Limit Yourself

Painting by yamiyoujitsu

Any of you who are pregnant shouldn't be eating 5 apples a day:

Fruit Juice, Apples Linked To Fetus Harm

Alright, so the article is really about overall fructose intake, not just apples, but does anybody really have to be told to avoid that many apples in one day?  Who would do that?

Concentrate On Concentrate

I don't think this technically applies directly to any of us as we're not Vermonters (right?) but this commentary by Sarwar Kashmeri is an interesting take on local economies, the general mindset of food processing/consumption and of course involves apples or I wouldn't be mentioning it: Kashmeri: Concentrate On Apples

Right up your local alley, k.ry. And for the record, despite my occasional fascination with the Grāpple® and other such novelties I like to go local when I can also.

Hey Fellas ...

For those of you who don't work with me, I like to keep boxes of cereal at work. I have a bowl and a spoon there and bring some milk in a Thermos® and have my most important meal of the day right at my desk. I guess eating breakfast at home would be more relaxing and perhaps more "normal" but that would mean getting up earlier and I think we can all agree that the idea of that routine is less than ideal.

Anyway, one of my current breakfast cereal options is Kellogg's® Apple Jacks®. Healthy and mature, I know! Before you get all riled up, despite containing dried apples and apple juice concentrate I am not counting Apple Jacks towards my Apple Challenge consumption count.

I really don't know what any of this rambling has to do with anything really, but I liked this frame off the Apple™ and CinnaMon™ comic on the back of the box.  Just a little confidence building shout from Apple™ to his non-personificationized apple friends (and football -- part of the "What's Wrong With This Picture?" game on the box):

Looking good indeed.

Apple Hunger Test

Not much apple blogging as of late, but not to worry, we're still here.

I ran across an article from the Yuma Sun that has some apple health facts and a little trick for figuring out whether you are actually hungry or not (in case you are trying to avoid eating crap): Guaranteed 'Apple a Day' Diet

Pricing Out Apples

The apple challenge has certainly made me more conscious about the price and availability of apples. I am a localvore, that is I really try to ONLY eat food that is grown or produced locally and none of that processed stuff that fills the grocery store shelves (ahem, artificial grape flavor added to apples, WJR). Anyway, it can prove to be challenging, especially when trying to find a great deal for delicious apples.

Fret not, Clevelanders, for I have the answer; Nature's Bin offers locally grown Ohio apples for $0.79 a lb! That is certainly the cheapest I have seen it and it is consistently at this price.

Eat on, fellow applers.

Economy Boost

I know we're pretty early in the year, and some of these stats were on the rise before 2011 even hit, but I'd still like to think we're contributing: Strong Sales For Washington Apples

You're welcome, Washington.

BAT - Bacon, Apple, Tomato

Last week I was discussing Apple Challenge with some co-workers and Bill's TAB/BAT sandwich. We were debating which acronym was better. Someone proposed a different kind of sandwich that can also be called a BAT - bacon, apple, and tomato! At first I thought this would be awful, but curiosity got the best of me, so I had to try it.

I used half of a stem tomato, half a jonagold apple, and 2 slices of bacon.

Verdict -- win! It was a little messy with the thick tomato and apple slices, making it difficult to keep everything together.

Still, it was a good combination of juicy, sweet, and a little bit of salty. I'll definitely try this again.