While many kids will eat fruit, not all kids love fruit. You know what can make fruit better though? Chocolate. In fact, dark chocolate is actually quite good for you if you keep to the serving size.

Cut an apple (preferably Fuji or Gala) into wedges. Dip the wedges into melted dark chocolate and (while it’s still wet) sprinkle some granola on them. Then let the chocolate harden in your fridge or on the counter on a piece of wax paper.

This makes a great afternoon snack when your kids come home from school. Or you can send these to school in their lunch box in place of fruit snacks. To keep apple slices from browning, brush the exposed sides with a touch of lemon juice.

These are picky-eater-approved for sure. While taking care of a family member with Alzheimer’s, we were having issues coming up with food that was healthy and that he enjoyed (because he developed some texture and taste issues while the disease progressed). We finally
settled on “Egg In A Basket”.

It is basically a piece of toast with a hole in the middle. The toast is placed in a pan and an egg is cracked into the hole. Fry on both sides and you’re done!

Okay, so traditionally they are fried but you can bake them and they come out just as great (and not as greasy). Put the holed bread on a hot pan, crack an egg in the hole and sprinkle with cheese and some sage. Then put it in a 400 degree oven for a little over five minutes (it depends
how well you want your egg to be done).

You can also use different kinds of bread like rye.

Popcorn is a wonderful, healthy snack as long as you cook it right. Microwave popcorn is packed with preservatives, doesn’t taste as good, and is fairly bad for you (though there are some healthier versions out there). If you want a big bowl of popcorn to share with the family, I
suggest that you try this:

Heat three tablespoons of grapeseed oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Add a few dashes of salt. Wait until warm. You can tell when it’s ready by running some water over your fingers and then flicking that water into the pot; if it sizzles then it’s ready.

Once it has warmed up, add five kernels to the pot and cover. Shaking every now and then. Once all of the kernels have popped, add one third cup kernels into the pot, cover, and continuously shake until the popping has slowed down.

To make some awesome popcorn balls with this, take about three cups of the popcorn and set aside. Melt some butter in a pan over low heat (so that it doesn’t burn away), add about two and a half cups of marshmallows. Cook until it is all melted. Add the popcorn and some dry roasted peanuts, pretzel pieces, some honey nut Cheerios (or some other favorite breakfast cereal) and stir together.

Wait a couple minutes until it has cooled some, then form them into balls about the size of your fist. This is a great addition to parties, as an after school snack, or a Saturday treat while you’re all sitting around watching a movie together.

Here’s a different take on turkey melts. Mix some Dijon and honey in a bowl and then spread it over two slices of whole wheat bread. Put on a slice of Swiss cheese, a couple thinly sliced pieces of apple (granny smiths are great for this because they are nice and tart), and a couple slices of turkey.

Once the sandwich is made, coat the outside of the bread with some cooking spray and heat the sandwich in a non-stick skillet.

You can feed your kids healthy chili cheese mac by swapping some of the traditional ingredients with healthier versions. Instead of regular macaroni, use whole wheat macaroni. Don’t forget to pick out some lean ground beef to use as well. Or if you want an even healthier twist, try to use ground turkey instead.

The seasonings and cheese sauce can hide quite a bit so you can sneak in some great vegetables in there if you chop it up really fine. The same goes for spaghetti sauce also.