An Apple a Day Keeps SAD Away: Winter Comfort Food - Brown Apple Betty Recipe

Make Winter Weary, Winter Cheery

It's cold.  It's dark.  It's dreary.  Yes, it's winter and the spectacular fall colors have faded into memory, as the days grow shorter and shorter and gray overcast days seem more like one long lingering night.  If you're feeling down or depressed, you may be experiencing a touch of seasonal affect disorder (SAD) - a condition brought on by a lack of sunlight and shortened daylight hours.  Life can seem like a chore getting through the days waiting for spring.  The moon hangs low in the sky above the snow, a tiny beacon of light.

The single quickest, easiest thing you can do to alleviate the "winter blues" is to get outside for at least 15 minutes a day.  Bundle up and go for a quick walk (even if it's cloudy), the natural light will boost your mood and get you moving in a forward direction again.

Also, SAD tends to exacerbate and magnify any issues or struggles you may be going through.  Life can seem overwhelming for many people at this time of year.  Grief, loss of loved ones, hardships, etc., can feel unbearable and you can't participate in the holiday spirit.  Coaching or counseling can help bring things back into their proper perspective.   

Learn more about SAD here:  
What is SAD? Diagnosis and Treatment - National Institute Mental Health

You may also experience the need to over eat, especially over the holidays.  A full belly of holiday cheer feels good.  Warm comfort food offsets the chill and baking becomes a pleasant past time.

After grocery shopping one cold December night while dinner was cooking, I whipped up a new recipe I call, Brown Apple Betty, from inception to finish in about half an hour.  Some bruised and aging apples called from the bottom of the frig, so I concocted this perfect recipe for apples a bit past their prime for just eating.

Indulging in dessert can be made healthier with a few adjustments to those old time recipes Grandma used to make.  My Brown Apple Betty is Vegan Friendly - no animal or dairy products and gluten-free!  And it still tastes like Mom's good ole fashion apple pie (minus the crust).  Enjoy hot straight from the oven or cold as a quick midnight snack.

Brown Apple Betty - Vegan Friendly, Gluten-Free

Ingredients:

• 8 medium sized sliced Apples of the sweeter variety, with the skin

• 3 TBSP Lemon Juice

• 1/3 cup Organic Raw Turbinado Sugar

• 1/3 cup Buckwheat Pancake Mix

• 1/3 cup  Old Fashion Rolled Oats

• 1/3 cup chopped Walnuts

• 1/3 cup Crisco Shortening (or 1/2 stick Butter, for non-vegans)

• 1 tsp Cinnamon

• 1 cup cold water

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325°.

• Lightly coat the bottom of a 13 x 9 ceramic or glass baking pan with olive oil.

• Place one layer sliced apples at the bottom of the pan, spread evenly.

• Sprinkle 1 TBSP lemon juice over apples and toss to mix.

• In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, pancake mix, Crisco, cinnamon and oats

  (can substitute granola OR muesli).

• Cut Crisco into dry ingredients until well blended and pebbly.
• Add walnuts and mix well.

• Spoon mixture over the apples in the pan. Place another layer atop this using
  remaining apples.

• Sprinkle 2 TBSP lemon juice over apples. Spoon remaining mixture over the apples.

• Cover with aluminum foil forked with tines to make holes and vent.

• Bake on 325° until apples soften, about 25 - 30 minutes.

• Add 1/2 cup water and toss apples to moisten. Add water if needed.

• Bake until mixture becomes bubbly about another 15 - 20 minutes.

• Add 1/2 cup water (more if needed) and toss apples to moisten.

• Bake until mixture becomes soft, bubbly and apples are tender to fork, about another 

  15 - 20 minutes.

• Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

• May be served warm or cold, and can be topped with ice cream or whipped cream.

* Makes 10 servings Brown Apple Betty

Healthy Particulars:

• For this recipe, I used Honey Crisp, Cortland, and Empire apples, sweeter varieties that allowed for using less sugar. 
• The Buckwheat pancake mix and oats add lots of healthy fiber and are gluten-free. 
•  Vegan Friendly - no dairy or animal products.
• Walnuts add essential Omega 3 fatty acids. 
• Baking longer at lower temperatures, 325 degrees, and covering the pan maintains the moisture content which merries the different ingredients together more slowly and creates a thicker, richer flavor than baking at 375 degrees or higher.

• Coating the bottom of the pan with Olive Oil reduces the Crisco content with a healthier unsaturated fat. 
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If you think you have SAD, reach out for help.  Many resources are available, call your PCP doctor, get counseling, etc. If you don't where to turn, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) free hot line:

SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Learn more about SAMHSA's mental health resources here

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If you enjoyed this recipe or this article please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!  I'm here to help! I'm available for counseling and coaching - simply reach out here with your request.

Those Pesky Things Called Feelings

Turn a Bad Day into A Good Day - It's Your Decision

When life or people become frustrating or unmanageable, it's natural to feel emotional, annoyed, and even succumb to acting out.  But after wards we may experience a morning-after, "emotional hangover", when faced with the consequences of our ill guided actions.  In a fury of frustration, eating an entire bag of chips in front of the TV or sending out a nasty email feels so good in the moment!  Yet, what's left 24 hours later is mostly self-recrimination and collective misery.  No one feels good.  Like a compound fracture, an annoying situation becomes broken in two places - packing on the pounds or damaging a relationship only piles on icky feelings of guilt and remorse making a bad situation worse.  "What was I thinking?!!" is hardly a good platform from which to assess what happened in going forward.  Having a stomach ache or losing a relationship isn't helpful either.

Loss of control is the result of being hypnotized by the powerful pull of negative emotions and distractions i.e., eating junk food, spouting off, spending money you don't have, etc. Then, like any trance state, the momentary "high" wears off.  Those feelings of annoyance and frustration will eventually ebb away no matter what.  What do you want to have to show for it after, something positive or something negative?   It's totally up to you.  True power comes from self-control and positive distractions.  Take a deep breath, take a walk around the block. You get a time-out with the added bonus of a positive payoff - burn off a few calories.

Imagine feeling good, staying peaceful in the midst of frustrating circumstances.  It is possible!  However, it does require some effort and conscious thought that can be difficult to muster when you are upset.  Negative emotions induce a trance-like state that hinders good judgment.  Cultivating inner peace takes practice, but is absolutely worth it!

The secret is having positive distractions planned ahead to fend off making a catastrophic situation out of a bad moment. Then, when a negative emotion or situation pops up, it won't take over and kill your impulse control by making you reach for that bag of chips or lashing out in anger.

Plan ahead to positively distract yourself!  Stock the fridge with healthy foods, i.e., grab a piece of watermelon.  Or dark chocolate.  Share your frustration with an impartial individual who can offer good judgment and objective feedback.  Or, help someone out.  Random acts of kindness for yourself and others are a quick and dirty way to feel better and rack up time well spent.

Annoyances and frustration are an inevitable part of life.  Getting angry and making yourself (and others) suffer by making things worse is NOT.  Just ask yourself: How do I want to distract myself here?  How do I want manage myself and my emotions?  Positively or negatively?  The good news is it's up to you. Like a well developed muscle, peace takes practice.  And, I'm loving that watermelon.