Apple Salad

During the summer, I don't have a problem getting my kids to eat at least five fruits and veggies a day.  We have ripe strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches and the list goes on and on.  We have tomatoes, squash, peppers, green beans and the list goes on and on!  Much of it comes from our own little four acres of heaven.  But when winter comes, sometimes I struggle getting them to each the winter fruit.  I make smoothies out of the blackberries, strawberries and blueberries I have in the freezer and I can get them to eat the fruit over pancakes, but when store bought fruits and vegetables don't taste the best, it is sometimes hard to get that all important five a day.

I keep a large assortment of canned citrus fruits in the pantry to add to green salads when the tomatoes at the store are $4 a pound and are as hard as tennis balls.  I buy apples, bananas, kiwi and little clementine oranges and the occasional pineapple.  I even resort to buying more juice in the winter to get at least a fruit serving at breakfast. But it gets to be a challenge because the kids get tired of the same old flavors.

My mom recently gave me a huge bag of gala apples.  Now, normally, when someone at our house eats an apple, it means that mom has cut it up.  The kids like it when I cut it up, take out the seeds and slice it thinly into a bowl.  At this house, it will get eaten if it's easy to find and eat.  It will not get eaten if it requires much work.  I keep peeled clementine oranges in a bag in the fruit crisper of the fridge.  If it's easy to see and reach and doesn't require much work, it will get eaten. 

I've been using the apples in my famous apple salad.  When I told my daughter this week that we were having stew and apple salad, I got the 'gross' look.  That's a look I see often when she isn't going to like dinner much.  She doesn't complain and she usually ends up eating it but I could tell that she thought the apple salad would not be her favorite part of the meal. 

It's really quite easy and stores well. 
Apple Salad
4-5 diced apples, cut up into bite sized pieces.  I don't peel them and I often use an assortment of colors and varieties
1/4-1/2 cup craisins or raisins or any dried fruit you like
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans, or walnuts or any nut you like
6 oz. yogurt, this can be vanilla or another flavor.  I like vanilla.

Mix and serve.

This was my daughter's favorite dish of the week.  We've had it twice this week and I took the leftovers one day as her afterschool pick-up snack.  She said this is her favorite afterschool snack of all time!  This beat out cookies!

I'm planning to use up all those apples and work on getting my kids their five a day!