Healthy Fast Food Picks and Giveaway

rebeca  Monday, November 23, 2009

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fast foodThis week starts the frenzy of the holiday season and many of us find ourselves wondering ‘When am I going to have a healthy meal again?’ After all the extended shopping extravaganzas and road trips to grandma’s house, it can be difficult to find time to cook. Add in all the tempting cookies, cakes, pies and candy doled out this time of year and you can end up with major holiday bloat.

Two of my favorite places to score tasty, fast and (somewhat) healthy grub on the go are Chick-Fil-A and McDonald’s. And, it turns out Eat This, Not That authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding agree. Here’s a breakdown:

Chick-Fil-A: According to the company’s website, Chick-Fil-A is the first national quick-service restaurant chain to offer a complete menu with zero trans fat….that includes their signature sandwich, all the way down to the desserts and condiments. Zinczenko and Goulding still advise diners to use common sense though. i.e. skip any salad with ranch dressing, avoid bacon at all cost, and don’t even think about having a milkshake.

McDonald’s has added many new menu items over the years to appeal to more health conscience eaters, and at the click of a mouse, you can:

  • Choose a McDonald’s menu item to learn about the item’s nutrition facts, ingredients, food exchanges and food allergen information. You also may customize menu items that display components and get recalculated Nutrition Facts.
  • Get a nutrition analysis of menu items to help you balance your McDonald’s meal with other foods you eat.
  • Find food exchanges for popular menu items to assist you with meal planning for diabetes and weight control.
  • Get a nutrition analysis of your kids meals to help you choose foods that best meet your child’s nutrition needs.
  • Learn more about how Mighty Kids Meals contribute to your child’s recommended daily intake for key nutrients.
  • For people concerned about food allergies, McD’s has consolidated all allergen information into an ingredient statement for each menu item – providing one current source of information.

For sure picks, Zinczenko and Goulding recommend Apple Dippers and 2% milk for kids and Quarter Pounder without cheese for adults. My personal faves include the grill chicken sandwich without mayo (370 calories), Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken (220 Calories), Snack Wrap with grilled chicken (270 Calories), and the Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait (160 calories)

Win It

The Contest has closed. Congratulations, Karen. You are the lucky winner. Thank you, everyone, for playing.

Now that making healthy choices is easier for your on-the-go meals, I’m going to give away gift cards to make it easier on your wallet. You have a chance to win $50 in McDonald’s Arch Cards, a $20 gift card from Chick-Fil-A and a 2010 Cow Calendar (full of valuable coupons). Here’s all you have to do:

To win, you must: Visit either the Chick-Fil-A or McDonald’s website, come back here and tell me something interesting you learned. You’ll get an entry for each website you visit…so it pays to visit both.

Additional Entries: (make sure to leave a comment for each entry)

  1. Follow The Average Parent on facebook.
  2. Share this on your Facebook wall: “The Average Parent is giving away Mc’D and Chick-Fil-A gift cards for healthy fast food picks. http://averageparent.com”
  3. Follow The Average Parent on Twitter.
  4. Tweet this: “@AverageParent is giving away McD’s and Chick-Fil-A gift cards for healthy fast food picks. http://averageparent.com”

The contest will end at midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at which time the winner will be chosen at random. Must ship to an actual address in the US (no P.O. boxes). Must be 18 or older to enter. Average Parent contributors are not eligible to win (sorry guys).

31 Responses to “Healthy Fast Food Picks and Giveaway”

  1. Chloe Williams, on November 24th, 2009 at 9:33 am Said:

    I checked out McDonalds under their nutrition section. They have healthy meals under “balanced choices” that tell the calorie and fat so you can make a good choice.

  2. Kristen Cook, on November 25th, 2009 at 8:29 am Said:

    McD’s – The happy meal is celebrating it’s 30 year birthday right now.

  3. Kristen Cook, on November 25th, 2009 at 8:40 am Said:

    Chick-fil-A : They have a choc. chip peppermint milkshake right now…yum! CFA is also only based in 38 states…I figured it was more “nationalized” than that.

  4. Cheryl, on November 28th, 2009 at 11:42 am Said:

    Wow….according to the McD nutrition list, latte is far fewer calories than a hot cocoa…maybe my coffee habit isn’t such a bad thing after all!

  5. Melissa Zerbe, on November 28th, 2009 at 11:43 am Said:

    First, my son calls this place ‘Chick-N-A’. Second, I learned that the Chick-fil-A cows won the 2007 Favorite Icon award!

  6. Brandi Williamson, on November 28th, 2009 at 11:53 am Said:

    Chick-Fil-A: Their founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in 1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, GA. He believed his decision was both practical as well as spiritual.

  7. Brandi Williamson, on November 28th, 2009 at 11:57 am Said:

    McDonald’s: McDonald’s has days called “McHappy Day” between November 10th – 20th to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House.

  8. Brandi Williamson, on November 28th, 2009 at 11:59 am Said:

    I updated my status to promote your Giveaway.

    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/brandi.williamson?ref=profile

  9. Sara, on November 28th, 2009 at 12:14 pm Said:

    Wow, the chick-fil-a chicken minis I sometimes get for breakfast have 10 grams of fat….that’s worth it!!!

  10. Sara, on November 28th, 2009 at 12:16 pm Said:

    I shared this post on my FB wall!

    http://www.facebook.com/share.php?src=bm&u=http%3A%2F%2Faverageparent.com%2Fstuff-we-love%2Fhealthy-quick-eats-and-giveaway%2F&t=Healthy%20Fast%20Food%20Picks%20and%20Giveaway&v=3#/posted.php?id=1635576940&success

  11. Shalome Frye, on November 28th, 2009 at 12:34 pm Said:

    Chick-fil-A cooks with peanut oil because it’s the purest oil. It makes the chicken tast bette,r as well is a healthier choice.

  12. Shalome Frye, on November 28th, 2009 at 12:38 pm Said:

    Happy meals have a kids many vitamins that kids need daily. In the meals you will find iron, calcium, vit A, and vit C

  13. Kristen Cook, on November 28th, 2009 at 1:11 pm Said:

    I updated my status on facebook with the information for the giveaway. I “tagged” you in the status update…hopefully it worked.

  14. Sabrina, on November 28th, 2009 at 1:24 pm Said:

    I learned McDonald’s has a happy meal website that my kids cam play games on!

  15. heidi green, on November 29th, 2009 at 10:15 am Said:

    love the happy meals!

  16. Karon Hightower, on November 29th, 2009 at 12:46 pm Said:

    I did already know that the Chick-Fil-A minis they offer for breakfast were one of the lowest calorie count items they offer. I did not realize how low they were in fat. Both counts are surprising considering how sweet they taste!

  17. Karon Hightower, on November 29th, 2009 at 12:49 pm Said:

    I started at McD’s website & flipped to an article I read a while back regarding kids food choices from the Eat This, Not That authors. While McD’s apple dippers are a good choice, I discovered that Burger King has a kid’s option I didn’t even know about: Mac & Cheese. Their Mac & Cheese with apple fries & milk is the best kids meal option I have locally!

  18. Nicole Garvey, on November 29th, 2009 at 1:40 pm Said:

    CFA has been doing business for over 40 yrs! wow~

  19. Nicole Garvey, on November 29th, 2009 at 1:46 pm Said:

    I didn’t know that the happy meal has been around for 30 yrs!! too cool!

  20. Mary Brady, on November 30th, 2009 at 12:39 pm Said:

    Chick-Fil-A was founded in Georgia almost 60 years ago.

  21. Mary Brady, on November 30th, 2009 at 12:41 pm Said:

    McDonalds current Happy Meal toys are Nerf and Strawberry Shortcake!

  22. Nicole, on December 1st, 2009 at 7:23 am Said:

    This might not be interesting, but I never knew there were any Chick-Fil-A locations in NY!!! I just did a search and there is one. I’ve been craving a chicken sandwich since I had one in North Carolina and thought I was just out of luck, lol

  23. Christine Bentley, on December 1st, 2009 at 8:38 am Said:

    Chick-Fil-A uses peanut oil to fry food in…much healthier option.

  24. Christine Bentley, on December 1st, 2009 at 8:39 am Said:

    Mc Donalds has made “Food Quality its Highest Priority”…take the test to see what goes into their food!

  25. Christine Bentley, on December 1st, 2009 at 8:41 am Said:

    I shared this on my Facebook profile! :)

    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=41703663

  26. Annmarie W., on December 1st, 2009 at 5:31 pm Said:

    I saw at the Chick-fil-A site that their Eat Mor Chikin cow campaign began in 1995 with a single billboard!

  27. Annmarie W., on December 1st, 2009 at 5:33 pm Said:

    At the McDonald’s site, I saw that their McHappy Day (which benefits the Ronald McDonald house) was held Nov 10-20.

  28. Annmarie W., on December 1st, 2009 at 5:38 pm Said:

    I’m a facebook fan! (Annmarie Dipasqua Weeks)

  29. Annmarie W., on December 1st, 2009 at 5:39 pm Said:

    I posted to my facebook profile.

  30. Annmarie W., on December 1st, 2009 at 5:40 pm Said:

    I follow averageparent on twitter! (amweeks)

  31. Annmarie W., on December 1st, 2009 at 5:42 pm Said:

    I tweeted! http://twitter.com/amweeks/status/6253105057

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Weekly Tip

“Oh, The Places You’ll Go” End of School-Year Tradition

It’s not too much longer till the school year comes to a close, so I wanted to share this amazing idea I found on…you guessed it…Pinterest. You all know the book Oh, The Places You’ll Go from Dr. Seuss. It’s a great graduation gift. But, Lisa from Lisa’s Workshop suggests grabbing a copy when your kid is young. At the end of each school year, give it to your child’s teacher to sign or write a note. When you’re child graduates (hard to think of!), you’ll have a lovely gift to give him/her. Lisa has even included some lovely tags in her blog post, so make sure to go check it out.

For more clever ideas like this, make sure to follow me on Pinterest.

Source: lisasworkshop.blogspot.com via Rebeca Holloway - on Pinterest

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