An Apple a Day . . .

At our house, we are often trying to figure out snacks that we can share as a family or a quick fruit/vegetable to prepare with a meal. An apple cut into slices is good for this, but I never liked using the tool you have to push down through the apple. The apple slicer always took so much pressure I was afraid I’d take off one of the kids fingers if they reached in too early and it was difficult to clean between uses.

That was when we started slicing up the apple as shown in the video and found it was much quicker to slice up an apple this way. As kids get older, this is a great technique to start developing their knife skills in the kitchen.

Healthy hint: Apple slices are easier to adapt to how much each family member needs or is hungry for at any given snack/meal. Most of us will eat a whole unsliced apple until it is gone regardless of the size of the apple or how hungry we are. If apple slices are offered, we can eat a 10th, a third or even one-and-a-half apples easily. Encourage kids to eat as much as they are hungry for at the time of a meal or snack, not more and not less.

How many apples do you eat each year?
The average American eats about 17 lbs. of fresh apples each year, that ends up being over 50 apples.

Fun Facts
There are 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the United States. Since the apple breeding program began at the University of Minnesota in 1888, nearly 30 apple varieties have been released. Honeycrisp and Zestar! are two of the most famous apples created in Minnesota.