Fast food choices for children have been at the center of the latest nutritional news.  This week, McDonald’s implemented a new effort in improving the nutritional content of Happy Meals by including apple slices and a smaller kid-sized portion of french fries. It’s wonderful that McDonald’s is increasing their commitment to consumers by taking steps in the right direction of health and wellness and promoting healthy eating and better nutrition. Fast food restaurants are listening to our nation’s cry for healthier options by providing better choices, which is certainly exciting news.  With the reality of our busy lifestyles, it’s helpful to have healthy fast food options for those times when we find ourselves in the drive-thru lane over the lunch hour. Yet, even with improvements in drive-thru menu options, it’s important to remember that fast food is STILL “fast food,” which is generally high in calories and fat—and should therefore, be limited.

Tips for Healthy Eating in a Hurry:

Plan ahead. It doesn’t take long to toss a few food items into a cooler before you head out the door…but it does require planning ahead.

Portable foods. Fill your fridge with portable foods like cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit and veggies. Pack sandwiches ahead of time—keeping in mind that they don’t need to be boring! Let your kids choose from a list of options: tuna, turkey, egg salad, chicken or peanut butter and fruit preserves (a better alternative to jelly). If your child isn’t a sandwich fan, prepare a dish ahead of time that can be enjoyed cold, such as pasta salad or even chili. If you have access to a microwave later on, you can get more creative with foods that may be more traditionally thought of as dinner meals such as lasagna, beef and vegetable stew, chili or a casserole. Foods like these can be made in batches ahead of time, frozen and taken out as needed. Dinner leftovers can also be saved for lunches or afternoon snacks. Whole fruits, fresh vegetables, and mixtures of nuts are portable and easy options that add substance to meals while packing in nutrients.

Keep it simple. When in doubt, focus on keeping things simple by going back to the basics of healthy eating. With the widely varied mixture of nutritional information available, it can be confusing to know what to eat and how to feed your kids— especially when you’re busy. Serving real, whole foods will never be a fading trend, and you will always have the most control of your food when you make it yourself. Strive to include a protein, carbohydrate and fat choice at every meal and snack.

Does meal planning stress you out? For meal plans, you’ll love our 50 Days of PFC, where it’s all laid out for you so you know what to eat for 50 full days. We take away the burden of having to figure out what to eat and lay it all out in one convenient e-guide (we have one for adults, and one for kids, too!)