The good old apple! Beautiful to look at, versatile to cook with, the comforting companion to warming winter dinners. Not today! 

In today’s column, Nicky and Sonja invite you to have an apple a day with your breakfast! Yes, let’s turn this beauty into super healthy, super crunchy, frankly rather moreish, baked apple granola. Can you smell it now, crisping in the oven? Hold that image! Grab your journal and pen!

Journaling #1: Peel, Chop, Crunch into Apple Memories

Step One 

Feel the smooth skin, look at the patterns. Peel the longest apple curl! Now chop open the apple. Close your eyes and crunch into it slowly, really slowly. Doesn’t it taste sweeter?

Step Two [5 mins]

Where does your mind take you? What fond apple memory, recent or far, comes to mind? 

Picking apples fallen from a tree on the pavement? Varieties of apples stacked high at the greengrocers? Or a hot apple crumble at a friend’s house after school?

Reflect [1 min]

• What one word captures this memory?  
• What stirs in you now with this sweet apple memory?
• What might you want to revive?

Apple Fun Facts:

• There are 7,500 varieties of apples worldwide!
• Apple trees take 4-10 years to bear fruit.
• The Granny Smith was named after the cultivar, Maria Ann Smith, originally from East Sussex!
• Apples ripen up to 10 times faster in a warm room, so it’s best to keep them in the fridge.

Nutrition info

• Top health benefits include:
• Soluble fibre – helps lower cholesterol
• Polyphenols – help lower blood pressure
• Pectin – supports
  gut health
• Quercetin – helps manage blood sugar levels
• Antioxidants – help protect against different cancers

Baked Apple Granola (six servings)

Ingredients:

• Granola
• 12 tbsp oats
• 1 tsp demerara sugar
• 6 tbsp flaked almonds
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• Apples
• 4 dessert or Bramley apples
• lemon juice
• 4 tbsp raisins
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp maple syrup to taste – if you use dessert apples reduce this to 1 tbsp as the apples have more sweetness.

Method:

1. Warm the oven to 180°C.
2. Mix the granola ingredients in a bowl ready and put to one side.
3. Peel and slice the apples, drizzle with a little lemon juice as you do this to stop them going brown. 
4. Put apples in a suitable baking dish, mix in the raisins, cinnamon and maple syrup, and then top with the granola.
5. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour – you may want to cover with foil about 30 mins in to avoid the topping burning.

Serving Suggestion

• Serve with natural or coconut yoghurt for probiotics.
• Substitutes:
• Fruit: pears, peaches, apricots.
• Nuts: cashews, hazelnuts or sunflower seeds

Storage:

Granola lasts for weeks in an airtight container. Apples can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Journaling #2: Your 5-a-day Breakfast Challenge [5 mins]

See how five minutes of journaling with your apple granola breakfast for five days can change up your day. Apples last five days in the fridge, so we’re good to go!

Ingredients: apple granola, yoghurt, journal, pen

Method: As you’re eating, write down how it feels and tastes. Is it filling? Satisfying?

As you progress to Day 5, what do you notice? Easier? What do you notice about your energy or mood? What do you imagine breakfasts can look like after the challenge? What might you add to this recipe to make it your own?

Reflect [1 min]

Write an inspiring motto for yourself that emerges from your 5-a-day challenge. 

Journaling #3: Action!

Healthy comfort foods: What twist can you give your favourite apple dishes to make them both satisfying and healthy? What’s the first step? 

Creative Concoctions is a local social enterprise, boosting creative health. For information on our Concoct Your Life workshops and our individual workshops:
Nicky: insta: @nickytorode, diamond-minds.co.uk;
Sonja: insta: @ryenutritionalhealth, ryenutritionalhealth.co.uk