Glorious Apples

Health Benefits:

Apples are full of antioxidants, which helps your body fight off a whole range of disease and may even help you look younger. Here’s some reasons to start munching on a apple:

• Studies even show they help kids with asthma! Asthmatic children who drink apple juice every day suffer from less wheezing.
• Another study showed that children born to women who eat a lot of apples during pregnancy have lower rates of asthma than children whose mothers ate few apples.
• *Don’t peel. Quercetin is found only in the apple skin. The skin also contains more antioxidants and fibre than the flesh.

Pick Your Own

Apple picking can be a fun fall family event. Here are some tips:

• The best tasting apples are firm and free of bruising.
• The apples on the outer edges of the tree ripen first. If it’s early in the season, pick these ones. Later in the season pick form the inner branches.
• Be gentle. To pick the apple, lift the apple upwards and give a sharp twist.
• Place the apples carefully into your basket to prevent bruising.

Apple Storage

• Don’t wash apples until you are ready to use them. This keeps them fresher longer.
• Store in a cool basement or fruit cellar. You can also put them in plastic bags and store them in your refrigerator’s crisper for up to 6 weeks. But keep them away from strong-odour foods because they will absorb the taste.
• Don’t store apples next to potatoes. As potatoes age they release a compound that accelerates apple spoilage.

Crock Pot Applesauce

So delicious and the smell in your home while it’s cooking is heavenly.

-8 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
-juice from 1 lemon
-1 tsp cinnamon
-2 tsp vanilla
-1 cup brown sugar
-1/3 cup water

Directions:
Put all the ingredients into your slowcooker and cook on medium for 4 to 6 hours. Once they’re tender you can mash them with a potato masher. Enjoy!

The 100 Mile Diet

In these hyper-globalized times is it possible to live off food only grown within a 100 mile radius? Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, a Canadian couple from Vancouver, took a year of their lives and did just that. Now their best selling book has sparked lots of thought and is changing the way we choose what to eat.

Their journey began when they learned that the average ingredient in a North American meal travels 1,500 miles before it gets to us. They wanted to reduce dependence on the fossil fuels sucked up by the conventional food system, thus began the 100 Mile Diet. It struck a chord and attracted media and public interest around the globe.

Alisa’s and James personal experiment has evolved into a movement. Now eating locally grown food is hugely popular. People have embraced the idea of a healthier diet, supporting local farmers and reducing the amount of pollution created by carting food all over the world.

Choosing Your Chicken.

Free Range: What does this really mean. Well actually not much. In Canada this term has not been legally defined. It implies that the livestock are roaming outside, grazing and foraging. It could mean that occasionally they’re let out of their coop.

Free-run: means chickens are raised in climate-controlled barns where they are free to roam and have access to water and feed

Hormones and Steroids: Using these on the poultry production has been illegal in Canada for over 30 years.

Antibiotics: There has been concern that the use of antibiotics on livestock is creating antibiotic resistance when people need them to fight illness. In Canada it is legal for farmers to use antibiotics. Farmers do so to prevent disease, illness, cross-contamination or anything that would put the Canadian chicken supply at risk.

Antibiotic free or raised without antibiotics: Chickens were not treated prophylactically with antibiotics

Vegetarian grain fed: The bird was not fed animal by-products

Certified Organic: No use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers in the growing of the animals’ feed, and all feed must be 100% organic; No use of drugs (such as antibiotics); No use of animal by-products for feed; Treating animals humanely. Definition supplied by Pro-Cert Organic Systems Ltd. (OCPP) is Canada’s foremost national certifier of organic food products.

Ontario Corn

Most of the corn grown in Canada is grown in Ontario and Quebec. Freshly picked corn is a delightful addition to your dinner, but finding fresh corn can sometimes be tricky.

Choosing Corn: Look for corn that has bright green and moist husks. Look for corn with plump kernels, not ones that are dry and shriveled.

Storing: Corn is sweetest right when you bring it home. It starts to lose its natural sugar soon after it has been picked. If you must store it, put it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to three days.

To boil: Remove husk and silk. Put cold water and corn in a pot. Heat on high on stove. Once pot starts to boil, corn is done. (More mature corn sometimes takes a bit longer) Be sure not to over cook as corn gets tough.

Some people add a tablespoon or two of sugar to the water to add sweetness. Never add salt to the water because this will make the corn tough.

To Grill:

1. Leave the husks and silks on the ears for best grilling results; this protects the kernels from getting charred.
2. You can also pre-soak the ears if you want but it is not necessary.
3. Cook from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on the temperature of your grill and the age of corn. Turn them regularly while they grill!

Did you know? Some varieties of corn are grown just for popcorn. These special kernels pop because they contain a small amount of water in the centre. When the kernels get heated, the water causes pressure to build up and the kernel explodes.