Aqua-Fitness afternoon

A late morning for me today - the only day of the week I can sleep late. Worked in the kitchen all morning and then headed to the gym. Thirty minutes of cardio walking first, then the hour of aqua fitness with Noriko. She is an inspiration. Mother of two college-aged students, past menopause, a former fit-body competitor who would not recognize an ounce of fat if it hit her in the face. Tanned and muscle-toned, the aqua-girls in the pool can only watch in amazement.


What could be better on a fall morning than baking something with apples and cinnamon? This is the best non-pie, apple dessert I have ever tasted. Given to me by my friend Kate (who lost mega pounds on the South Beach), and who swears that this was the ONLY dessert that kept the discipline going for months of dieting. She is now so slim and svelte that we hardly know her. And don't ask me who Slick is; someone posting a recipe on the web for non-carb eaters. Works for me.

Slick’s Apple Crisp

8 medium size tart apples
1/3 C + 3/4 C Splenda®, (divided)
2 C whole grain oats
1 C Land ‘O Lakes baking butter
½ C oat flour
2 T cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
¼ C water

Spray a 2½ cup casserole dish with Pam.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Core and peel apples.

Slice apples into desired thickness and put in large bowl. Add 3/4 C Splenda®, cinnamon, nutmeg and water. Toss until apples are well coated. Transfer to casserole dish.

In a bowl, mix whole oat grains, 1/3 C Splenda ®, oat flour, and whole-wheat flour. Add butter and work together with fingers until mixture is crumbly. Put mixture on top of apples.
>Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1-¼ hours. If top starts to get too dark, cover with aluminum foil toward end of baking.

Serve warm with Ready Whip or homemade whipped cream sweetened w/Splenda® to taste.

You can substitute sugar for the Splenda®, I am just not sure of the equivalent quantities in that case. Enjoy! From Kate T., 17 December 2003

OK, I confess. I do not make it EXACTLY this way.

For one, I do not use Splenda, but 1/3 cup of brown sugar and a spoonful of white sugar instead. Whole wheat flour will suffice for oat flour, unless you are gluten intolerant.

PLUS I add some things. What depends on what is in the kitchen that day. Today's choice of apples was Honey Crisp and Galas. Yes, Granny Smith's would probably work better, but I did not have those. My preference is Jonagolds, but I did not have those either.

The addition of 1/2 Cup of raisins has been used, but not today. Instead, about half-dozen chopped prunes (excuse me, dried plums), were added along with an eight-ounce can of crushed pineapple (own juice) including the liquid. And I splurge on the spices: adding cloves to the nutmeg and cinnamon.

Half-a cup of chopped pecans cannot hurt, but that's definitely optional. Bake as directed, for one hour, lower the heat to 250° F. for another fifteen minutes, then without opening the oven door, turn off the heat and leave the dish for another twenty minutes. By that time the crust should be crunchy and fruit juice totally absorbed.

The apple photo was taken at a local supermarket, the only time I have ever been asked to leave a store. The purpose was an art project creating fabric collages of ordinary object images - the choice of apples was mine. Thinking that close-up photos of multiple apples would help, I headed to the market to shoot apples. Just apples, honestly. After getting four shots, a tap on the shoulder from the produce manager, not a happy fellow, spelled trouble. He could not rip the film from the camera, one of the advantages of shooting digital; but he did escort me to the door muttering something about "never ever come back." What?
Later I realized he may have thought I was a competitor taking interior store shots. Just apples, in amazing color which I have used many times since.

Dinner tonight is a mushroom omelet with a simple salad on the side. Dessert will be Apple Crisp. I'm hungry already.
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