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Green Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

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Recipe courtesy of Diane Whitten, Food and Nutrition Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County
Makes 2 1-cup servings

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market
● 1 cup spinach leaves*
● 1 tsp honey* or maple syrup*
● 1 tbsp creamy peanut butter*
● 1 cup milk*
● 1 ripe banana, peeled and frozen overnight
● dash of cinnamon*
● 2-4 ice cubes as desired
● Optional additions: frozen berries*, ground flaxseed, raw cacao powder

Instructions
Place all ingredients and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and check consistency. If the smoothie is too thick, add a little more milk.

Pumpkin Dip

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Photo by Pattie Garrett

Recipe by Nicole Cunningham, shared by My Saratoga Kitchen Table
Makes: 5½ cups

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market
● 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
● 1 teaspoon nutmeg
● 1 teaspoon cinnamon*
● 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
● 2 cups pumpkin puree (see puree instructions below)
● Apple slices*, graham crackers, ginger snaps, or tea cookies* for serving

Instructions
Mix together the sugar and spices. Whip together with the cream cheese and pumpkin puree. Refrigerate until firm. Serve with apple slices, graham crackers, or ginger snaps.

Notes: Sift the confectioners’ sugar to avoid lumps.

To make your own pumpkin puree: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut a medium-sized pumpkin in half from top to bottom, remove the seeds and pulp. Place the halves cut-side down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Roast until easily pierced, 45 to 60 minutes. Turn over the pumpkin and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. Allow to cool enough to handle. Scoop out the flesh and puree in a food processor. Drain puree in a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl for 1 hour or more. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Apple Cinnamon Fruit Roll-Ups

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Photo by Pattie Garrett

Recipe by Rian Handler, featured on delish.com
Makes 4 – 6 servings
Prep time: 20 mins
Total time: approximately 4 hrs

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market
● 4 c. assorted apples* (Granny Smith, Honeycrisp), peeled and chopped
● 1/3 c. water
● 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
● 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
● 1 tsp. cinnamon*

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 175°. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment and lightly grease with cooking spray.
2. In a medium saucepan, add apples, water, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then simmer until apples begin to break down and liquid is mostly evaporated for about 15 minutes.
3. Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth. Spread evenly onto the prepared baking sheet and bake until dried out and no longer sticky, about 3 to 4 hours.
4. Using scissors or a paring knife, cut leather into vertical strips and roll up.

Fall Favorites at the Farmers’ Market

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By Madison Jackson and Emily Meagher

Before the farmers’ market moves back indoors, we spend one last month with our tents up and our coats on to share fresh, local products with our community. Summer produce makes way for the fall harvest; a time for comforting food and drinks and festive seasonal products. Here are ten fall favorites you can find at our markets in October.

1. Apple cider and cider donuts
Saratoga Apple and Slyboro Cider House both operate their own orchards. Try their fresh apples, pressed apple cider, hard cider, and cider donuts. A real Upstate NY treat!

Saratoga Peanut Butter Company, photo by Madison Jackson

2. Pumpkin Pandemonium Peanut Butter
The name says it all. This Saratoga Peanut Butter Company creation is chock-full of rich pumpkin and peanut flavors. A guilt-free treat at only 2 grams of sugar per serving, it’s great on sandwiches, apples, ice cream, and more.

3. Hand-painted hats
Artist Gretchen Tisch, owner of Feathered Antler, gives hats a fall makeover. Pick up a leaf-accented fedora or hand-knit beanie at the market.

4. Hot chocolate cheesecake
Grandma Apple’s Cheesecakes’ flavors vary with the season. Our current favorite is hot chocolate cheesecake. It’s perfect for when you have company, but perfectly acceptable to eat all by yourself! Also available are apple and pumpkin cheesecakes and cheesecake filled apples dipped in chocolate.

5. Apple cider fromage frais
Nettle Meadow does cheesemaking with a creative touch, and it shows with their seasonal favorites. Back at the market are the soft apple cider fromage frais, pumpkin spice and maple chevre, and the brie-like Early Snow.

6. Local wool
Elihu Farm’s sheep produce award-winning wool, sold as washed and unwashed fleeces at the market. Pick up a fleece to do some cozy fall crafting!

Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff, photo by Emily Meagher

7. Spooky soaps
At Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff, no shape of soap is too crazy. Their fall mineral soap collection includes ghosts, pumpkins, black cats, acorns, leaves, and owls.

8. Ornamental corn
Fresh summer corn is making way for ornamental fall corn. Pick up some calico or broom corn from local farms for fresh seasonal home decor.

9. Hand-ground cinnamon
Saratoga Spicery’s fresh-ground spices and spice mixes include hand-ground cinnamon. Give your baked goods an extra fresh flavor!

10. Pumpkins!
Farmers’ markets in October wouldn’t be complete without fresh gourds and winter squash. Local farms have a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes in stock – you can even find some hand-painted mini pumpkins.

Photo by Madison Jackson

This week: not a recipe, but a craft… how to make felt balls with wool roving!

Keeping the Lunchbox Fresh

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by Jodie Fitz

Saratoga Apple, photo by Pattie Garrett

All meals have their challenges whether it’s a pandemic or not; packing the lunchbox is no exception.

I have three children and I’d like to tell you I figured it all out after the first, but I did not. Each child came with their own sets of likes and dislikes. My youngest was, and is, my pickiest eater with a fickle palate that’s forever changing. She is NOT the traditional sandwich eater.

Carmella Making Apple Parfait, photo by Jodie Fitz

Whether you are homeschooling, fully virtual, or schooling in a hybrid fashion here are few lunchtime prep tips that are tried and true:
● Use the weekend to organize the plan.
● Separate shelf-stable snacks in containers or Ziploc® bags and put them in a basket so that the kids know they are for lunchbox packing only.
● Prepack refrigerated items into containers for several days at a time, label and keep those items in the fridge ready to grab.
● Include your children in the entire process.

The goal? Keeping you from spending more time than needed in the kitchen during the busy weekdays. Not only will these steps save you time, but they will also help to promote independence in the kiddos and hopefully feel-good vibes in your kitchen (wink).

Here are some easy prep ideas that include apples:

Toby making fruit dip, photo by Jodie Fitz

1. Cinnamon Apples: Simply wash, core, slice your apples. Place them in a Ziploc® style bag. Add a few shakes of cinnamon, seal the bag, and shake. This helps to avoid brown apples, enhances flavor and they keep in the fridge for several days.
2. Dip: Make yogurt dips to serve with the cinnamon apples and keep in mini containers. Try my Creamsicle Fruit Dip by folding 6 oz. low-fat vanilla yogurt with 6 oz. of Greek yogurt and the juice freshly squeezed from half of a navel orange.
3. Apple Pie Parfait: Layer vanilla yogurt, granola, and cooked apples that have been cooled. Simply wash, core, peel, and dice two apples. Cook them in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. These will keep for several days in the fridge.

*Apples, cinnamon, yogurt, and granola are all available at the farmers’ market.

Cheers to a successful school year.

Jodie Fitz is the creator of the Price Chopper/Market 32 Kids Cooking Club. You can learn more about her, her recipes, and her online classes by visiting JodieFitz.com. She is also the author of Fidget Grows a Pizza Garden.

This week’s recipe: Peanutty Apple Wraps

Peanutty Apple Wraps

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Lucy making an apple wrap, photo by Jodie Fitz

Recipe by Jodie Fitz

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market
● ¼ cup peanut butter*
● 1 tablespoon honey*
● ½ teaspoon cinnamon*
● 10 thin apple* slices (approximately ½ an apple)
● 1 Flatbread

Instructions
1. Wash, core, and slice the apple into thin slices.
NOTE: You can peel or not peel, the preference is yours.
2. Stir the peanut butter, honey & cinnamon together.
3. Spread the peanut butter mixture onto the flatbread, add the apples and roll it, or fold it, like a burrito.