Yesterday, I put on my apple pickin’ hat, my apple pickin’ boots and my apple pickin’ shades and went to pick some pumpkins. Okay, I’m just screwing with you, I actually picked some apples. To be precise, PastaQueen picked a peck of apples at the Anderson Orchards near Mooresville. (I also want to note that I still have both of my legs, although the photo above makes it look like I only have one. I swear I have not become so desperate to lose weight that I have cut off a limb.)

Anderson Orchards is located southwest of Indianapolis. It’s tucked away a few miles off of I-70 and accessible via twisty country roads. My friend Jenny gathered a group of her friends and we traveled to the orchards on a bright and cool sunny day, perfect weather for picking. We parked in a gravel parking lot in front of the orchard and walked to the gravel road that runs through the middle of the orchard.

A man there was handing out plastic bags that were labeled [...]

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Mmmm, I did some experimental cooking in the kitchen yesterday and came up with a fairly healthy version of cinnamon apples. My brother bought us Boston Market when we visited his new apartment last week and it killed me that I couldn’t have the cinnamon apples as they are truly divine. Actually, the only sides I could get were the steamed veggies and green beans. <sigh> It’ll be nice when I only have to maintain my weight and not lose it because I’ll be able to have potatoes and sugar again, but that is still a year away.

So, as I was saying, there is a recipe in the South Beach Cookbook for an almond apple souffle. I just did that part for the apples and replaced the almond extract with cinnamon sprinkles. It was soooo good. I even dolloped some whip cream on top. My one concern is that the apples probably have less fiber because they are peeled. Next time I might try making them with peel in tact and see what happens. Recipe [...]

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