Apple Pear Crisp

The fall into winter holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's - are traditionally a time when desserts are served at family gatherings and one party after another. The first Thanksgiving that rolled around after I started my healthy eating plan, my fibromyalgia symptoms had greatly improved. By then, it had been almost a year since I stopped using so many chemicals in my home, stopped eating so much processed food, and started eating a lot of real food full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. I wondered how I could navigate the potentially sugar laden festivities and still stay on track with my practical healing plan.

Some nutritionists and real food enthusiasts advocate never eating any type of sugar. Others say that it is fine to eat some sugary treats as long as you make them yourself. My focus from the start has been to make practical choices. It didn't seem very practical to me to ignore dessert during the holidays. It was a lot more realistic to search for new recipes and to tweak ones I already had to make them more healthy. I don't eat dessert every day but Thanksgiving is a perfect occasion to indulge in a small serving of something sweet.

The first thing I did was eliminate any recipe that used processed packaged food as an ingredient. It was amazing how many recipes I had filed away that included processed ingredients like: a box of cake mix, a container of whipped topping, a can of pie filling, packaged crust, chopped up candy bars, etc. I read the labels on these products and decided that I was not going to include artificial dye, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavorings, preservatives, and other potentially harmful food additives to my dessert menu during the holiday season. I was extremely grateful to be feeling so much better. I certainly didn't want to eat my way into a relapse. 

Apple Pear Crisp Ingredients

Apple Pear Crisp

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.

Peel, core, and slice:

4 apples
4 pears

Put the apple and pear slices in a mixing bowl.

Stir together:

1/4 c of brown sugar
1/4 c of raw organic sugar
2 T of flour. Use rice, almond, or coconut flour to make this recipe gluten free.
2  tsp. of ground cinnamon
1 tsp. of ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt

Pour the dry ingredients over the apple and pear slices.
Add 2 T of water and stir until apples and pears are evenly coated.

Put the apple and pear mixture in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Apples and pears vary in size. If the dish doesn't look full enough, add another apple and/or pear and stir again.

For the topping combine:

1 cup of regular oatmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c brown sugar or raw organic sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c chopped walnuts
1/3 c chopped almonds

Melt:
1/4 c coconut oil
1/4 c butter, or butter substitute if you are eating dairy free

Pour the melted butter and coconut oil over the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is crumbly

Sprinkle the oatmeal mixture over the top of the apples and pears.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until juices are hot and bubbling and top is golden brown.

Serve warm.