by Wendy

They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Sweet and refreshing, they’re a healthy snack that is easy to eat at home or on the go. Nutrition wise, it’s low in calories and a good source in fiber and vitamin c. But sometimes apples start to brown too quick, forcing you to throw them away and waste money. Okanagan Specialty Fruits, a company dedicated to taking the tree fruit industry to the next level, has created a new breed of apples that solves this problem.

They’re called Arctic Apples. Using biotechnology, Okanagan Specialty Fruits has created a way to stop the enzymes in apples that cause brownness from triggering.  They’re raised and harvested the same way as all other apples. And keeping the fruit from browning helps retain some the antioxidants that are lost when bruising and browning does occur.

Arctic Apples are still under review with government regulators and should be available for purchase in the near future. In the meantime, here are some apple products you can purchase that don’t brown and are organic:

Bare Fruit Organic Fat Free Dried Cinnamon Apple Chips – lighted dusted with organic cinnamon; these baked organic apple chips are a great healthy snack that is low in calories, high in fiber and naturally sweet.

Organic Dried Apples – these dried apple rings are certified by CCOF and contain no additives or preservative.  They also make similar versions with other fruits. Enjoy and store them in fridge for up to 6 months.

Santa Cruz Organic Apple Sauce – Certified organic apple sauce packed in cute snack size containers, which make packing lunches a breeze

Cadia Organic Gravenstein Apple Juice – made from 100% organic Gravenstein apples from Somona County, California

How do you like to eat your apples?

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Wendy Yu is a digital marketing professional living in New York City. When she’s not using the power of social media to share ideas on how to be more environmentally friendly, she is exploring the city, trying local foods, and learning more about how she can reduce her carbon footprint.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Green Halloween® or our partners.

In honor on March being Nutrition Month we are going to help you get healthy by showing you how you can eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies! Using a rainbow as a guide, you can ensure that your children benefit from a wide range of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients in their diet.

By breaking produce down into groups of fire-engine red, bright orange, sunshine yellow, emerald green, and  rich blue/purples you can make eating fruits and vegetables fun and easy for your kids!  Even at a very young age, kids can easily grasp the concept of eating a rainbow.

So how do you get your kids to actually eat a rainbow? As parents, we need to get into the habit of serving fruits and veggies at every meal and snack! Start off with ones that they like (if they don’t like any…stay tuned for my next guest post!) then you can slowly try new produce! If you do the typical 3 meals and 2 snacks per day then you have at least 6 opportunities a day to get your kids eating colorful fruits and vegetable! I encourage parents to make this fun and keep it light, no pressure, no battles. If your child starts off by eating one color a day that is a great start…you can build up to a rainbow over time. Healthy bodies are made one bite at a time so celebrate every step towards the rainbow!

Breakfast: Always provide a fruit! Bananas, Apple Slices, Seedless Grapes, Pears Slices. If you eat dairy and your kids like to dip their fruit, yogurt works well! Sometimes I’ll incorporate the fruit into the meal, such as a bowl of yogurt, granola and apple chunks. Or I’ll add a handful of Raisins to a bowl of oatmeal. Or make a yummy fruit smoothie!

Snack: Veggie Time!! Cut up Celery, Carrots, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes. Once again, a dip might help encourage your little one, try hummus, or perhaps you have a great homemade dressing, a store bought salad dressing works fine too! We like to serve this on a fun plate or in a muffin tray to make it a little more interesting!

Lunch: Sandwiches are a great place to add veggies! Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy lettuce, avocado slices all work well in a sandwich. If we’re not having sandwiches we always make sure there is a plate of veggies, based on the colors eaten at snack time, we then offer a color or two that hasn’t been eaten yet.

Snack: Fruit Time!! At this point in the day think about what colors still need to be eaten…then serve a fruit that belongs to the color group that is needed. A little bowl of frozen blueberries is a tasty treat!

Dinner: We always have a vegetable with dinner! Salads, steamed veggies, raw veggie slices all make their way onto our table! We also try to include veggies in our cooking; we add things like zucchini, carrots, tomatoes to spaghetti sauce.

Dessert: Fruit again! We think Strawberry slices and Raspberries make a great way to top off a meal sometimes we’ll have them on top of frozen yogurt! If we re-think what “dessert” is, we can see that it can actually be a fantastic time to get in another serving of fruit!

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

Kia Robertson is a mom and the creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit; a tool that helps parents establish healthy habits by setting the goal of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Kia is passionate about creating tools that help parents raise healthy kids!

As parents we “know” that our children should be eating a minimum of 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables however getting them to actually eat their fruits and veggies is a different story!

Here are some suggestions that might help get your kids eating their fruits and vegetables, thanks to our friends from Chooserly.com for helping us adding some points:

1. Keep Fruits and Vegetables in Sight: Stock your fridge full of washed and ready to eat fruits and veggies.  Having them cut up in slices makes it even easier for your kids to reach in and grab a quick healthy snack.

2. Remove the Competition: If you provide only healthy options they will get eaten!  Leave the junk food for an occasional treat!

3. Prepare Meals Together: Bring kids into the kitchen starting at a young age. Toddlers can wash and rip lettuce, preschoolers can measure and stir, and older kids can find recipes and help create meals. Children are far more likely to dig into a new dish if they helped prepare it!

4. Take them Grocery Shopping: When you have the time, take your children grocery shopping with you and let them pick out a fruit or vegetable. Challenge them put a rainbow in the shopping cart!

5. Serve a Fruit or Vegetable with Every Meal: Every day and every meal, fruits and veggies should be on the menu. Eating this way makes it easy to get the minimum 5 servings of produce a day!

6. Keep it Simple: Veggies taste best when you don’t do too much to them.  Eating them raw seems to be a favorite with kids.  Add some yummy dip and your done!

7. Be a good Role Model: If you expect your child to eat vegetables, you need to be eating them, too!

8. Eat the Same Meals: Make one meal for the family. Don’t start the habit of serving different menus for everyone as you’ll end up with a house full of picky eaters and a lot of extra work in the kitchen!!

9.  Keep trying: Kids need to be exposed to, and ideally taste, a new food as many as 10 to 15 times before they’ll accept it.  Just getting them to take one bite is a victory!

10. Make it Fun: Kids are fun people and they love playing games. Keep that in mind  and  make healthy eating a fun challenge rather than a battle.

Happy Healthy Eating
Kia

Kia Robertson is a mom and the creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit; a tool that helps parents establish healthy habits by setting the goal of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Kia is passionate about creating tools that help parents raise healthy kids!

Getting kids to eat their fruits and veggies takes a combination of a lot of things! I think if you create a culture in your home where fruits and vegetables are fun and enjoyable it helps to reinforce the idea that produce is our friend! Play time is a great time to include fruits and veggies! In my opinion play is practice for life! Through play, kids can learn to appreciate fruits and vegetables and connect the fact that they are part of making healthy choices for themselves!

So when Hannah found some plasticine the other day, we had a great time making our favorite fruits and veggies! I think that any chance we get as parents to incorporate fruits and vegetables we should take it…even if it’s just during play time and no actual food is involved.

Play time is also learning time so it’s a great opportunity to bring fruits and vegetables into the mix!

Happy Healthy Playing
Kia

Kia Robertson is a mom, children’s book author and the creator of the Today I Ate A Rainbow kit; a tool that helps parents establish healthy habits by setting the goal of eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Kia is passionate about creating tools that help parents raise healthy kids!

Welcome to Day #23 of our

“31 days of {Green!} Giveaways“

Today’s question: How do you “think outside the candy box”

*Attention Facebook fans: Please answer as a comment on our blog, not our Facebook page in order to be entered to win!*

Today is day #23 of our month-long, trick-or-treating party for parents!

Just knock on our door (AKA blog) each day, answer the daily question (in lieu of shouting, “Trick or treat!” – although you are totally welcome to write that as well) and you’ll be entered to win some absolutely fabulous, ever-so-eco-friendly prizes.

Today’s prize package is worth $35!

1 set of three Preserve Jr. Toothbrushes, $10 each Continental US only.

The Today I Ate A Rainbow kit gets your kids asking for fruits & veggies!  Kit contains: An interactive chart that uses colorful magnets to track daily consumption of a rainbow of fruits & veggies, a color coded shopping list and a children’s book called The Rainbow Bunch. $25  Open to Canada and the US.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Add your e-mail address to the comment login, below. (We cannot notify you if we don’t have your e-mail address!)

2. Add a comment (one per e-mail address) with your answer to the question above.

3. Comment must post before 11:59pm PST – TONIGHT

Be sure to review our giveaway rules here. Please note shipping limitations.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow us on Facebook & Twitter for daily reminders & updates for the 31 Days of {Green} Giveaways promotion.

Good luck & have FUN!

(& See you tomorrow )

Green Halloween® is a nationwide non-profit initiative started by mother-daughter team Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell. In 2010, Green Halloween became a program of EcoMom® Alliance and has events in cities across the U.S.