Fun with Fruit Kabobs and Fruttare

Back-to-school shopping is finally underway, and as you consider your family’s lunch boxes it is a great time to start thinking about how you will fill them. Will you include gummy bears and quick fixes in their lunches? Or will you strive to keep the family excited about having fun with fruit?

Getting the whole family to enjoy fruit can be as simple as including tasty fruit in their lunch boxes — and don’t forget your own too!

I’ve partnered with Fruttare®, a delicious line of frozen fruit bars, to bring fun with fruit to your whole family. Not only are Fruttare® Fruit Bars delicious and made with real fruit you can taste, the brand is also working towards sustainably farming every piece of fruit that goes into a Fruttare Fruit Bar by year’s end. My favorite flavor is pineapple and I love that everyone in the family can enjoy their favorite flavors like coconut, strawberry, and mango, just to name a few.    

One of the great ways that we have been able to have fun with fruit was when the Fruttare Fruit Farm came to Tampa this summer. We made our final stop at The Suncoast Credit Union 8th Annual Back to School Fair. This gave me the chance to share my favorite flavors of the delicious Fruttare Fruit Bars with families from all over the Bay Area. We also made the famous University of Tampa Minarets with real fruit, which are recognizable in the Tampa skyline. This fun and simple activity is a party favorite, and everyone who made it was proud of their tasty and adorable treat.

Families also were able to get their own strawberry plant to take home at the Fruttare Fruit Farm, as a way to grow their own delicious fruit. I loved seeing families come learn about how to plant their strawberry seeds and of course enjoy a Fruttare Fruit Bar!  

Having fun with fruit is just one of the easy ways to encourage your whole family to eat more of it. An easy way to do this, is allowing your children to come shopping with you and pick out a new fruit to try. This will encourage them to try new fruits. They are also far more likely to eat it if they chose it themselves. Take those same fruits and mix them into a smoothie, or let your family get creative with it so that they can enjoy their creation.

After they’ve selected their favorite fruits, a great way to get them to enjoy it is to make fruit kabobs. They make an easy snack to include in a lunch box and, most importantly, taste yummy!

Fun with Fruit Kababos

Letting your kids use their unique personalities to create something crafty and fun can be a great opportunity to let them shine! And, when you let them pick which fruits they like, their tastes might be as different as their unique selves. Making kabobs is a great way to let everyone use the fruits they like, while allowing the kids to showcase their colorful personality and style.

Here is what you will need:

• Kabob sticks
• Assorted fruits (strawberries, mangoes, bananas, cherries, and pineapples are great for this)
• Small cookie cutters in varying shapes

Instructions:

• Layout the fruit your family selected, and use the cookie cutters to create a variety of shapes. Note: Cookie cutter won’t work on citrus fruits
• Stack the fruit onto the kabob stick

When you want to let your kids show their unique personalities, creating something crafty and fun can often be a great time to let them shine. And, when you let your kids pick which fruit they like, their tastes might be as different as their unique selves. Making kabobs is a great way to let everyone get something they like, and to let you see the colorful attitudes of each of your kids.

For this craft, you will need (2 servings):

About two cups of Assorted fruits (strawberries, mangoes, bananas, cherries, and pineapples are great for this).

All you will need to do is have your kids cut their favorite fruits into fun shapes, like hearts or stars, using cookie cutters or a Pop Chef which cuts fruit into fun shapes.

Have your kids stack and layer their favorite fruits onto the kabob stick, and you are done! They can save their kabobs for lunches during the school year, or for treats at home.

I am Angela Ardolino writing on behalf of Fruttare Fruit Bars.

Fun with Fruit and Fruttare Comes to Back to School Fair!

As summer winds down, the countdown for going back to school begins. To get ready for back to school, the Suncoast Credit Union 8th Annual Back to School Fair is taking over WestShore Plaza on August 8. The day will start off bright and early at 10 a.m. and will have live entertainment, hands on activities, workshops, speaker sessions, a scavenger hunt and so much more. In addition, local exhibitors will be providing all sorts of back to school related information with everything from health & wellness and safety to private and public schools, resources, childcare, after school programs, school supplies, tutors, children’s retailers, finances and much more!

I’ve partnered with Fruttare, a delicious line of frozen fruit bars, to bring the Fruttare Fruit Farm to the Suncoast Credit Union 8th Annual Back-to-School Fair. I’ll be demoing fun fruit activities for families there from 11am – 1pm. Stop by to learn how to make Fruity Iconic Tampa Minarets!

One of the great things about going back to school is getting back on track when it comes to eating more fruit. Packing more fruit into your family’s lunches can be one way to get them to eat more fruit—but wouldn’t it be better to get them excited about fruit?

One of the best ways to get the whole family to have fun with fruit, is to involve them in grocery shopping. Have them help you make a shopping list with their favorite fruits. Take them to the market and encourage every family member to choose a fruit they want to try—whether it is something they already love like mangoes or trying something new like a coconut, let everyone pick something. You can also let them get involved in choosing their favorite Fruttare Fruit Bars. My favorite is pineapple, and my family loves the variety of flavors available, so we like to try a new flavor each time we shop.

Once you have the fruit and the Fruttare Fruit Bars, the family will have fun making the Fruity Fruttare® Bowl!

Fruity Fruttare® Bowl

Serves 2

Create a special treat that everyone will love to make and eat!

Here is what you need:

• 1 Strawberry Fruit and Juice Fruttare® Fruit Bar

• ½  cup chopped fresh strawberries

• ½ cup low fat granola

• ½  cup plain low fat Greek yogurt

• 3 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions:

• Remove the stick from the Fruit Bar by poking it out of the wrapper and pulling it out.

• Once the stick is removed, put the bar in the wrapper back in the freezer for a few minutes.

• After the bar has chilled, unwrap it and lay it on a cutting board and cut it into cubes or shapes using a cookie cutter.

• Place the Fruttare® cubes or shapes in a bowl, add the strawberries and granola and gently stir.

• Top with yogurt and coconut.

Nutritional Information 1 serving:

Calories 220, Calories from Fat 45, Total Fat 5 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol  5 mg, Sodium 110 mg, Total Carbs 37 g, Dietary Fiber 3 g, Sugars 20 g, Protein 8 g, Vitamin A  8 %, Vitamin C 60 %, Calcium 8 %, Iron 6 %

Don’t forget to come to the Suncoast Credit Union 8th Annual Back to School Fair on August 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at WestShore Plaza in Tampa! We will be having more fun with fruit at the Fruttare Fruit Farm and there will be something for the whole family!

This post was written on behalf of Fruttare Fruit Bars.

Fun with Fantastic Fruit and Fruttare

Family vacations are winding down and summer is finally coming to a close. While the days are still long and the afternoons still have plenty of room for fun, spending time together as a family and having fun are still on the forefront of our minds.

One of the ways that I like to spend summer afternoons with my family is by creating interesting and unique crafts using fruit. Letting my family  use their imagination to create masterpieces made out of fruit not only gets them excited to enjoy the actual fruit, but it also gets them to slow down and enjoy spending time together.

I’ve partnered with Fruttare, a delicious line of frozen fruit bars, to bring the Fruttare Fruit Farm to the Suncoast Credit Union 8th Annual Back-to-School Fair on Saturday, August 8, where I’ll be demoing fun fruit activities for families from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.  So stop by to learn how to make Fruity Iconic Tampa Minarets and get free Fruttare samples.  Not only are Fruttare Fruit Bars delicious and made with real fruit you can taste, the brand is also working towards sustainably farming every piece of fruit that goes into a Fruttare® fruit bar by year’s end.

If you are looking to practice your minaret building skills before you come out to the Fruttare Fruit Farm at the Suncoast Credit Union 8th Annual Back to School fair, check out this simple step by step how-to guide.

How to make the famous Tampa Minarets

If you have ever visited Tampa, chances are you have seen the iconic minarets atop the former Florida Hotel (currently the University of Tampa’s Plant Hall). These Moorish feats of architecture can be seen on the Tampa skyline and are often part of historical tours. But you don’t have to drive all the way into the city to see them. Perfect for a fun and tasty craft at a party, you can make your own mini-minarets.

This craft is a perfect family-friendly activity.

Here is what you need:

• 5 (2-inch square) graham cracker pieces
• 1 cup low-fat whipped topping
• 1 large strawberry
• 1 small strawberry
• 1 slice banana
• Toothpicks

Instructions:

• Hold 2 pieces of graham cracker up at a 90° angle, and using the whipped topping, fill the space between the 2 crackers. Add another graham cracker as the third wall, which will stick to the whipped topping used in the center of the first 2 walls. The fourth graham cracker will be the forth wall and should also stick to the whipped topping.  (But if needed you can add a dollop more).
• Break the last graham cracker piece in half and put it on top as a roof. The structure should resemble a gingerbread house with a flat roof.
• Cut the top off of the strawberries. Poke a toothpick through the center of the large strawberry, coming up through the center of the tip of the strawberry. Add the smaller strawberry to the top of the toothpick so the flat sides do not touch.
• Use a toothpick to carve a moon shape into the banana slice. Once you have the moon shape, poke the toothpick through the center of the moon and stick the other end into the top of the smaller strawberry, leaving some of the toothpick exposed.
• Set your strawberry and moon toothpick tower on top of the graham cracker house.

Tip: If the house is wobbly, add more whipped cream or use a banana through the center of the graham cracker house to make it sturdier.

Nutritional Information 1 serving:          

Calories 160 , Calories from Fat 60, Total Fat 7 g, Saturated Fat 4.5 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 mg,  Sodium  110 mg, Total Carbs 24 g, Dietary Fiber 1 g, Sugars 15 g, Protein 2  g, Vitamin A 0 %, Vitamin C 4 %, Calcium  4 %, Iron 4 %

These mini-minarets are as tasty as they are fun to make, and you can even make it a contest at your next family gathering. Whoever can make their minaret the fastest wins!

This post was written on behalf of Fruttare Fruit Bars.