WebMD recently featured an article on 15 Nutritious Foods for About $2 (written by a Registered Dietition). For each food, the article lists the serving size, price per serving, nutrition info per serving, and offers serving suggestions.

To piggyback on Organic vs. Economic, also check out How to Be a Budget Organic, a guide to shopping for organic produce, dairy products, meat and poultry.

While I work on getting Soupified up and running, please enjoy this delicious recipe of a Fall favorite: Baked Apples. As a twist, I’ve added a variety of dried fruits along with pecans and maple syrup to make a tasty treat perfect for dessert.

Baked Apples with Dried Fruit

4 large, firm baking apples such as Braeburn
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 cup dried fruit, such as apricots, cherries, and golden raisins (chopped if large)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
olive oil
caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 450F

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, maple syrup, dried fruit and pecans. Using a melon baller or small spoon, remove stem and core from apples, creating a “tunnel” in the center, stopping about a half-inch from the bottom of the apple.

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a 9×9 inch baking pan. Place apples upright in the pan and spoon fruit mixture into the center of each apple, allowing mixture to overflow slightly. Drizzle again with olive oil (to keep apples and topping moist).

Bake apples for 30-35 minutes, until soft and apples begin to “burst.” In a small saucepan, combine any leftover fruit mixture with caramel syrup and place over low heat. To serve, cut apples in half and top with caramel mixture.

During Veganomics, I posted recipes that combine healthy eating with saving money and going green. This concept is not altogether original, as the campaign for green living often crosses paths with economic savings and healthy living.

Many of the current trends in food and lifestyle are a natural convergence of these topics, as I discovered there are many ways to adjust a recipe to be good for the wallet, the planet, and the body.

While preparing recipes and postings for Econofest, again I find a merger of ideas that include cost effectiveness with healthy eating and environmental benefits. Many of the resources overlap, providing a balance of lifestyle choices with greater impact. Rather than just saving money, these tips and tricks have a personal benefit as well as benefit to the world around us.

Most of the time, this overlap works in our favor. When it comes to produce, however, consumers often must choose between organic or economical. With tight grocery budgets, many cannot afford to purchase organic produce and rely instead on cheaper options, which are usually grown with a plethora of pesticides.

If you are going to splurge on organic produce, opt to purchase produce widely recognized as having the highest pesticide loads. Here is a list of the “Dirty Dozen” from Food News:

Peaches
Apples
Sweet Bell Peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes (imported)
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes

If you are looking to save, here is also the list of the “cleanest” 12 produce items available (requiring lowest pesticide loads):

Onions
Avocado
Sweet Corn (frozen)
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet Peas (frozen)
Asparagus
Kiwi
Bananas
Cabbage
Broccoli
Eggplant

For a complete list, please visit Food News and download the printable guide:

Please enjoy this poem from my friend Leah, which she generously dedicated to me on her blog:

fraught with all the wild extremes
of tango and of tribal rush
to borrow from such frantic dreams
as of death’s violence robbing blush

nursing hands and healing touch
she poured her soul into their lives
giving grace when they could not
and thirty years went coursing by

after a while, her daily pace
had taken an unforgiving turn
as the dancing from bed and face
brought grief and a crushing yearning

for something soft, without demand
as restoration for the years
of dying children, and blood-stained
gauze, and wives’ and mothers’ tears  

her deliverance didn’t come from
an expected source, as such,
just a need for solitude, some
might criticize the redeeming batch

of bread when first she built with brick
her own oven, and began to mix
recipes to steal the senses, quick
aromas to fill the dimly lit kitchen  

at first each loaf became a story
as the luscious, tender flavors
melted away people’s horrors
bringing nearly divine pleasure  

then, increasingly, as her own heart
was being healed by hours
left alone with grains and starch
and spices rich with yesteryear  

she found a patron here, then there
and bit by bit she came to see
as local farmers supplied their wares
she’d started her own bakery  

a new pace set from rush to waltz
forsaking wealth for just enough
she left behind her three decades
for the joy of a fire-crackled crust  

~L. Page