Florida Ranked as 12th Worst State To Raise Children

A new study is out with the best and worst states to raise kids. If you’ve thought about moving around the country to bring up your little ones, here are the results Wallet Hub found. They considered things like a state’s education system, healthy lifestyles, unemployment rates, family fun activities and affordability.

The best 3 states to raise children?
You’ll want to head north. Way north. Massachusetts ranked highest on the list. The Bay State scored well with education and child care, but slipped a bit when it comes to “family fun.” New York came in second place, but took a hit on affordability. Vermont rounds out the top 3, topping the U.S. when it comes to heatlh and safety. But just like Vermont, they took a big hit on “family fun,” ranking 44th out of the 50 states.

How did Florida do?
Florida didn’t do so well. We came in near the bottom of the list. Florida DID do well in one category: family fun. That’s easily understandable. But Florida came in dead last in affordability. That category takes into consideration things like real estate prices, credit scores of residents, debt, and how much money families are saving for college education.

The 10 worst states to raise a family…
Curious who ranked lower than Florida in the survey? Here are the WORST ten states to raise a family according to the study. [Source: Wallet Hub]

#1: Mississippi
#2: New Mexico
#3: Louisiana
#4: South Carolina
#5: Oklahoma
#6: West Virginia
#7: Arkansas
#8: Alabama
#9: Nevada
#10: Georgia

6 New Foods to try at the 2022 Florida State Fair

One of the reasons Florida ranked #1 for family fun!

• The Buffalo Chicken Funnel Cake Taco

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  This one comes to us from Mama Jane at The Best Around. If you've listened to my radio show over the years, you've heard me gush about her "Funnel Bacon on a Stick." It's been featured on national television shows like Carnival Eats for years. For last year's Florida Strawberry Festival, Mama introduced Plant City to the "Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Funnel Cake." It was INSANELY good. Mama's creation for the 2022 Florida State Fair is a taco shell dipped in a special buffalo funnel mix, fried golden, then filled with buffalo chicken dip, topped with lettuce, cheddar cheese, ranch, and Cool Ranch Doritos crumbles.

• The Donut Dog

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  DeAnna's is a family-run Florida company. They also have been featured on Carnival Eats. They have 3 new offerings this year. For this one, they take a homemade long John Donut and puts inside a fresh grilled all beef hot dog. Add in some applewood bacon and then an icing drizzle!

• Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll

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  I'm so in on this one. Grandma Brown's Cinnamon Rolls have been making these since 1970. This one is topped with warm cinnamon apple pie filling, then drizzled with warm caramel and white frosting.
• Deep Fried Banana Pudding

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  DeAnna's Steak Sundaes has another one to tempt you. Love banana pudding? How about we add in some donut holes and top it with whipped cream and caramel?

• The Poutine Sundae

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  Another one from DeAnna's. You take some french fries, top it with fresh cheese curds and gravy and you have a Montreal favorite. But we're in 'Murica darn it... so they added some sirloin steak too!

• Cookie Dough Explosion

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  Last but not least, how about this for decadent? The Funky Flamingo out of Gulfport will serve up this sundae with a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie, topped with a salted caramel gelato. Then they pile on a couple scoops of cookie dough that's covered in hot fudge, caramel and whipped cream. Oh - and they're not done. They then top it off with Oreos.

Florida State Fair Food Highlights from 2021

If you didn’t make it last year, here’s what you missed!

• PB and Spicy Jelly Tots

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  Found at Swift Concessions-Tots, you don't want to miss out on these peanut butter and spicy jelly tater tots,.

• Deep Fried Carmel Apple Sundae

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  Found at DeAnna's Steak Sundaes, doughnut holes are rolled in cinnamon sugar, layered with cream cheese frosting, sautéed caramel apples, and topped with whip cream and caramel drizzle!

• Pickle Pizza

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  Found at Angela's Concessions, this white garlic sauce base pizza is topped with mozzarella cheese and dill pickles then garnished with ranch and dill seasoning after it comes out of the oven is a must-try for any pickle fan!
• Orange Glaze Funnel Cake

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  Found at The Midway - Wade Shows, this orange glazed double-decker funnel cake with orange cream frosting, orange glaze whip cream, topped with orange candies is a decadent delight. It will have you saying, "Orange you glad you tried it."

• Farm Fresh Blueberry & Cream Doughnut

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  Found at Peachey's, their famous doughnut is topped with whip cream and blueberries!

• Loaded Tater Burger

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  Found at Carousel Foods, this hamburger is topped with shredded toasted cheese, stuffed with cottage fries and bacon, then topped with a ranch dressing, chives, and your choice of lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. YUMMY!
• Gelato Taco

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  Found at Funky Flamingo, for the first time ever, they are featuring Gelato in a soft serve. This enables them to provide customers with exotic flavors that used to only be available in hand-scooped Gelato. Flavors like Salted Caramel, Tutti Frutti, Espresso, and Cheesecake. They offer them in their homemade chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, and Gelato tacos and nachos. These are made with their own dutch Stroopwafel recipe made into taco shells and nacho chips for a very unique and tasty treat!

• Gelato Nachos

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  Found at Funky Flamingo, for the first time ever, they are featuring Gelato in a soft serve. This enables them to provide customers with exotic flavors that used to only be available in hand-scooped Gelato. Flavors like Salted Caramel, Tutti Frutti, Espresso, and Cheesecake. They offer them in their homemade chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, and Gelato tacos and nachos. These are made with their own dutch Stroopwafel recipe made into taco shells and nacho chips for a very unique and tasty treat!

• Flaming Hot Cheetos Funnel Cake

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  Found at The Best Around, this Flaming Hot Cheetos Funnel Cake is made with real funnel cake mix, and they add cornmeal, spices, fresh jalapeños, and crushed flaming hot Cheetos to the mix then pour it through a funnel and fry it up crunchy. It’s topped with nacho cheese and more flaming hot Cheetos. Chester Cheeto is all about this!
• Deep Fried Rainbow Cookie

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  Found at Paul's Concessions, this Italian rainbow cookie from New York is dipped in a sweet batter, deep-fried on a stick with powder sugar!

• Pulled Pork Nachos

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  Found at The Notorious Pig, this dish with tortilla chips with cheese sauce, pulled pork, and then topped with their very own BBQ sauce, sour cream, scallions, and jalapeños looks to die for!

• Deep Fried Molten Lava Cake

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  Found at Carousel Foods, this molten lava cake is dipped in funnel cake batter and deep-fried.
• Blue Raspberry Pineapple

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  Found at Cinnamon Saloon, cool off with this delicious blue raspberry lemonade in a fresh pineapple!

• Cookie Pail

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  Found at The Cookie Crate, come get the fan-favorite Cookie Pail.

• Candy Pop Sundae

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  Found at Best Around, they put candy-infused popcorn in the bottom of a sundae cup. Then they add your favorite flavors of hand-dipped ice cream, more candy-infused popcorn, drizzle carmel and chocolate syrup, and top it with your favorite candy bar.
• Buffalo Chicken Sundae

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  Found at DeAnna's Steak Sundaes, hand-cut French fries are layered with Ranch Sauce, fresh battered chicken tenders with Southwest Sauce, and Spicy Ghirdanera Relish on top.

• Beer Cheese Fries

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  Found at Chester's Gator's, their new beer cheese & bacon loaded fries are a savory treat you don't want to miss out on!