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Back To School LUNCHES

How To Make Fruit Disappear!!

By Macaroni Kid of Pittsburgh LLC August 10, 2013

It’s a thing of beauty… a lunch box filled with fruit! AKA a parent’s dream and a kid’s nightmare! 

Fruit can be tricky to send in a lunch box AND it can be tough to swallow when the child sitting next to them is eating an entire box of cookies.  We found some fun and useful ways to make fruit enticing and easy to pack!  

Kabob Krazy!
I just went to the party store and for less than $10 I had a huge supply of skewers of every shape and size that both my daughter and son will enjoy!  

I started chopping fruit like a samurai experimenting with all the different shapes and patterns.  I found it works best if you cut the fruit about the same size. This is definitely something the kids can get into and have fun with. My daughter loves to cut and the strawberries and pineapple are easy enough for her to practice her skills. Both of my children would love to help put these together and find their own fantastic way of making fruit kabobs! 


 
For my next trick we will make an entire apple disappear!  
This tip came from a friend of mine… she’s super smart… thanks Jen!  All you have to do is use a handy dandy apple slicer and in one quick motion, you have perfectly sectioned fruit that is easy to eat!  I know what you’re thinking, “But it will turn brown by lunch!”  Say Abra- ka -da -bra and slip a tight rubber band over the cut apple and all your child has to do is remove the rubber band and because the apple isn’t exposed to the air, the apple doesn’t brown.  The biggest trick here is to make sure your rubber band very tight or you will have a bit of browning. 


 

This next trick will make you flutter with joy.  Butterfly Bags. 


Yep.  A simple sandwich baggy, a pipe cleaner and a clothespin come together to make the cutest display of food fun!  



Host whatever snack(s) you'd like on each side.  We used goldfish and grapes as well as pepperoni and some Mickey Mouse shaped cheese!





Clothespin or pipe cleaner down the middle and you have yourself something interesting to put in the lunch box!


My final trick is how do you make your fruit talk?
This one is my personal favorite!  Bananas are a great lunch time or snack treat!  They can, however, be a bit boring in their packaging… until now!  All you have to do is take a toothpick and actually draw or write on the outside of your banana.  It won’t be visible right away but by lunch time, the letters or pictures will be clearly visible without harming the fruit inside!  How cool is this!!????