Friday, October 25, 2013

I never get tired of cooking, even on my day off!


This lovely Fall morning I’m baking Granny Smith apples.  Oh the aroma in my kitchen!  My neighbors must be lovin it too!


I just pulled the baked apples out of the oven and had an interestingly different idea for them aside from simply eating baked apples in the traditional manner.   Imagine that!  (I love making things up – experimenting with food – food is my canvas).     I let the apples cool, then I put them in my VitaMix with ½ cup coconut milk and a cup purified water.  I blended  the concoction on high for a minute and poured it into a glass.  When I tasted how awesome this is, I didn’t let a moment go by without writing down my recipe to share with the world!  So, here’s “Baked Apple Smoothie”,  for two:

2 organic Granny Smith green apples
1” piece of fresh turmeric root, peeled, minced – optional
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon Splenda brown sugar – optional

Preheat oven to 350°

Use a potato peeler to peel apples, and drizzle them with a little fresh lemon juice, then slice apples in ½” slices.   Drizzle again with lemon juice.   Using a small ceramic baking dish (I used a 7” LeCreuset baking dish) place ½ the apple slices on bottom, sprinkle ½ the walnuts and ½ the cinnamon on top, then repeat with remaining apples, walnuts and cinnamon.  Pour a few tablespoons of either apple juice, coconut water or even purified water into the dish and place in oven for about ½ hour until the apples are soft but not mushy.  Allow to cool for ½ hour, if you can wait that long!

Next, put everything in your high-powered blender and add ½ cup coconut milk (I used the regular style that comes in a can, organic version) and 1 cup purified water, or coconut water.  Blend, drink, enjoy!

I had some leftover so I decided to pour the leftover 6 ounces into a plastic container with tight fitting lid and placed it in my freezer.  Now, when I want a sweet evening treat way healthier than ice cream, I now have “Baked Apple Smoothie Icy”  .