One of my angsts about parenting in a semi-organic fashion is the dreaded children’s menu at restaurants. Grilled cheese, chicken fingers, mac and cheese, cheese pizza. Cheese, cheese, cheese…Yawn. Who cares about the lack of vegetables, let’s talk about flavor! Why do folks assume kids will only like the bland “yellow food diet”? I think restaurants could benefit from having something fun on their menus just for kids.
Fortunately, the good folks at the National Restaurant Association agree with me! Over the past four years they have grown the Kids LiveWell program to include over 200 brands of casual dining and quick service restaurants, museums, theme parks, resorts and even hospitals. This covers over 42,000 locations nationwide! At these establishments, the chefs have put together at least one meal (main dish, side item and beverage) and a side item that fit the #kidslivewell nutritional guidelines.
Eating out is one of my favorite things to do and I was worried that I would lose that hobby once Eggroll came around. Yep, I’ve had to cutback on real restaurants (takeout Chinese and soup from Noodles doesn’t count), but only because of her early bedtime. When we have taken her out, she keeps herself entertained while we enjoy our meal. Let’s hope that keeps up as she gets older!
Soon, she will be eating and I will be on the lookout for the Kids LiveWell logo to identify qualifying menu items for her. As I mentioned yesterday, I love looking at online menus before going out. I can use the Healthy Dining Finder app to see what restaurants definitely have something available.
I just took a quick pass through the app and saw that it’s mostly chain restaurants that are participating in our area now, but I would hope independent restaurants shortly follow suit. Also, I noticed that so far a lot of the options were your generic rubber chicken and steamed broccoli, but I guess that’s a step in the right direction??
In an effort to promote tasty options and not just the healthy-but-not-as-yummy option, the NRA partnered with McCormick for Chefs to do a recipe contest. Eateries in four categories (independent restaurant, independent noncommercial, multi-unit restaurant and contract food service) all were invited to submit recipes that were healthy, fun, and tasty to the contest. Official NRA chefs and nutritionists tested the recipes for nutritional value, but a group of 30 kids were the official taste-testers.
On Saturday, I was invited to Chicago for a day at the NRA show where the winners were recognized. I had the opportunity to speak with a few award winners and was blown away by their dedication to making nutritious food fun for kids. One of the winners, John Williams Executive Chef of the UW Health System, won for his “Swimming Taco” filled with fish, cabbage and mango. These aren’t necessarily foods you’d immediately think kids would favor, but when put on a plate with grapes and (get this!) a banana avocado smoothie, his “customers” just couldn’t get enough. If a kid who is stuck in the hospital is willing to try something new, just imagine what your kid might order when you hit up the local place!!
I think this proves restaurants shouldn’t underestimate a kid’s palette and neither should parents. I know it’s easy for me to say now before Eggroll starts testing my patience, but I’m going to have her at least try new things. If she needs a grilled cheese after trying artichokes and tofu, well, I guess she’s earned it.
*The National Restaurant Association did sponsor my trip to their annual tradeshow, but the opinions expressed are all my own.
