Dried Apples

                                       

Got Apples? Most dried fruits have sugar added to them and sulfites to prevent browning.  If you have a dehydrator (if you don't see directions below) in your house, you can make your own delicious apples easily without added all the extras you don't want to consume.  So go ahead, pick or buy in large quantity right now and you'll be so excited in January to munch on these!

Instructions For Drying Apples:

1. Pour 1 cup of orange juice and 4 cups of water into a bowl.
2. Peel and slice apples (this process is much faster if you have one of these apple peelers).  If not-be sure to slice apples very thin (or they'll take forever to dry)
   
3. Place apple slices into the bowl with the juice mixer.  The citric acid in the orange juice will treat the apples to prevent browning (the same thing sulfites do) while providing a boost of Vitamin C!
4. Let soak for 2-3 minutes
   
5. Place into a dehydrator (we use a Nesco-check out our favorite things page) at 135 degrees for about 7 hours.  If you don't have a dehydrator, put your oven at its lowest setting, which on ours is 140 degrees.  Check often, since this will be a more concentrated heat that provided in a dehydrator.
6. Enjoy!
   

   

   We store ours in canning jars and vacuum sealed bags

Nutritional Benefits of Apples:

High in fiber soluble fiber helps to improve heart health by lowering cholesterol levels in the blood.  In 1 small apple there is 17% of your daily fiber
High in Vitamin C, a vitamin that aids in healing and disease prevention (anti-oxidant),  1 small apple provides 14% of Vitamin C needs

Minestrone Soup

Looking for a low fat soup, high in vitamins and fiber? This soup is made without any sautéing, which eliminates any added fats, and is made with water as a base, so is a vegan soup as well! This is a great way to experiment with any veggie, because there isn't one that you couldn't throw in.  Visit the farmers market *(or harvest what's left in your garden) and throw it all in a pot.  The sweetness of your fresh veggies will blend together to make a delicious and nutritious brew.  We have added chickpeas for protein (which aides in healing and rebuilding damages tissues), but you can omit these if you want a completely fat free soup. Feel free to double and freeze this.  This and all other soups, freeze great!

Minestrone Soup 

Ingredients (this recipe made a large stock pot, abt 4-5 quarts) :

• 1.5 cups of chopped onions
• 3 cups of carrots
• 1 cup of mushrooms
• 1 cup of celery
• 5 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1.5 cups chopped broccoli or cauliflower (or a mix of both)
• 1 cup of peppers (can make them banana peppers if you like the heat, but reduce amount)
• 2 cups chopped greens or cabbage 
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper (or more to taste)
• 8 cups of water
• 1 tbsp garlic, chopped 
    
  
  

Instructions:

1. Add carrots, onions, celery, and mushrooms to pot, along with about 3 tbsp water, sauté
   
2. Add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking.
3. Add rest of ingredients, except if using fresh greens instead of cabbage.  Add greens right at the end of cooking process to maintain vitamins. The same is true for the garlic. 
4. Cook soup for about 20 minutes.
5. Soup can be partially puréed with a stick blender, or remove some of soup and place into a blender and return to pot, to create a thicker soup
6. Serve sprinkled with a little bit of Parmesan cheese and a salad for a great meal!

Nutritional Benefits:

Virtually No fat (1g in entire recipe): heart healthy and great for diabetics

Packed with fiber and vitamins 

Tomatoes: High in Lycopene, an anti-oxidant that prevents cancer
Peppers: High in Vitamin C, promotes healing and disease prevention (199% of daily needs!-1 cup has more than 2x's the amounts of an orange)

Carrots: High in fiber, high in Vitamin A: beta carotene, which is an anti-oxidant that prevents cancer, healthy immune system and promotes cell growth/tissue repair (1 cup has 308% of your daily Vitamin A needs)
Cabbage: 1 cup contains: 67% of daily Vitamin K and 43% of Vitamin K, high in anti-oxidants, cabbage helps to decrease inflammation, Red cabbage is much high in anti-oxidants than green cabbage (so if you want to replace all the cabbage with red, feel free!)

Broccoli: high in vitamin A and K, broccoli can aid in absorption of vitamin D, and is anti-inflammatory.

Chick peas: high in protein, a nutrient essential for healing and repairing damaged tissues, 1 cup=12 grams, they're also high in potassium, 954 mg in 1 cup with only 1g of fat and 14g of fiber!

Garlic: Anti-inflammatory and aids in blood circulation/cardiovascular health