They say variety is the spice of life. We at fit foods agree. There is such a vast variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to choose from, there is no way that you should ever get bored by eating the same foods every day to stay fit or lose weight. One way to change up your meals with a new twist is to add peppers to your recipes. There are lots of peppers to pick from. Peppers will add flavor, color and spice to your favorite recipes and spicy peppers help speed up your metabolism.

Spicy peppers, such as the jalapeno, contain a chemical called Capsaicin. Capsaicin causes your body to release stress hormones to deal with the shock of the heat, which in turn raises your metabolism - speeding up the body's calorie consumption!

Peppers are wonderfully versatile. You can chop them up and add them to soups for some extra heat, add them to salads for a beautiful burst of color, saute them with your veggies to make a fabulous stir fry or stuff them with your favorite source of protein for an incredible main dish, put a little in your a.m. smoothie or hot beverage like Mexican hot cocoa and even add them to your desserts (if you are allowing yourself a sweet treat after dinner).

So get to that produce isle and pick a bunch of different peppers, start cooking and get your metabolism burning!

Our good friends at MenuBook.com have given us a fit variation of their recipe for jalapeno apple pie. We tried it and it's great.

JALAPENO APPLE PIE

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 CUP JALAPENO PEPPERS

1 CUP SPLENDA brand sweetener

4 EA. GRANNY SMITH APPLES (CORED & QUARTERED)

1 EA. FRESH LIME (JUICED)

1 PINCH SALT

4 TSP GINGER

2 CUPS WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

3 TBLS. SPLENDA brand sweetener

1 TBLS. CINNAMON

1 TSP. JALAPENO POWDER (MADE FROM CRUSHING FRESH CHILES IN A FOOD PROCESSOR)

1/2 CUP SPLENDA brand sweetener

1/2 CUP WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

1/4 LB. BUTTER

1 CUP JACK CHEESE (GRATED)

DIRECTIONS:

LIGHLY SPRAY A PIE TIN OR PIE DISH WITH NO STICK COOKING STRAY

BOIL JALAPENO PEPPERS IN 1/2 CUP WATER AND 1 CUP OF SPLENDA UNTIL IT DISSOLVES, THICKENS AND MAKES A JELLY

SPREAD THE JALAPENO JELLY EVENLY ON THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE TIN OR DISH.

IN A MIXING BOWL, TOSS THE APPLES AND THE LIME JUICE.

MIX THE DRY INGREDIENTS TOGETHER AND ADD TO THE APPLES.

TOSS TO COAT EVENLY

FILL THE PIE TIN OR PIE DISH ALREADY SPREAD WITH JALAPENO JELLY WITH THE SEASONED APPLES.

MIX THE FLOUR & SPLENDA,

CRUMBLE THE BUTTER MIXING WITH THE DRY MIX UNTIL TOPPING RESEMBLES COARSE MEAL.

ADD THE CHEESE AND MIX WELL.

PLACE THE TOPPING MIX EVENLY OVER THE APPLES.

BAKE IN A 350-DEGREE OVEN UNTIL TOP IS GOLDEN.

Nov 1, 2007