Healthy Recipe Spotlight: Apple Cranberry Crisp

I'm going to start off my Healthy Recipe Spotlight series the way most people would prefer to start any meal...with dessert!  Yes, desserts can be an integral part of a healthy, low-fat, plant-based lifestyle.

This delicious dessert is easy to prepare, is low in fat, contains no cholesterol, and contains fiber and antioxidants.  As I will explain in future blogs, these are very important characteristics to look for in the food you choose as they will help you to improve your health.

Makes 8 servings.

2 large, tart apples, peeled and sliced

0.5 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (I usually can't find these so I use plenty of frozen, whole cherries.)

0.75 cup Grape-Nuts cereal or any high fiber whole wheat cereal

0.75 cup rolled oats

0.5 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup brown rice syrup (Sometimes I use agave nectar.)

2/3 cup apple juice

0.25 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Arrange apple slices in a 9"x9" baking dish, then sprinkle with cranberries.

In a bowl, mix cereal, oats, and cinnamon, then stir in brown rice syrup.  Spread evenly over apples.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix apple juice and cornstarch or arrowroot, then pour evenly over other ingredients.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until apples are tender.

Per 1/8 of the recipe:

148 calories

0.9 g fat

0.2 g saturated fat

5.3% calories from fat

0 mg cholesterol

35.1 g carbohydrate

3 g fiber

14.4 g sugar

2.5 g protein

84 mg sodium

3 mg vitamin C

20 mcg beta-carotene

0.2 mg vitamin

14 mg calcium

3.5 mg iron

This recipe is taken from The Cancer Project's Food for Life Weekly Recipe.

I am a Plant-Based Nutrition Counselor, a graduate of Cornell University's plant-based nutrition program, the only program in the country which focuses on the medical benefits of a low-fat, plant-based lifestyle, and am board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.  I help people to achieve their wellness goals by providing them with the tools that they need to gain control over their health.  I hope you enjoy my blogs.  If you would prefer individualized assistance with your weight, with a chronic, degenerative disease, with other health and wellness aspirations, or if you would like me to speak to a group, please email me at traceyeakin@gmail.com or give me a call at 724.469.0693 to arrange a time.

I can personally attest to this lifestyle.  The results are nothing short of dramatic.  I had been a vegetarian for 21 years when 4 years ago I adopted an entirely plant-based lifestyle.  Since that time, I have lost over 50 pounds and have kept it off and resolved an autoimmune condition known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP.  My body was attacking and destroying my platelets.  I could have faced platelet transfusions or the removal of my spleen.  A low-fat, plant-based lifestyle changed everything for me.  My goal is to help as many people as possible to make similar positive changes in their lives.