Just Bento

I haven't tried this yet but my neighbor soaks her's in salty water. Can't say if it would work any better than lemon juice but you can try it.

You can try just rubbing the cut surfaces with a lemon, which would stop the oxidization (browning), then keep the apple in a plastic bag. Or...buy smaller apples?

I was also going to say the salt-water soak; read about in the preview for a new cookbook called: The Manga Cookbook

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/4921205078/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Here's another idea: as you have leftover apples, chop into small dice and put in a ziplock bag or other container and stick in the freezer. Sprinkling with a bit of lemon juice will help to keep the apples from oxidizing, and add nice flavor as well. When you have a cup or two of the apple dice, you can cook it briefly, in a little saute pan or pot. Add a little cinnamon, maybe a smidge of nutmeg or cardamom or ginger, and 1 T sugar per cup of apple. Simmer gently for 10 minutes or so. You can use it now, or put it back in the freezer. If you want to create single servings, you can put 1/3 cup or so of the cooked apples in little silicone cups, or in little tin-foil cups and freeze them in these.

When you want to use them, you can either put them into your bento as is (taking into account defrosting), or you can take a tablespoon or so of granola and sprinkle on top and warm either in the micro, a toaster oven, or in your regular oven --or even on the stovetop: just place the tin into a small pot, put a lid on the pot, and warm at medium until the apple is bubbling.

To make either the apple sauce or the apple crisp a little more luxurious, you could add a little dab of sweet butter. Even a small dish of this is cozy, satisfying, and yummy.

>booklegger, I've also tried the salt-water soak but I think I may have better luck with lemon juice. I'll have to give it another try.

>maki, I usually keep the apples in a plastic container after rubbing them, but since you mentioned a bag, I'm wondering if my container lid isn't fitting tightly enough and letting too much air in, so that might be the problem. I try to buy small apples but the bf doesn't care for fruit so it's hard to get him to eat a lot of it at one time

>mosaica, that sounds fantastic ! I will definitely be trying this, thank you!!

Another fun thing to do with leftover apples, is to brine them in a sweet pickling liquid. Very tasty with pork dishes!

eat them as your making the bento's then they're not wasted, and you get more fruit in your diet.

if you'd like to try a smaller apple, i buy a little 3 lb. bag of red delicious (those can be big) and gala apples ( these are small!). I LOOOOVE the gala apples. I get very tired of eat red declicious apples because that is what everyone buys in America it seems >.> Gala apples have such a different taste (and i prefer it to delicious) and are not too big. <3

I <3 apples alot. Ever since i was a kid. My grandma would tell me how one of my first words was "apple", so apples bring up fond memories for me. haha. sorry for the randomness. XD

Definitely price the 3lb. apple bags. The apples are smaller and I think they are tastier. Often, they are also cheaper!