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Baked apple stuffed with raisins and nuts.

Let’s face it: it’s really, really hard to get most kids to eat healthy food. They bring their lunchboxes home still packed full of the baby carrots and yogurt you’ve tried to finagle them into for months, or, worse yet, choose the pizza and french fries in the cafeteria over your carefully prepared options. How do you get veggies or fruits into them without begging?

You could try bribery, but we prefer a different method: ply them with dessert. A fruit dessert, that is. These baked apples are the perfect lunchbox size, and they’re sweet enough to tempt your picky eater. Even better, they’re easy to prepare: just pop them in the microwave the night before!

Even as desserts, apples help you regulate the levels of glucose in your blood with flavonoids that inhibit certain enzymes involved in the breakdown of complex carbs into sugars. In plain language, baked apples taste sweet, but keep your blood sugar low! Nifty, huh?

So before you go another round in the lunchbox battle, give these a try. You may just trick your kid into a healthier day.

What you need:

  • 1 apple
  • 1 tsp. raisins
  • 1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/8 tsp. cinnamon

What to do:

  1. Core apple. Remove the peel from top 1/2 inch. In a bowl, mix raisins, sugar and softened butter. Pack mixture into core of apple.
  2. Place the apple right side up in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour 1/2 cup water into bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon over top of the apple. Cover bowl with microwave-safe plastic wrap, punctured three times for the steam to escape. Cook in microwave on full power for 5 minutes, or until apple is fragrant and soft. Check every two minutes, as microwave cook times vary.
  3. Refrigerate the apple overnight. Put in tupperware send it on to school. These apples may be served cold, but for an extra treat, tell your child to microwave it for 30 seconds in the cafeteria microwave and eat warm.

About FastMed

FastMed Urgent Care owns and operates nearly 200 centers in North Carolina, Arizona and Texas that provide a broad range of acute/episodic and preventive healthcare services 365 days a year. FastMed also provides workers’ compensation and other occupational health services at all its centers, and family and sports medicine services at select locations. FastMed has successfully treated more than six million patients and is the only independent urgent care operator in North Carolina, Arizona and Texas to be awarded The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for quality, safety and infection control in ambulatory healthcare. For more information about locations, services, hours of operation, insurance and prices, visit www.fastmed.com.

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