Repurposing Apples

I think I got a bummer bag of apples, and the tragic thing is they are Pink Ladies, my favorites. Even with copious amounts of peanut butter they just were not palatable in raw form. So I did the mature thing and ignored the bag in my crisper. From their cozy, undisturbed location, they have taunted me on a daily basis.

It finally dawned on me today to repurpose the apples and baked apples came to mind. Thanks to the Internet I learned that a melon-baller is just the thing to use to core them. Stuff them with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and add a splash of apple juice in the pan. Then cover, bake and enjoy!! And enjoy we did!!

they look better in person, not so washed out

Food has a much different role in my life now. Three years ago, in my pre-triathlon days, I ate horribly and had no interest in food preparation. I used to wish my kids could eat some kind of processed "kid chow" like the pets do. Just scoop it into a bowl and ring the dinner bell! A lot of food was wasted. The reasons things changed:

1. I got a rudimentary understanding of applied nutrition thanks to my then-trainer Jake.
2. I experienced how what I ate affected how I felt and performed. I felt like crap when I ate like crap. I felt super when I ate super foods. I want to feel my best when I train and race.
3. I taught in an Earth Sustainability course series as part of an interdisciplinary group of faculty and by learning about food systems, I learned that all food is not created equal. An egg is not an egg is not an egg.  Books like Ominvore's Dilemma (Pollan) and field trips to Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm contrasted sustainable farming methods with the ugly side of industrial food production.

Three years ago these apples would have remained in the crisper till they rotted and I tossed them. I have too much reverence for food to do that now. I know what these organic apples draw from the soil, the clean water they require, and labor needed to harvest them.