When my oldest son was an only and I still had the time, energy, and inclination to do daily, enriching projects with him (sorry, little sibs), we made a “fruit chart,” with his faves at the top and the ones he disliked at the bottom. Number one was strawberries (still is). Last: blueberries (all it takes is one shriveled, sour one to turn a kid off forever.)
Last week, the U.S. Department of Health unveiled a much more scientific poll evaluating the fruits most commonly consumed by American kids, and the winner, by a landslide: the humble apple. Turns out, one-fifth of children eat an apple a day. Which is great news: They’re full of fiber, a good source of vitamin c, and only about 90 calories.
Kids' Daily Fruit Intake |
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Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2012 |
Apples (20%) |
Fruit Juice (10%) |
Melons (6%) |
Other Fruit/Fruit Salad (5%) |
Apples are big in our house too, especially this time of year, when they are plentiful, cheap and at their peak of crunchy, sweet deliciousness. As millions of U.S. children apparently know, an apple is terrific as is, but I recently came across a pretty fun snack that makes them more “treat-like.” A little like the Make-Your-Own Trail Mix I wrote about a while back, the genius of this snack is that it lets kids in on the prep process, allowing them to customize their own apple rings as they would a pizza or cookies. I don’t know about your kids, but in our house, agency=greater acceptance when it comes to new foods.
Ingredients
- 2-3 large, round apples
- A variety of toppings (here are some ideas):
- -1-2 kinds of nut or seed butter (peanut, almond, or Nutella)
- -Cream cheese
- -Peanuts
- -Sunflower seeds
- -Chocolate chips
- -Raisins or Craisins
- -Mini marshmallows
- -Shredded coconut
- -Crumbled pretzels or chopped pretzel sticks
Instructions
- Core and thinly slice apples width-wise to make 1/4 wide rings.
- Serve the rest of toppings in small bowls and let kids decorate their own rings. Have them start by spreading each ring with a nut or seed butter or cream cheese to help the rest of the toppings stick.
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