Kiwis vote for favourite winter fruit + food news

Apples are the most popular winter fruit in New Zealand. Photo / 123RF

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Apples win favourite winter fruit

Apples are the pick of winter fruit amongst New Zealanders, dominating a local poll, way ahead of runners-up avocado and mandarin.
The results, revealed this week by healthy eating advocates 5+ A Day, showed a quarter of the 700 Kiwis polled picked apples as their number one. The avocado collected 15 per cent of votes, while mandarins took 14 per cent.
Nutritionist, Bronwen Anderson, said apples were an economical option.
"From a nutritional perspective apples are an excellent source of fibre, which helps you feel fuller for longer without costing you a lot of calories," she said.
"Apples are also a good source of immune-boosting vitamin C, which is important for the growth and repair of all body tissues. Vitamin C also helps to heal cuts and wounds and keeps teeth and gums healthy."
Are apples your number one? Vote for your favourite winter fruit in our poll.

Little Bird continues to soar

We remember when their first raw food unbakery opened its doors in Kingsland. We popped along to an (un)cooking class with founder Megan May, to sus out what this whole movement was about. From that visit in 2012 our Little Bird friends have continued to spread their wings. Latest on their growing list of clean green ventures is the Raw Meal Plan. For $65 per day (with three and five day options) you will be delivered your daily dose of three delicious (and seriously pretty) raw meals, plus a clean pressed green juice and a snack. The freshly made menus are mixed up so you won't get bored, plus they'll include notes explaining why what you're eating is so darn good for you (which adds to our wholesome glow). Check out the menus on their website here. We tried and tested the new offering on the back of a early morning yoga class by the roaring fire at The Centre. This new wellness haven sits conveniently atop the Little Bird Unbakery in Kingsland. Imagine how good we felt that day, digging in to our chia bircher gluten free oats with coconut yoghurt and berry-chia jelly whilst sipping a green juice. You're welcome, body.

Personalise your own online muesli

Sticking to our healthy eating theme this week, we found out about a fresh and fun breakfast idea launched this week. The Muesli Hub website is a super sleek online interactive cooking experience. Begin with your empty breakfast bowl and pick your pack between a 500g (that's 10 servings) for $16 or 1kg (20 servings) for $27. Then add your base - things like bircher, gluten free, toasted or maybe you want a warm porridge for winter. If it's too hard to decide, use the ingredients filter to select what you're after - a heart & mind mix maybe or something to give you more energy. Now get creative - add up to three spoonfuls from the pick'n'mix of nuts, select from up to 16 varieties of dried fruit to be added and a combo of seeds - with 10 to chose from each boasting their own benefits. There are a few bonus bits you can toss in the mix like freeze-dried raspberries or some chocolate bits for the sweet tooth. The nutritional calculator will keep tally of the goodness of your muesli mix. We thought the whole process was heaps of fun, but if you're in a hurry or feeling indecisive, throw one of the crafted mixes in your cart and wait a couple of days for your breakie to arrive. A bloody good gift idea, this website could get addictive.