Healthy Happy Meals

McDonalds recently announced that they will be taking steps to make their Happy Meals healthier. They are reducing the fry portion size and adding apple slices to all Happy Meals.  Does this mean lunch at Ronald’s is a nutritionally sound choice?  I’m going to vote NO.

On the other hand, I make the healthiest happy meals around.

Hair - oranges; Eyes - pepperoni; nose - cheese; mouth -strawberries; beard - yogurt

See?  Don’t these lunches look happy?  They make my kids happy too.  I started making “happy meals” as a way to put a new twist on our lunch repertoire.  I’ll be the first to admit that my lunches are not very exciting.  I almost refuse to turn on the stove or oven for lunch, so we are pretty much limited to sandwiches, finger foods, and leftovers.  However, while my three year old might not be very excited about eating slices of roast chicken AGAIN, he’s incredibly enthusiastic about eating “lips”.

eyebrows - green pepper; eyes - cherries; ears - pita chips in hummus; nose - cheese; mouth - rolled up lunch meat

Happy meals also give us the opportunity to talk about our facial features, our senses, and about how different people are made up of different things (genes) that make us all look different.

I’ve also done mandala-style patterns for lunch. These are equally fun, and just as with the faces, it’s fun to hear the logic behind what they eat first.  The Mandala lunches allow us to learn about patterns, color, shapes, and symmetry/asymmetry.

From the center, out: strawberry, mango, baby carrots, apple slices, rolled lunch meat with mustard, and a yogurt dip

In addition to fancy plate layouts, we also make our lunchtime happier by following themes.  Sometimes we eat a “yellow” lunch (squash, mango, curry rice, yellow pepper, etc…).  Other times I key off of shape, or choose foods that all start with the same letter.  I also often take a regular plate of lunch and turn it into something special by changing the name of the food. So, instead of grapes, they’re “super power pellets” and quiche leftover from breakfast is a slice of “anti-gravity pie”.  And of course, all super hero meals must only be eaten by super heroes, so the kids come to the table dressed to the theme.

Power Up!

And finally, one other trick I know to make food more fun: add variety to your basic staples.  Alternate between baby carrots and big carrots (a.k.a mega crime-fighting swords).  Swap almonds for walnuts.  Switch between peanut butter and sun butter (made from sunflower seeds). Substitute tubes of yogurt for yogurt in a cup, and vice versa.  And the easiest one, always buy fruit and veggies that are in-season to keep your offerings changing.

In many cases, kids’ food preferences can be affected significantly by presentation.  I’m not a big fan of “hiding” veggies and other unattractive foods in purees and casseroles because I think it’s important for kids to know what they are eating and why it’s important that they eat those things.  My kids really enjoy our healthy happy meals, even if they don’t come with a toy.

Do you have any creative tricks for getting your kids to eat healthy?

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