Fun Fruity Ideas for #ChileanEasyPeelers

Now is the season of the easy peel seedless clementine and mandarin. No more battling those citrus fruits with flesh bound to skin is if by superglue. No more losing all the juice as you fight to retrieve segments from the tattered mess of pith and peel. No more spitting out pip after pip, wondering how on earth so many could be hiding in such a small sized fruit. Personally, for these reasons, I love the season of the Chilean easy peeler, which lasts from September until November. My family can now enjoy the sweet, juicy, easy to eat fruits for healthy and delicious snacking.

The clementine and mandarin are just such delicious, little members of the citrus family. Packed with goodness, they provide fibre, folate, vitamin C, potassium, calcium and magnesium. They are also 87% water, so are great for hydration too. A perfectly nutritious little package of orangey joy, which is just wonderful for kids.

I love giving the kids easy peel citrus fruit in their school lunch boxes. It's so convenient and time saving as they are ready to go straight from the fruit bowl. As they come in their own protective skin, they will stay fresh until its time to eat. Being easy to peel is such a bonus. It means that the kids can get into them all by themselves. Pop one in their lunchbox and you can rest assured that they will be able to manage to peel it and eat it unaided.

When I was a little girl, I used to play a game when peeling clementines and mandarins. We'd compete to make the best elephant shape by removing the skin in one complete piece. We'd create a shape resembling the ears and trunk of an elephant. Easy peelers are perfect for this game.

For the sake of nostalgia, I challenged my kids to make a fun shape, removing their peel in one whole piece.  As well as the classic elephant, they also made a starfish, a man and an octopus design using the peel, so now we have more shapes to create. Making the peeling process fun, means that Freddy is now even more likely to peel and eat his fruit at school, impressing his friends on the way with his mad peeling skills!

Another fun thing to do with the lunchbox easy peeler, is to write a message or draw a funny face onto the skin with a Sharpie marker. It's nice to personalise lunch in this way, letting your little one know that mummy or daddy is thinking of them while they at school. With Halloween fast approaching, they can be decorated as adorable little pumpkin Jack O' Lanterns, adding some spooky themed fun to lunchtime. Using little stickers on the peel is another nice way of personalising lunchtime adding some fruity fun for little ones to enjoy.

Anything that encourages kids to eat more plant based foods is a good thing. So finding fun ways for children to enjoy fruit, will help them to make healthy choices that will last a lifetime. The Chilean Easy Peelers are a great product that kids will most definitely love - from the peeling to the eating!

This post is an entry for the BritMums #ChileanEasyPeelers Challenge, sponsored by Chilean Citrus Committee.