Seasonal Recipes

Hot Apple Cider

I don’t know about you, but when I think of the fall approaching I automatically think about Hot Apple Cider. It is such a simple thing to make for you and your family or at a dinner party with friends. This recipe is the real deal, it’s a few simple steps but the cooking process takes a while… we promise it’s worth it.

Hot Apple Cider

Ingredients

  • 4 Granny Smith apples, sliced
  • 4 red delicious apples, sliced
  • 1 orange, peeled and sliced (peel adds bitterness)
  • 1 Tbsp whole allspice
  • 1 Tbsp whole clove
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (for sweetness if desired)
  • 8 cups water (1.9 L)

directions

  1. Place fruit and spices into a slow cooker
  2. Add 8 cups of water
  3. Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours.
  4. Uncover the slow cooker, and mash the softened fruit with a potato masher.
  5. Cover again and cook on low for 1-2 hours.
  6. Strain out fruit and spices from the slow cooker into a cheese cloth in a bowl.
  7. Wait about 20-30 minutes for the cheesecloth to cool. Squeeze out cider from cheesecloth into the bowl. Pour the cider back into the slow cooker. 
  8. Add the brown sugar (optional).
  9. Serve warm.
  10. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Make sure to not over mash the fruit.
  • Some people love the organe peel to be intact when making cider, but its optional. The orange peel adds a bit of bitterness.

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Dates

– High in Disease-Fighting Antioxidants, such as flavonoids, carotenoids, and phenolic acid, which all have anti-inflammatory properties.
 
– High in fiber, which benefits your digestive health and promotes regular bowel movements.
 
-Eating dates helps improve brain function by lowering inflammatory markers, such as interleukin.
 
– Dates have the potential to help with blood sugar regulation due to their low glycemic index, fiber and antioxidants.

Citrus Fruits

Sweet Potatoes

Parsnips

LEMONS & ORANGES

Citrus Fruits

– Rich in vitamin C which is needed to form and maintain healthy skin, bones, blood vessels and connective tissue.
 
-Plays an important role in supporting the immune system and also acts as an antioxidant that might help protect cells against the effects of free radicals and fight inflammation. 
 
-Full of soluble fiber that can help lower LDL cholesterol, consequently reducing cardiovascular disease. 
 
– Abundant in multiple other nutrients, including potassium, folate, calcium, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium, and copper.
 

Sweet Potatoes

Parsnips

Kale

Parsnips

– Are highly nutritious, and supply many antioxidants, which are health-promoting compounds that help prevent oxidative stress and decrease damage to your cells.
 
– Parsnips are a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Fiber moves through your gastrointestinal tract undigested, helping to get things moving and optimizing digestive health.
 
– Low in calories yet rich in fiber, parsnips make an excellent addition to a healthy weight loss diet.

Garlic

– Garlic is known to boost the function of the immune system and combat sickness, including the common cold.
– The active compounds in garlic reduces blood pressure.
– Contains antioxidants that may help prevent alzheimer’s disease and dementia because oxidative damage from free radicals contributes to the aging process.
– At high doses, the sulfur compounds in garlic have been shown to protect against organ damage from heavy metal toxicity.

Sweet Potatoes

– The fiber and antioidants in sweet potatoes are advantageous to gut health.
 
– Sweet potatoes offer various antioxidants, which may help protect against certain types of cancers.
 
– They are incredibly rich in beta-carotene, the antioxidant responsible for the vegetables bright orange colour.
 
– Full of vitamin A which is critical to a healthy immune system.

Parsnips

Kale

Garlic

Kale

– Kale is loaded with powerful antioxidants like quercetin and kaempferol. Antioxidants are substances that help counteract oxidative damage by free radicals in the body. 
 
– Kale can help lower cholesterol, which may reduce the risk of heart disease.
 
– Kale is among the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet.
 
-Very high in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that the body can turn into vitamin A.
 
– A great plant-based source of calcium, a nutrient that is very important for bone health and plays a role in all sorts of cellular functions.

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