If you've noticed the posts have been a little slow around here, it's because I'm approaching deadline on a big (separate) project. Within a few days I'll be back to the at-least-daily updates.

Baby A has also chosen this time to ratchet her activity level sky-high, so the bits of free time are, um, very occupied.

When it all blows over, and the project becomes public, I'll have some really interesting stuff to share with you. So hang in there with me.

I also promise—promise—to post that second QSK Podcast I talked about, what, three weeks ago? (Go here if you missed the first one.) It's going to be about quick-serve chains that are cutting levels of trans-fats levels of their menus—chains like Wendy's, Pat & Oscar's, and to name a casual-dining chain, Cheesecake Factory. I'll also talk about chains that have promised to cut trans-fats but failed to follow through, and name a few of the reasons why.

Posted by QSMama at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Turns out the Starbucks up the street from me has started hosting a children's storytime Tuesday mornings at 11.

Pretty interesting, given this. Hmm?

Are your local Starbucks locations doing storytimes, too? Comment and let me know.

Posted by QSMama at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Del Taco is offering a first among quick-serve chains: a bilingual series of DT Comics that feed kids' imaginations with dynamic artwork, relatable characters, trivia, and activities such as a jungle adventure or a trip through time.

The bilingual comic book series of four books (Spanish and English) is a premium with purchase of a Kids Loco® meal.

Last month, Del Taco introduced its new kids quesadillas, two grilled 6-inch flour tortillas filled with cheddar cheese. Since then, Kid Loco meal sales have increased 25 percent.

Del Taco’s Kid Loco meals include choice of a the quesadillas, a cheeseburger, taco, or bean and cheese burrito, with fries, drink, and a premium for $2.99.

The DT Comics’ series feature three characters, a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky, sports-crazy boy named Del, his hip and fun friend Neena who loves to learn, and their cuddly pet chinchilla Mr. Nibbles who has a knack of getting lost. The three embark on four different adventures including an imaginary trip to the zoo, an excursion to the park to play sports, an exciting adventure through the rain forest and a fantasy trip through time to the prehistoric era.

Del Taco's senior vice president of marketing, Sharon Fogg, says she expects the bilingual comic books to be an educational premium. “At the local level," says Fogg, "we plan to share the comic books with schools and community organizations.”

Featuring facts and interesting information, the comic books are also a cultural exchange that gives kids an introduction to everyday words in Spanish and English, accompanied by an image. The full-size, color, twenty-page comics were developed by Overland Park, Kan.-based Creative Consumer Concepts (C3), a child-focused brand marketing agency.

In the Del’s Jungle Adventure book, there is a page of rain forest facts with geography points of interest. Another page discusses the animals found in the Amazon including woolly monkeys and caiman crocodiles.

In the book City Park Champs, Del and Neena learn about sports trivia including the record for the fastest skateboard ride, uniforms soccer players wore 100 years ago and how starting blocks can detect a false start.

Posted by QSMama at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A QSK reader tipped me off to a helpful story in The Green Guide, an emagazine for consumers who want to buy—you guessed it—green.

The story, about making healthier quick-serve choices duirng road trips this summer (or, really, anytime), names O'Naturals and Panera, two chains that Quick Serve Kids has covered recently. Plus the story suggests regional options like Organic to Go, Better Burger, Burgerville, Amazon Cafe, and Healthy Bites Grill, among others. Bet you'll find some options near you.

Posted by QSMama at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Smiley, the iconic face of Pittsburgh-based Eat'n Park Restaurants, turns twenty this summer. And who doesn't love an iced cookie?

To celebrate, Eat'n Park is holding a month-long party in its restaurants and in surrounding communities to honor the image that has helped shape the brand for two decades.

At all Eat'n Park locations, families can enjoy $0.99 kids meals until August 11. Children can create their own birthday card for Smiley and will receive a complimentary birthday treat bag with Smiley goodies, including limited-edition, collectable Smiley trading cards, stickers, tattoos, and a Smiley cookie. Customize a Smiley cookie, or find out more about Smiley's 20th Birthday Celebration or Eat'n Park, at the chain's web site.

Smiley first appeared on the face of a cookie in 1986, given away to kids to help promote new bakeries in Eat'n Park locations. Since then, the cookie has become a favorite treat of Pittsburghers.

But, Smiley isn't just a cookie. In 1990, Eat'n Park introduced Smiley as a mascot and personality for the brand. Now, he has his very own team, Team Smiley, to travel around with him in two nomadic marketing vehicles, the Cookie Cruisers. This spring, Eat'n Park launched the second Cookie Cruiser, C2, because of the high volume of appearance requests for Smiley. Smiley and Team Smiley visit neighborhoods, attend community and charity events and provide families with activities and Smiley cookies.

Smiley's 20th Anniversary Birthday Celebration kicked off in Eat'n Park communities and restaurants on Sunday, July 16th. Smiley is also embarking on a special Birthday Tour from July 16 to August 12, making more than 65 appearances at selected restaurants, community locations, and events throughout the tri-state area, including the 15th Annual Tops KidsFest at Tower City Amphitheater on July 22nd and 23rd from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M., where kids can decorate their own Smiley cookie.

Eat'n Park Restaurants, founded in 1949 as a family carhop, is an award-winning family restaurant chain with 77 locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. It's a member of the Eat'n Park Hospitality Group, a leading, regional multi-concept foodservice company.

Posted by QSMama at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Check out this interesting discussion over at Blogging Baby, about whether or not what mom eats during pregnancy affects the child's palate.

That post was was racking up the comments just as several quick-serve chains announced changes to the spice factor on their menus. Namely: Wendy's announced it was testing a super-spicy chicken sandwich in three markets. Wendy says the new sandwich will be even hotter than the Spicy Chicken Sandwich it has marketed for a decade.

But just as Wendy's stepped up the spice, rival McDonald's said it was removing its Hot 'n' Spicy McChicken sandwich from menus after a six-month run.

Competitor Burger King also serves a spicy chicken sandwich.

So let's tie together all this news in light of the Blogging Baby discussion. I'll start. I love spicy foods and couldn't get enough of them while pregnant with Baby A. The more intense the taste, the better. And she so far adores salsa (even the hot ones), Thai food, and Chinese food, which has pretty intense flavors.

How about you and your kids? Any relationship between your tastes and theirs? Dads, what have you noticed? And everyone: does a super-spicy chicken sandwich appeal to you?

Posted by QSMama at 06:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In the Atlanta suburb where I grew up, Starbucks is now the place for teenagers to hang out after school and in the evenings. I think that's cool. There are many worse (read: illegal) things they could be doing—especially in a town where not many activities are provided for them.

Then again, I'm all about the double-skim latte. I'm biased. But I'd much rather a teenaged Baby A sneak out for a latte than for a pint of Jaeger.

Recently several QSK readers have emailed me about the media coverage of Starbucks' not-so-overt, but definitely there, attempts to market to kids and teens. Analysts on NBC's TODAY Show pinned the chain's newest line of fruit juice–based frozen drinks as a direct attempt to create lifelong brand loyalty to Starbucks.

And stories like this one in a Phoenix paper characterize Starbucks' in-the-field marketing and sampling as a direct attempt to win over the kids.

Meanwhile, Starbucks says it has never violated its promise not to market to children.

The story also makes the point that other coffee and snack chains do market to kids—the local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which has similar items on its menu, gave away ice-blended drinks to kids who brought their report cards into the stores.

You know, Baby A has recognized Starbucks by name from a very young age (like 19 months). That's my own doing. And I have a feeling my own habits and attitudes are going to affect her a lot more than some marketing from coffee chains.

Wonder if I'd feel differently if it weren't about coffee? If I had a Burrito-Supreme-a-day habit instead, would I hold Taco Bell harmless for marketing to my kid, or wanting to serve her school lunch?

Where do you fall on this issue? Read the link above, or Google "Starbucks marketing to children," then come back here and comment. It'd be great to hear from parents with kids older than mine.

Posted by QSMama at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Happy Bastille Day!

Unless you're a superfan of Subway, you'll probably get just about as excited as I do about the chance to purchase Subway clothes and merchandise. Except: How cute is this onesie? "Baked fresh...right out of the oven?" That's actually pretty funny, and the Subway logo is pretty small.

Remember, it's also Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. Show up at one of their restaurants dressed head-to-toe as a cow and get a free combo meal! (Or make your kids dress up.) It is not too late! If you do it, PLEASE send in a picture of yourself or your kids. I'll post it (anonymously, if you wish).

Arrrggghhh! (Okay, that just doesn't come naturally for me, but let's go with it. Ahem.)

Through August 3, McDonald's continues its "Pirates of the Caribbean" kids' meal theme. With the purchase of a Happy Meal or Mighty Kids Meal, kids get one of eight toys for perfect pirate make-believe. As part of its kids' meals, McDonald's offers Apple Dippers (fresh, peeled apple slices) served with low-fat caramel dipping sauce, and beverage choices including Minute Maid apple juice and low-fat white and chocolate Milk Jugs.

You know the coolest thing about this promotion? McDonald's isn't offering a separate toy for girls, implying girls don't play pirate. They do. Baby A and her little friends are proof. Gender equality in toys! It's a small step, but I'll take it.

Finally, here's something for us adults: It looks like old-school phone booths are making a comeback, but not for old-school phones. No, some restaurants are installing them in hopes that people will take their mobile-phone calls away from the table and into a private, quiet place where they won't disturb others. What a good example of dining etiquette for our kids.

TWH, this means you!

Posted by QSMama at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Okay. While I was posting that last story, Baby A was applying a whole sheet of stickers to my legs. (I'm wearing shorts.)

Whatever it takes to get some work done, right? Man. It still beats the office. At least A can't make me go to a meeting.

Okay, off to the coffee shop, probably with froggie and butterfly stickers in places I can't see....

Posted by QSMama at 05:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The days of trading turkey sandwiches for Twinkies at school might be ending.

A new law went into effect July 1 requiring public schools nationwide to adopt nutrition and exercise goals before the new academic year begins.

Many parents are happy with the new requirements, which can mean healthier school lunches, fewer sugary foods from vending machines and classroom celebrations, and more exercise and activity during the school day.

But others say the requirements are too broadly worded. They want the law to have more teeth.

And I'm sure still others think schools have no business policing the contents of kids' homemade lunches or prohibiting Susie from taking cupcakes to her class on her birthday. I happen to disagree. If schools have my child 30 or 35 hours a week, I want them to help instill good habits. There's a lot more to learn at school than math and reading...social skills, self-discipline, and, yes, healthy lifestyles.

One key point is the law does not give schools additional funding to roll out the new requirements, according to this article. Sort of like the No Child Left Behind Act, only for food, not testing.

Are your schools making changes? Use the Comments link to let us know.

Posted by QSMama at 04:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Step aside, baseball and apple pie. Dining out is now a quintessential American pastime, according to Scarborough Research. The firm's new Restaurant Report shows that 96 percent of U.S. adults dine out at a restaurant at least once per month.

Two-fifths (40 percent) of the population visited a quick-service restaurant, such as McDonald's, Wendy's, or Subway, six or more times during the past month, according to the report.

About one-fifth (19 percent) of U.S. consumers visited a sit-down restaurant (such as TGI Friday's or Chili's) six or more times during the past month.

Whew. So our family isn't alone in spending way too much money at restaurants.

If you want to read more, the full study is available for download here.

Posted by QSMama at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I want to steer everyone to a great parenting site called Noodad and, in particular, to this post about why it's good to expose kids to quick-serve restaurants and TV—even if you're not a fan of either one.

The writer sounds like a thoughtful dad who wants to raise his kids to be savvy consumers with a healthy (meaning balanced) outlook. While you're there, read the comments from other visitors, too.

Hey...sounds like something you'd find around here!

Posted by QSMama at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

How far would you go for a free combo meal at Chick-fil-A?

Would you dress head-to-toe as a cow?

As part of the Atlanta-based chain's annual Cow Appreciation Day celebration, Chick-fil-A is offering a free combo meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) to any customer who visits one of its 1,250-plus restaurants fully dressed as a cow on Friday, July 14. If you don't feel like doing it, then maybe your kids will.

I'm posting this two days early so you have plenty of time to get that costume together.

Posted by QSMama at 06:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

TIME magazine online has a good article posted about why the family meal is back in vogue. Among the reporter's findings:

* "social scientists say [the family meal] acts as a kind of vaccine, protecting kids from all manner of harm"

* "the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders, and consider suicide"

* "family dinner gets better with practice; the less often a family eats together, the worse the experience is likely to be, the less healthy the food, and the more meager the talk."

That's compelling stuff, and, of course, TIIME did not get some kind of exclusive on this story. These things we know.

So how, in this hurry-up, fast-food age, can we balance convenience and busy schedules with eating frequent family meals? I have a few ideas, and I'd like to hear yours, too. Here are mine:

1. Make restaurant mealtimes as family-like as possible. Sit around a table together, carry on a conversation, talk about the day or current events.

2. I recall a study in the late 90s that said a shared main dish creates more of a "family meal" experience, even when it's take-out food or a restaurant. So, a pizza or bucket of chicken in the middle of the table creates more of a family experience than, say, burgers or sandwiches that each person unwraps individually—if you believe this study.

3. As consumers, we need to take advantage of better offerings, like Panera's organic and all-natural kids' meals and the fruit cups and healthier beverage options that chains are making available.

Why? Restaurant companies know we vote with our wallets. If you agree it's nice to have these options, choosing them will encourage companies to make more of them available.

What are your ideas for making every meal as much of a family meal as possible? Use the Comments link below to contribute.

Posted by QSMama at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

McDonald's yesterday debuted R Gym, a new indoor play area for children ages three to twelve.

The announcement follows McD's formation of its Global Moms Panel and comes as the brand continues to fight accusations that its food and kid-centered marketing contribute to children's obesity and other health problems. McDonald's says it offers healthy options for kids and parents (apple slices, lowfat milk, salads), and counters that inactivity is a major contributor to childhood health problems.

The new R Gym, unveiled in a Whittier, California, restaurant (see photo at right), features games that promote physical coordination, strength development, aerobic conditioning and social skills.

McDonald's calls R Gym "a fun, easy and convenient way for children to increase their physical activity." There are stationary bicycles attached to video games, dance pads, basketball hoops, monkey bars, an obstacle course, and other games.

From McDonald's point of view, it probably doesn't hurt that R Gym encourages kids to play longer—and to get hungrier and thirstier. But here's one more option for wound-up kids on those rainy, sweltering, or wintry days.

In case you're wondering (I was), the first McDonald's Playplace opened in 1971 in Chula Vista, California. Raise your hand if you went to a birthday party in one of those....

Posted by QSMama at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reading in the news today that demand for organic foods is outstripping supply reminded me to post about a chain called O'Naturals.

I ran across this company while researching a business story last year and was impressed. There are other quick-serve brands with a health-food bent, but this one has the strength of a proven organic company—Stonyfield Farm—behind it.

It's also the product of parents determined to create new choices for themselves and their kids...take a look at this bit directly from the chain's Web site:

"Gary [Hirshberg] and his wife Meg grew Stonyfield Farm from five cows to a national organic/natural yogurt brand, but were frustrated hostages to junk food when out on the road with their kids.

[Co-founder] Mac [McCabe] agreed—he'd spend his days helping some of America's finest natural foods companies but then couldn't find a quick place to eat on his way home to Portland for lack of a healthy menu.

We created O'Naturals as a way to provide delicious quick, natural, and organic foods, to keep up with your (and our) busy families, and to provide a comfy getaway from the rat race...."

The menu at O'Naturals features gourmet salads, delicious-sounding flatbread sandwiches, and a selection of soups like carrot ginger, green pea herbs & lemon, and butternut squash apple. There are also desserts and a Kids' World menu.

O'Naturals has four locations in Maine and Massachusetts. Want to open an O'Naturals closer to you? (Mmmmm, I do.) Earlier this year, the company started franchising. See the web site for more details.

Posted by QSMama at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A little while back, I asked what were some ideal toys for kids' meals. A reader named Dixie posted a great comment, talking about a deck of memory-game cards her son got at Quiznos. One thing she appreciated about the deck was that it didn't feature the latest movie characters or cartoon heroes; instead, she says, it was a simple

... deck of cards with pictures of animals to match up. What a notion—a mind-engaging game instead of a hook in to TV show.

Dixie also liked the fact that her son still asks to play the game, six months later. Very cool.

For Baby A and us, the best "toy" so far has been a Paddington Bear book from Chick-fil-A. It's more...

than a year old now, dog-eared and visibly loved. Books are great prizes, although some of the more recent offerings from Chick-fil-A, like an "Owl's Tales of Wisdom" or a certain Veggie Tales CD, have been too moralistic for my liking—and over Baby A's head at this point. I'd have been better off asking for the little bowl of Ice Dream the chain will give you in place of a toy.

I wanted to revisit this topic not just because it's an important one—something the restaurant chains surely want parents' feedback on—but also by way of introducing a great writeup on kids' meal toys in the Raleigh News & Observer. Give it a read and think about which parent's comments are closest to your family's experience.

You know, if quick-serve chains will do a better job of choosing prizes that parents like, not just the ones the kids go ga-ga over for a day or two, then forget about, I bet we'd buy a lot more kids' meals. Give me something interesting, durable, and with enduring play value—like that memory game Dixie's son got at Quiznos—and I'm much more likely to choose your place.

After all, we, not the kids, are the ones driving the car. (smile)

Posted by QSMama at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We just got back from lunch at a California Pizza Kitchen. True, that's not a quick-serve concept, but we had a really cool experience there, and all chains should pay attention.

For Baby A, we ordered a kid's meal: fusilli mac-and-cheese and a fruit bowl with pineapple and grapes.
When the fruit arrived, the grapes were...already cut in half!

How many of you shudder as you watch your kids pop huge grapes in their mouths and then, say, laugh and bounce up and down in the chair? That's like asking to choke. Thus, I plan to keep cutting A's grapes in half for another year or two.

So when I did NOT have to (a) dump the bowl of grapes out, (b) hold each one and cut it in half with a dinner knife, and (c) get up to wash my sticky hands, I was thrilled.

Thanks, CPK, for taking care of that small detail. You made my lunch that much easier today. I'd like for other chains to pay attention to the sizes of the pieces in their fruit bowls, too. I realize grapes don't hold as well once they're cut, but maybe parents would help your inventory move faster if we knew we could take off the lid and let the kids dig in—no cutting required.

Posted by QSMama at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)