Awesome Ways to Eat Apples this Autumn

Happy, happy Friday!

So in case I haven’t told you before, I’m obsessed with fruit. Every type of berry, banana, melon, kiwi, peaches… and the list of fruit that I can’t get enough of goes on and on! Fruit is sweet, it’s a natural whole food, and it can easily be incorporated into a diet in endless ways.

Topping the list of my favorite fruits is the illustrious apple. In my household apples disappear quickly. I buy probably a dozen of them every time I make a food store trip, which you think would last for at least a bit with only two people in my house, but they don’t. In fact, I’d love to be eating an apple at this very moment, but we unfortunately ran out yesterday. Each of us eats at least an apple a day. But hey, I’m not complaining, because you know what they say… An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Just why do we say that? Because apples contain lots of goodness, including:

• Pectin – a soluble fiber that helps maintain good health in the digestive system and lowers bad cholesterol
• Vitamin C – we all know about this immunity boosting vitamin!
• Phytonutrients – which fight damage from free radicals, regulate blood sugar, and lower the risk of serious common diseases

Even though I eat apples year-round, they’re on my mind more now that we’re getting into quintessential apple picking season here in the U.S. (You better believe that I will be picking apples this month… once the weather drops below 85!) Today I’m sharing my favorite ways to make apples a part of my meals on a daily basis. Let’s get to it!

Fruit & protein bar bowls – Oh how I love to eat variations of bowls full of chopped apple, banana, other fruit that’s in season, a broken up protein bar, Greek yogurt, granola/cereal and nut butter.

Green juice – I make green juice a few times a week, and every time I break out my juicer, apples are involved. They’re my favorite fruit to sweeten up veggie juices nicely!

With nut butter & cinnamon – I recently talked about my nut butter obsession,  so it’s obvious that apple with peanut/cashew/almond butter made my list. Plus I’m equally obsessed with putting cinnamon on everything. It’s a great, healthy snack, plus the fat from nut butters keeps me fuller longer.

Side note: My hubby had never heard of people eating apples with peanut butter before dating me… What in the world?!

Apple sandwiches – Building on the idea of apples with peanut butter is apple sandwiches, which includes the addition of dried cherries and granola sandwiched between apple slices. You can check out the recipe with exact ingredient measurements I use here.

Side note: Earlier today I made my first appearance on the FitFluential blog with my sharing of this recipe!

Apple chips –  One of my favorite ways to eat apples in autumn is to bake em for dessert. I just thinly slice an apple, sprinkle the slices with a cinnamon/sugar mixture, coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, and bake them until lightly browned on each side. They’re so simple and delicious for a sweet tooth fix!

Tell me… Are you an apple fan? Any plans for apple picking this fall? What’s your favorite fruit?