Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Throw them at the neighbor's wandering dog pooping in my yard? Make wine? Let the crows eat them? Make preserves and kill my friends with a Christmas "Gift"? Eat them myself? Cut down the tree? Ack!!! I have read all of the fructose/fruit posts here and it seems like everyone is on opposite sides of the campfire on this one.

I have dried quite a few for my very active college aged son to eat (just dehydrated, nothing added), as they travel well in a back pack. He skateboards and plays frisbee for hours and likes them paired with raw almonds for a homemade trail mix. I have been limiting my intake to two raw pears per week and havent noticed any problems, but I could easily eat one a day. I don't eat the dried because I think I would eat too much and gain weight.

I have a 15 year old pear tree, they are currently in season and they are coming out of my ears. But as far as fructose is concerned, it seems that pears are some of the worst offenders. Any paleo friendly way to do something with these pears? It just seems wasteful to not figure out a way to use this bounty...

edited Oct 22 2010 at 17:58

Ed♦
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asked Oct 16 2010 at 17:56

texasleah
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I've got a similar thing going on here with apples. I am making sugar-free applesauce and wine with them. The applesauce will mostly be for children and grandchild, but I sometimes put a little in my kefir. I have a flock of chickens too, so nothing really goes to waste. – Jeanne Oct 16 2010 at 18:19

Shebeeste · Accepted Answer · 2010-10-16 19:22:42Z UTC

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See if your local area has gleaners or a group like we have here: http://www.salemharvest.org/ which saves urban fruit from going to waste and gets it to the needy.

Freecycle or Craigslist are good ideas too--I always see folks looking for free fruit to can.

answered Oct 16 2010 at 19:22

Shebeeste
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Yep, I remember one year, I really wanted to make apricot jam (this was prepaleo), but apricots in the store are very expensive. So when the season came, I drove around to houses where I could see apricot trees, knocked on the door, and asked if I could have some. Lots of people said yes! No one family can eat an entire big crop of apricots and when they fall, they are rather messy.. – Eva Oct 16 2010 at 23:28

Hannah · Answer 2 · 2010-10-16 19:45:52Z UTC

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Eat them however you like and enjoy your bounty. Excess fructose is what causes real damage. As long as you don't drink fruit juice all day, you shouldn't have to worry about it. Enjoying fruit in season is one of the great pleasures of life.

answered Oct 16 2010 at 19:45

Hannah
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Took the words right out of my mouth – FifthApe Oct 17 2010 at 14:29

Gone · Answer 3 · 2010-10-17 15:00:07Z UTC

Winter will be long and hard enough so just preserv them. I did so with our apples and got ~40 small glasses of great applesauce. I'm eating one or two spoons every other day and it's a really nice dessert. I wouldn't want to buy imported/out-of-season fruit during the winter if I don't really have to.

Oh and I suppose pear sauce with cinnamon, shredded coconut and almond will taste just as awesome as applesauce does:

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The leftovers from the apples went to the neighbours broilers which will be slaughtered in a couple of days - and we'll get a couple. Great recycling.

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Matt · Answer 4 · 2010-10-19 15:40:45Z UTC

I have been limiting my intake to two raw pears per week...

Only two per week! You have a tree full of free food there. I'm sure I could manage 2 or 3 a day.

Any paleo friendly way to do something with these pears?

Eat them, any way you like. They are pears not poison.

Pears are only in season for a short time so make the most of it. Baked or fried pears make a great dessert with some cream on. There are plenty of food related things you can worry about, don't let fresh home-grown pears be one of them. Don't let the fructose-phobes scare you off :)

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ScottMGS · Answer 5 · 2010-10-16 22:42:23Z UTC

Pear Ice Cream!

No wait - don't down-vote me yet.

I just mixed up a 14 oz can of coconut milk, ~3 tbsp (yes, tbsp) of ground cinnamon, ~ 1/4 cup flaked coconut (unsweetened), vanilla (1 tsp maybe?) and 1/4 Bartlett pear (from our CSA box). I shook it all up and poured some of it in a 1/4 inch layer in a lidded container and put it in the freezer. I stir it every 10 to 15 minutes until its thick and slushy (or I run out of patience).

One hour later...

Upped it to half a pear and it still wasn't much though it did add a touch of sweetness. Would go for a whole one next time.

warren · Answer 6 · 2010-10-18 14:16:57Z UTC

I'm voting for the wine/cider idea. you can get a fruit press at any homebrew store and ferment the juice all the way so it will be dry. If it does not taste great you can always use it for poaching or cooking wine. Just watched the film adaptation of "The Botany of Desire" so I'm inclined to this option.

PrimalLikeMe · Answer 7 · 2010-10-16 19:07:08Z UTC

a few ideas off the top of my head

dry and/or freeze some?? not sure how they come out after that but could use in a paleo crisp/cobbler? use a mix of fruit - so not all pears - maybe some berries - lower carbs?

Give away to someone that can use: take to a local farm you know for their critters? freecycle and offer to anyone to come and pick up do you know anyone near you that would want them? barter with someone? foodbank? etc

just depends on how much you want to do. easiest would be freecycle.org - if in your area or maybe craigslist.

andrew · Answer 8 · 2010-10-19 17:24:51Z UTC

Fry chopped up bacon pieces until fat runs. Add peeled, cubed pears and stir until just coated in fat.

Make up salad of lettuce, rockett, etc etc and top with bacon and pears. I could eat TONS of this!

Apart from that - I'd vote for pressing / fermenting into Perry.

Pears pears pears everywhere…what to do with them?

8 Answers