Apple Stackers

Getting your kids to eat a fresh, whole food with each meal or snack isn’t easy. These days, it’s constant work to make sure children get a balanced diet. I have found a little creativity works better than nagging and pleading. Instead of asking if anyone wants apples, I put some apple stackers on a plate and ask in my most enthusiastic voice “Who wants apple stackers?” For hard core junk food kids, I would say nothing and just put a plate out stacked as high as I can get. I like this presentation as a side with lunch or a snack or on its own after school or before dinner when everyone is hungry. If you have a kid who likes to build, they often will enjoy helping to make the stacks themselves.

Other creative ways to get kids to eat their veggies…and a little info about WHY it’s so important…
Snack Trays
A Vegetable Plate and Veggie Sandwiches
FUN FRIDAYS: A Fruit Plate
“Homemade” Pickles
Fresh, Raw Food–An Important Source of Glutathione

To make these apple stackers, cut off a side of an apple just to the side of the core to make a round circle shape. Then cut off the opposite side so you have two circles. Next, cut off the smaller sides which make two small rectangles. Place the flat, flesh, non skin side side down on a cutting board and cut the apples into 1/4 inch slices. Put two apples parallel on the plate. Then place two apples the opposite directions like you are building lincoln logs. It is easier to do than it is to explain. I like to put the largest pieces down first and end with the smallest pieces so it resembles the apple shape. You can even fill the stackers with berries or another fun fruit.