Cuties Mandarin Orange Giveaway!

Prior to moving to Chico, CA, 15 years ago, I had never tried a fresh mandarin orange.  Mom tried to get us to eat canned mandarins, but for some reason, something about a canned orange seemed wrong. Maybe it was my childhood spent in Southern California, where we’d eat our fill of fresh fruit or maybe it was that the canned oranges came without a peel – something about them bothered me.

After I moved my family to Chico, I’d see people parked by the side of the road selling fresh boxes of mandarins out of their cars. I didn’t approach them because selling fruit out of the car sort of seemed as odd as eating it out of a can, but it wasn’t long before my son, Max, received some mandarins from his teacher. I tried one and I was hooked. Sweet and juicy with no seeds, they are the perfect snack. Since that time, I’ve purchased a box of Cuties mandarins about every 1-2 weeks throughout the season. My kids love them because of the sweet taste and they are so easy to peel. You pop your finger through the top, pull down, and the whole loose peel basically comes off in just a couple of pieces.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to eat and serve my family less processed foods and having a good supply of fresh mandarins really helps in the healthy snack department.

Cuties are a relatively new variety of citrus – a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarin also known as a Clementine.

Cuties are a healthy snack kids love and moms can feel good about. They are
exceptionally sweet and provide important vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C
and potassium. They are the perfect size for small hands, easy to peel and seedless which means even the smallest children can “do it themselves.”

According to a Produce for Kids study released by the Perishables Group earlier this
year, only 18 percent of kids are eating the recommended three or more servings of fruits
and vegetables each day, and, surprisingly, 43 percent of parents say their children eat
one or fewer servings. “At a time when approximately 25 million kids ages 2-19 in the
U.S — or nearly one in three children — are overweight, healthy snacking is more
important than ever,” says Connie Evers, nutritionist and author of How to Teach
Nutrition to Kids. “Eating more fruits and vegetables can contribute to a healthy weight
and improve overall health. Offering kids a sweet alternative they love, like Cuties,
instead of unhealthy, sugary snacks, is a great way to get more fresh produce into their
diets.”

With only 80 calories per serving (two mandarins), Cuties are an excellent source of fiber and vitamin C. Each serving contains four grams of fiber – nearly 16 percent of the daily recommended amount — and 300 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin C.

The people at Cuties are going to be sponsoring a giveaway through Veggie Chic. I’m going to be giving away 10- five pound boxes of mandarins to residents of the US. All you need to do is to leave a comment on this post sometime between today and Thursday 5pm, Pacific Time.

Good luck!

Image credit: Michelle