Bacon Wrapped Apples, The Ultimate Gamer Food?

So next week, as I stated is the Warlords of Draenor release date.   With this there are certain gamer rituals that are usually embraced.   These include but are not limited to, staying up til midnight on release date to get out and play, power leveling your main toon, taking vacation days to level and embrace new content and oh yes, eating junk food and drinking LOTS of caffeine.

Now I never was one to stay up late - past midnight gaming and RP sessions have next day effects, if I don't sleep I get migraines and the dragons come out of hiding and I become a royal pain in the butt.
Beyond that, I don't see a reason to try to rush through all the content, I love the story lines of World of Warcraft and I'd rather quest through, see it all and enjoy it.    As I belong to three RP guilds and raiding just is not what we do, there is no real reason to rush through ten levels and try to hit server first paladin 100.   (or warrior or priest or shaman, I haven't made any decision on this topic yet)

I did manage to get a full day off on Wednesday next week, so there will be some marathon gaming taking place.  This does bring on the munchies, though nowhere as severe as they were since I started paleo - pre Paleo I was usually hungry by ten or so, shaking and trying to find snacks.   Now I don't snack as much, 10 PM usually sees me sipping on my Natural Calm and wearing my orange glasses chatting away on vent and in game.    I do love to munch on toasted nori though and that is a pretty smart choice.

But yesterday as I'm cranking varied gamer anthems through my phone I came up with what I thought was quite the brilliant idea.   This is almost too simple to be called a recipe but it does work through the concept of what a good healthy gamer snack should be in my opinion.

1.  Mixing salty and sweet.
2.  Still eating nutrient dense foods.
3.  Contains satiating protein and fat
4. Can be eaten with the fingers as to not interrupt the gaming experience with a fork (if you are in the middle of an RP session this is not as great of an issue but for dungeoning it's a bit better)
5.  Can be kept in the refrigerator or on the counter therefore not interrupting the flow in order to cook.

I'm well aware that too many marathon gaming sessions are NOT healthy but they are a special occasion experience and a social event for gamers in general, even though our friends might be in Wyoming, Colorado or Idaho.

This is a recipe that I'm almost ashamed to call a recipe but it works SO well.    It does take quite a bit of time to cook but the hands on time is pretty short.

Bacon Wrapped Apples

Three Large Apples (I used Gala for this batch but they're almost too sweet - I may use Granny Smith next time)
Uncured Bacon (I used the Kroger Brand from their Simple Truth line, but any bacon can be used)

Preheat your oven to 350

Take your apples, peel (optional but as they are on the FDA's dirty dozen list for pesticides, I prefer to peel them), core and cut into slices.   I use an apple slicer like the one here as it is just sooo much simpler to use!   It cuts down the time significantly.   Save the cores and peels for your compost pile or your chickens!

Take a slice of bacon and cut it in half with kitchen scissors.   One half of a piece of bacon wraps around one apple slice.   Put the ends of the bacon down on the cake pan, you should not need a toothpick.

Three apples will be a single layer in a 8x8 cake pan.   Arrange them and put them in the oven.   Cook until bacon is the required doneness for you - it's been over an hour here but your mileage may vary in your oven.    (These can also be reasonably cooked in your wood cookstove if you have one)

The apples will be fairly chewy but not mushy and the bacon will be crisp.

The sweet and salty together just works!

Better and more sustaining gamer food than peanut butter M&M's and Mountain Dew!  (though curses, I do miss those M&M's)