apple native to North America is the crabapple.

Red Delicious is the most popular and most-produced apple in the United States. Golden Delicious is the second most popular.

The apple is the official state fruit of Washington, New York, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.

Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and California are the top 5 apple-producing states in the U.S. In all, 36 states produce apples commercially.

The largest apple ever picked weighed three pounds, two ounces.

One medium apple contains about 80 calories.

The word apple comes from the Old English aeppel.

The Celtic word for apple is abhall.

Quercetin is found only in the apple skin. The skin also contains more antioxidants and fiber than the flesh.
 
China produces more apples than any other country.

The average person eats 65 apples per year.

Apples float because 25% of their volume is air.

*Source:  Health Diaries Published on November 1, 2007

What is your favorite kind of apple?  My first choice is a juicy Golden Delicious.  If I can't get that, then a Red Delicious will do.  I heard a popular coach say once, "If you want to know if you are really hungry, ask yourself if you are hungry enough to eat an apple.  If the answer is yes - then go eat an apple.  If the answer is no - go find something else to do because you are not really hungry!"

It's really true, isn't it?  I keep apples in our house all the time - and I do ask myself that question when I wonder into the kitchen on a food-hunting expedition.  Sometimes I have had to walk back out of the kitchen empty-handed because I was not hungry enough to eat an apple!  Smart person, that coach! 

Well, I hope you have enjoyed my little tribute to the forgotten fruit - the humble apple.  I give you a warm welcome into my kitchen, sweet Golden Delicious apples!  

Apples are Awesome!

http://youtu.be/Kc0Zf352hrE 

 
Today is JOHNNY APPLESEED DAY!!!!!!!!!!!! 

  • Take a field trip to an apple orchard.
  • Learn about the color red.
  • Learn about the circle shape.
  • Check out different varieties of apples. Taste the apples and tell which ones you like best.
  • Learn about different products made from apples.
  • Make some Home-Made Applesauce.