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March 8th, 2025

Blog, Breakfast, Dessert, Empowerment, Fruit, Fruit Toppings, How To & Tips

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Warm Apple Fruit Topping From Simple to Exciting Picture Book Directions

Warm simple to exciting apple fruit topping with link to picture book recipe directions

As mentioned in the first “Tip” you might be able to see in the banner shot above, “simple to exciting” is all about improvising on a base or foundational recipe to make it your own by adding or changing ingredients so that what you end up with suits your taste and/or your dietary needs?

If you’ve already checked out the base – and fully flavorful – warm apple fruit topping I posted last time, you’ll see that all I did to add flavor in the “simple to exciting” recipe was add blueberries and raisins.

Adding blueberries and raisins to apple fruit topping warming on the stove with link to picture book recipe

As always, those two additions are only suggestions. You can replace them – or add to them – however you like to make the recipe your own. The purpose of putting together and posting this “simple to exciting” recipe is to show directly how improvising works. And, really, aside from suggesting other ingredients to spark your imagination, the most important guidance in the base recipe and the “simple to exciting” recipe is the order in which to add ingredients to the pan, which, for the most part, is also no absolute golden rule. Yes, though it is better regarding texture to add firmer fruits, like apples, to the pan first before adding softer fruits, like berries, because softer fruits take less time to cook than firmer fruits, you certainly won’t ruin the recipe if you accidentally add one firmness of fruit before the other.

That said, please click this link or any picture on this page for the full warm apple fruit topping from simple to exciting picture book recipe – and have fun! Regarding fun,…

Pages of warm simple to exciting apple fruit topping with link to full picture book recipe directions

…here’s how I had it last night for dessert: microwave warmed with a crumbled piece of chocolate chip cookie, Greek yogurt and jam. Killer!

Apple fruit topping with blueberries and raisins with crumbled chocolate chip cookie piece, Greek yogurt and jam with link to full picture book warm apple topping from simple to exciting link.

Next post: Only you can empower yourself – from an entirely positive perspective!

March 1st, 2025

Blog, Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Fruit Toppings

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Easy to Make, Versatile Warm Apple Fruit Topping Picture Recipe

warm apple fruit topping in a serving bowl with links to picture book recipe directions

If you put your ear really close to the device you’re using to read this, you might hear the sound of screeching brakes. And rightly so.

Last post showed how to make a warm apple cranberry fruit topping. Nothing wrong with that recipe. The problem was me jumping ahead of the game – and including an ingredient, that outside of my freezer, is out of season. I should’ve started with the base recipe – with readily accessible ingredients – instead of asking you to improvise right off the bat.

Here is that base warm apple fruit topping recipe that requires these commonly found ingredients: apples, butter, fruit juice, vanilla extract, salt, jam, ground cinnamon.

Warm apple fruit topping ingredients links to picture book recipe directions showing how to make a warm apple fruit topping

Here is all you need for equipment: cutting board, frying pan, sharp knife, tablespoon and large spoon.

Equipment needed to make warm apple fruit topping with link to the picture book recipe

As mentioned in the first tip in the recipe, this topping can be used as a side dish or on hot or cold cereal, waffles, pancakes, French toast, yogurt, or ice cream. Imagination is your only limit!

Here’s how I used it the other day when I made and shot this recipe: as a side dish with pan cooked pork loin. I’d never done that before but what a fantastically flavorful sweet and savory combo…

Warm apple topping with pan cooked pork loin and link to the warm apple topping picture book recipe

…especially with a good shot of feta cheese. Killer!

Warm feta cheese topped apple topping with pan cooked pork loin and link to the warm apple topping picture book recipe

Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete picture book recipe.

Sample pages of warm apple fruit topping picture book recipe

Next up: how to add just a couple different ingredients to improvise on this recipe very easily – and fully flavorfully!

February 22nd, 2025

Blog, Breakfast, Fruit, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes

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Warm Apple Cranberry Fruit Topping Picture Book Recipe

This easy to make fruit topping tastes great and can be made with different fruit combinations to your taste.

Last group of posts showed how to make quick & easy salad dressings and then how to use them with just as easy to make, fully flavorful microwave warmed spinach & apple or spinach & pear salads.

Considering we still have a good dose of winter ahead of us, let’s stick with the warm fruit theme. And when it comes to the cold, there’s nothing much more comforting than the smell and rich flavor of freshly warmed apples and cinnamon.

And as the the first “Tip” in the recipe says, this fresh, fully flavorful warm apple cranberry fruit topping goes great right out of the pan or chilled on hot or cold cereal, waffles, pancakes, French toast, yogurt, or ice cream. Imagination is your only limit!

Regarding imagination, you’ll see an easy opportunity to improvise. When I shot the warm apple cranberry fruit topping you see here, cranberries were in season. I don’t think you’ll find cranberries in the store now. That means either blow right past the part of the recipe dealing with fresh cranberries and skip them entirely or substitute fresh cranberries with any available berry-type fruit like blueberries, raspberries or blackberries. Just note that if you use any of those berries, toss them in the pan after you’ve started to cook the apples as those berries are much more tender and require less cooking time than fresh cranberries.

Having said that, here’s what I used to make need to make the original recipe:

Here’s the equipment needed:

Equipment needed to make Warm Apple Cranberry Fruit Topping

Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete warm apple cranberry fruit topping picture book recipe.

Next post: an easy variation on this fruit topping. All easy, all flavorful!

June 12th, 2024

Blog, Fitness Food, Fitness/Health, Fruit

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Bananas Are Good Food!

I’m sure you’ve seen pop-up ads like this…
Weeping Banana

…that appear when you pull up a recipe or just about any resource regarding health, diet, or nutrition online. For some reason – and I haven’t yet found a single one that makes any sense – bananas have been given an unfairly deserved bad rap. On the flip-side, bananas are one of the most consumed foods in the world and the number one consumed fruit in the U.S. That alone is a good sign that common sense does sometimes – very appropriately – rule the day.

Here’s a simplified nutrition diagram and…

Banana nutrition graphic

…USDA nutrition table both from Very Well Fit: Banana Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits.

USDA banana nutrition facts

Bananas are considered a carbohydrate because of their ~14 grams of sugar per serving, but that sugar is counterbalanced, just as it is similarly in other fruits, by 3 grams of fiber per banana serving. That fiber helps delay sugar absorption in your body and thereby reduces the need for high insulin production in the pancreas to transport that sugar to cells for energy or send a message to the liver to convert any excess sugar to fat.

Bananas are probably best know for their potassium content, though they are not among the 17 or so foods highest in potassium content. I saw a terrifically concise piece on potassium in a Medical News Today article online (link below) that read: “Potassium’s primary functions in the body include building muscle, synthesizing proteins, controlling the electrical activity of the heart and maintaining acid-base balance. Potassium is needed for maintenance of total body fluid volume, keeping electrolytes in balance and ensuring normal cell function.” That last line is pretty important regarding potassium’s ability to reduce muscle cramping during and after exercise.

Bottom line, bananas are good food, and I’m a big fan. Next couple posts will show some of my favorite ways to enjoy bananas: 3-ingredient banana ice cream and as part of a summer fruit salad.

Images of banana ice cream ingredients and banana added to summer fruit salad

In the meantime, here are some more banana nutrition links:

Healthline: Bananas 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits

Medical News Today – 2 articles: one about health benefits of potassium that includes a list of other potassium-rich foods and another about health benefits, risks, and banana nutritional facts.

About Health – informative article titled “Do Bananas Cause Weight Gain?”

August 30th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Fruit, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Running, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast, Part 4: Fruit, Yogurt & More

Fruit, yogurt and more? Sure, always more! With full-on flavor – that’s half the fun of it. What you see above is what I put together to rocket-fuel up or an excellent hop on the bike with good buds this morning (below) – and with no need to refuel on the way.

You can get the base recipe I used, Summer Multi-Fruit Salad, by clicking either this link or any picture on this page.

To mix it up a bit, here’s what I used for ingredients and…

…how I put it all together – fruit first; then nut butter, cookie butter spread, jam; Greek yogurt & ground flaxseed with nutritional yeast…

…raisins & dried cranberries; and peach kefir. Killer and went great with the slice of cherry peach pancake and iced chocolate, coconut water coffee shown at the top of this page.

Enjoy!

July 11th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Drinks (no alcohol), Fitness Food, Food & Health, Fruit, Fruit Pancakes, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Pancakes, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast to Power Your Body in Motion

Rockets, power, motion! Please tell me you find that “let’s go!” motivating! When it comes to fuel to power endurance exercise/any physical activity to keep your body in motion, the key is making sure to take in fats, protein, some carbohydrates and fluids – and having them all with full-on flavor.

Here’s what I had recently for the hop on the bike shown above with terrific good friends.

The fats, from whole milk Greek yogurt, whole milk kefir, almond-peanut butter and freshly made whipped cream, combined with protein from egg and whole grain flour in the fruit pancake, Greek yogurt and kefir gave me slow-burning sustained energy. The carbohydrates: a little sugar in my iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water drink, cookie spread on my pancake slice and fruit, dried fruit and jam in my fruit and yogurt mix, gave me instant energy to start my ride. And front-loading fluids with 30-40 ounces of iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water got me going well hydrated so that I just needed to top off with water while I rode, and the potassium in coconut water helped both prevent cramps and improve energy metabolism.

Of course, everybody’s body and fuel requirements are different, and only YOU know YOU. That means it’s most important to pay attention to what YOU eat and drink and how that affects YOUR physical performance, no matter what kind of physical activity YOU do. Still, though the fine details differ person to person, the base components are the same: carbohydrates for quick burning energy, a good shot of fat and protein for long-burning, sustained energy and plenty of fluids to start off well hydrated.

The next few posts, starting with iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water (killer good!), will show how to make each of the 3 pieces shown above that I have regularly – and always with a little improvised variety for flavor fun, before hopping out on the bike.

More soon!

April 19th, 2022

Blog, Fruit, How To & Tips

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How to Speed Up Pineapple Ripening

At the end of the last post I promised I’d show how to improvise on very easy-to-make pineapple, yogurt & jam. That plan sounded fine until I realized that the pineapple I was going to use to make and shoot those directions wasn’t yet ripe even after I’d had it on top of my fridge for about a week, as shown below

No problem. Just another opportunity to improvise in a different manner. Though I’ve not done this with a pineapple before, I figured I could probably speed up the ripening process by doing what I do with other fruits and avocados that sometimes take days or longer to ripen out in the open.

Last night I put the pineapple in a paper bag (can’t use a plastic bag for this because plastic doesn’t allow for needed air exchange that makes ripening work; paper does),…

…then clipped the bag closed (because it would’t stay closed just by folding the bag top), and…

…put the bagged pineapple on top of the fridge, which I’ll now keep an eye on to see how quickly the pineapple ripens.

More soon!

April 11th, 2022

Blog, Breakfast, Fruit

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Pineapple, Yogurt, Jam, and Dried Fruit Picture Book Recipe

Last post showed how to ripen and cut a fresh pineapple as easily as possible. Here’s a fully flavorful, very easy-to-make way to enjoy cut pineapple for breakfast, lunch, dessert or as a refuel snack after pushing yourself physically. As always, the ingredients you see below are only suggestions. Use your imagination to make your pineapple, yogurt, jam, and dried fruit all yours!

Click this link or any picture on this page for an easy-to-follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

Next post: an example of how to improvise on this recipe.

April 8th, 2022

Blog, Breakfast, Fruit, How To & Tips

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How to Ripen and Cut Fresh Pineapple Picture Book Directions

The sweet, tropical flavor and soft crunch and pop texture of fresh pineapple is just as fully satisfying on its own as it is mixed with other flavors. More about that later.

First, the picture book directions you can get by clicking this link or any picture on this page…

…show how to ripen a pineapple (that almost always comes to market underripe),…

…how to make a ripened pineapple take up less space in your refrigerator and…

…how to cut a pineapple as easy as possible.

Next blog: some easy-to-make pineapple recipes. All fun and full-on flavorful!

December 17th, 2021

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Fruit, Running Food

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Pineapple Coconut Topping on Pancake Picture Book Recipe

What you see here sure works great as is but is really intended to inspire your fully flavorful imagination.

When I put together the last few posts that showed how to make quickly cooked fresh fruit toppings, I’ve said that they go great on pancakes, waffles, French toast, over warm or cold cereal – and much more. This post is about providing a concrete example that works with warm pineapple coconut topping on a leftover pancake.

Now, though the recipe you can get here works great as is – I’m sure a big fan – the real purpose here is to inspire your imagination to use this or any fruit topping in a way that satisfies your own personal taste.

For more details, click this link or either picture on this page for a complete pineapple coconut topping on pancake picture book recipe. Then use what you see in that recipe to fire your imagination!