Name: Cooked Apple or Pear
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup water; 1 apple or pear (cored and peeled); 2-3 whole cloves

Cooked apple or pear is tangy, sour, and sweet all at the same time, and the addition of whole cloves brings a refreshing and warming element to this breakfast or snack item.

There's no added sugar, but the taste is like a burst of sweet and sour in the mouth with an underlying warmth from the spicy clove.

The 5-minute cooking time ensures that the apple is soft, but not mushy like applesauce, which means that you can still bite into the apple for a satisfying chew.

Apples and pears are high in fiber that will make its way down to your colon to feed your good gut bacteria.

I especially like drinking the cooking liquid, which tastes like hot apple cider, and the quarter cup or so that's left after 5 minutes of simmering is just enough to satisfy.

You could also save this liquid and use it for soups, oatmeal, other grain cereals, or as a natural sweetener for tea.

How to make

To make cooked apple or pear, start ½ a cup of water simmering on the stove with 2-3 cloves.
Meanwhile, slice one apple or pear into four, and remove the cores and the skins.
Add the 4 pieces into the simmering water and cover.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Transfer into a bowl. Allow to cool slightly, and enjoy.

Digestive health benefits

For some people, eating an apple right out of the fridge can be cold and shocking to the system, particularly in the morning when your digestive organs are still waking up.

An apple can also be difficult to digest, due to its abundant fiber, and leathery skin.

Cooking an apple makes it a lot easier to digest, and removing the skin also helps with digestibility.

Raw apples are also more on the astringent side, which can provoke dehydration and aggravate dry stools.

Cooking reduces that astringency and brings out more of the sugars. In fact, cooked apples can have a mild laxative effect.

Apples are loaded with pectin, which is a type of soluble fiber that binds to fat and aids in its elimination from the body.

This is really supportive for anyone that has a sensitive digestive system, autoimmune condition, or acidic stomach.

There's a beautiful benefit in the natural sugar of a cooked apple. It's naturally sweet, and yet it also helps to regulate blood sugar and cholesterol.

Along with the sweet, there's a natural sour taste that greatly supports digestion by increasing gastric secretions.

A juicy digestive tract helps to stimulate peristalsis, or the movement of food, which can reduce gas and bloating.

Warms you up

This cooked apple dish is especially beneficial during the cold winter months. Let it be your friend on dark mornings.

Cloves open up your pores to induce sweating, and they open up your blood vessels, which supports blood circulation to the extremities to help keep you warm ... but not too warm.

Cloves are only mildly pungent, and stimulate digestion without aggravating people who tend to feel hot.

If you have any tooth pain you can chew on the clove after finishing your apple and it will help.