Summer has passed and in the midwest all of the fresh fruit has gone with it. The price of strawberries has shot back up again and about the only thing priced right that looks good are the apples. Fruit is being shipping in more and more from all over the world and it doesn’t seem as ripe and fresh as it did just months ago. Every peach and pear that I buy now is hard and tasteless.

Did you know that you can easily ripen those fruits in a paper bag to make them softer and sweeter? Through some science involving ethylene gas, you can ripen up your fruit in just a day or two on your counter. The worst thing that you can do is keep the fruit in the plastic grocery bag and toss it into the refrigerator. Instead, stick a few pieces in a paper bag and close up that bag on your counter for 1-2 days. You will be amazed at how much better the fruit tastes when given a chance to ripen.

Last week my daughter had a birthday party to attend at a place called Monkey Joes. As we were dropping her off, I saw a stand for Funky Monkey fruit snacks. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered Hungry Girl talking about them, but I had never tried them.

My 9-year-old and I picked 5 different flavors, but they were a little pricey. Each serving bag was about $2.50. I figured it was worth it to try them just to see what we thought about them.

My 9-year-old is picky when it comes to fruits and vegetables. Even though I make the kids eat a fruit and a veggie at every meal, she just truly doesn’t like a lot of them. I was skeptical that she would like Funky Monkey because it is essentially nothing but freeze dried fruit (no sugar!). She opened a bag of the Applemon in the car as we were running errands. To my surprise, she loved them! The next day, we opened up all of the flavors and everyone in the family tried them. They were all a hit (although I liked the bananas and no one else did). I did a little research and found that each bag is a single serving size but the equivalent of 3 of the USDA’s recommended 2-4 servings of fruit.

Funky Monkey is a perfect snack. It would travel well or could be packed in a lunchbox. I’m planning on switching out sugary after-school snacks with Funky Monkey packages now. Luckily for me, some of the flavors are only one point on Weight Watchers. So I will be having some each day, too!

The Funky Monkey website says that you can buy them at Kroger, but I couldn’t find them. I ended up ordering them on Amazon for much less than they cost at Monkey Joes. A 12 pack is under $22 and it is eligible for Super Saver shipping. You can buy variety packs or single flavor packs. We’re partial to the Applemon and Carnival Mix at our house. Try them all and let me know what you think.

Edited: If you live near Indianapolis, they now have them at Marsh!