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Farmers' Market Apples

We’re teaming up with other food and garden bloggers to host Fall Fest 2010, a season-long garden party. Each week we’ll feature favorite garden-to-table recipes and tips to help you enjoy the bounty, whether you’re harvesting your own goodies or buying them fresh from the market. To join in, check out awaytogarden.com.

What would fall be without apples?! We love them in pies, salads, soups, muffins and, of course, raw.  We were inspired by Food Network Magazine’s Apple-a-Day calendar, so we came up with 31 healthy ways to use apples — one for each day in October.

1. Get all the healthy apple-icious facts about apple season
2. Find an orchard near you and pick your own
3. Make a lightened up version of apple pie
4. Cozy up with a warm mug of mulled cider on a cool fall night
5. Make a big batch of applesauce and store in the freezer for cold winter days

6. Enjoy a Waldorf Salad for lunch
7. Entertaining? Munch on Pecorino Romano with Apples and Fig Jam
8. Swap unsweetened applesauce for half the fat in your favorite baked good.
9. Make  Apple Moons as an after-school or mid-afternoon snack.
10. Start your morning with a warm bowl of Apple Harvest Oatmeal

11.Try an heirloom apple. We like Cortland, Jonah Gold or Sun Crisp.
12. Snack on homemade Dried Apple Rings
13.Cook applesauce with skins on to give your applesauce a pink hue.
14. Make Katie’s version of a chicken salad
15. Sweeten up a smoothie with 100% apple juice

16.Take your pick of 3 apple desserts for less than 250 calories
17. Jazz up a turkey or peanut butter sandwich with thin slices of tart apple
18. Make your own apple juice
19. Apples + Cinnamon = a simple and healthy snack
20. The natural pectin in apples thickens jams and chutneys

21. Dip slices in a tablespoon of Caramel-Fudge Sauce
22. Make apple soup
23. Beets and apples are a sweet and crunchy combo
24. Serve Apple Compote over vanilla ice cream
25. One apple will give you 20 percent of your daily fiber needs

26. Apples are chocked full of Quercitin – an antioxidant that fights inflammation
27. Team up pork tenderloin and apples for a seasonal feast
28. Late-night snack attack? Sliced apple and a tablespoon of peanut butter to the rescue for under 175 calories

29. Finish off a dinner party with baked apples
30. Brown Rice Salad with Apples makes a super-satisfying lunch
31. Trick or treat time! (We prefer treats.) Sweeten homemade lollipops with apple juice concentrate instead of flavored extract

Want more apples? Check out our photo gallery of 10 Healthy Apple Recipes.

Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC, is a registered dietitian, certified athletic trainer and owner of Dana White Nutrition, Inc., which specializes in culinary and sports nutrition. See Dana’s full bio »

More Apple Recipes From Friends and Family:

• Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Apple picking, and Broiled Leeks with Apple Vinaigrette
• Marilyn at Simmer Till Done: Louisa May Alcott’s Apple Slump
• Alana at Eating from the Ground Up: Apple pie and its place in her family religion
• Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Remaking The Silver Palate Cookbook’s Medieval Apple Tart
• Alison at Food2: 22 Awesome Ways to Use Your Apples
• Michelle at Cooking Channel: Apple Dessert Recipes
• Dana at Healthy Eats: 31 Days of Apple Recipes
• Liz at Food Network: Pick the Perfect Apple
• Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Apple Stack Cake and Dark Caramel Apples
• Food Network UK: Five English apples you should know and love
• Gilded Fork: Apples—Sweet Seduction
• Paige at The Sister Project: Third-Prize Apple Pie
• Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Favorite Apple Recipes