As a parent, where do you stand on the whole snacking thing?

Depending on which book you read / what your pediatrician says / what works for your family, you might do square meals or more frequent, smaller meals. One famous pediatrician even recommends leaving out an array of snacks out for a toddler, say, in a muffin tin, so that she can eat on the go all day.

But that wouldn't work for us. First, we're rarely inside the house for long periods of time. And I never wanted to be one of those parents whose cars and sofas are full of crushed Cheerios and crackers. (Not that that's awful. And not that our house and car are clean. But anyway.)

So while I'm not militant about it, we're a three-meals-and-afternoon-snack kind of family. That works for us, but it seems we're going against the trend. This news release from McDonald's says snacking occasions are forecast to increase 3.6 percent in the United States, compared to overall eating occasions from 2004 to 2008, according to a recent report by Business Insights. The same report says fully 10 percent of Americans forgo regular meals in favor of grazing.

McDonald's is catering to the trend by introducing several new Snack Wrap varieties. Pleased with the results of its summer 2006 launch of the Ranch Snack Wrap, McDonald's today started rolling out more snacking options for customers with the new Honey Mustard Snack Wrap. In addition to the new flavor, the popular portable snacks now are available in both grilled and crispy choices.

The grilled version of the Honey Mustard wrap is pictured above. It's got chicken breast meat, cheddar jack cheese, lettuce, and a sweet and tangy Honey Mustard sauce, wrapped inside a flour tortilla. It's offered for a promotional period at $1.29 at participating McDonald's restaurants nationwide.

McDonald's already had other snack items on the menu, including the Snack Size Fruit & Walnut Salad, Fruit 'N Yogurt Parfait, and Apple Dippers, among others.

Consumers will the have the opportunity to try the new Honey Mustard Snack Wrap at sampling and trial promoting events throughout the country including NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, the CIAA Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, the Mexican National Team soccer clinic and kick off game in San Diego, Chinese New Year Parade and Festival in San Francisco, and at Spring Break activities in Panama City Beach.

You know, these snack-sized adult items might make decent substitutes for kids' meals. What do you think?

Posted by QSMama at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Let's get this out of the way, before the e-mails start rolling in from corporate: I'm aware that Red Robin is not a quick-serve chain. It's more like casual dining. But the company does something I'm hoping more chains, including quick-serves and even general retail chains, will emulate.

Go read here about Red Robin's Unbridled Acts of Kindness program. But make sure you have fifteen minutes to spend reading because you'll get caught up in the mini-profiles of kind gestures performed by Red Robin employees, with the encouragement and full backing of their managers. And you'll leave the page feeling better about our society.

Props to Red Robin. And props to nine-year-old Adrianna Montgomery, pictured left, who recently won a national contest to create Red Robin's newest burger.

I'm looking forward to trying her recipe for a Spicy Asian Burger.

Posted by QSMama at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I just read in a news release that Panera went trans-fat-free a full year ago.

Remember that Panera also offers a kids' menu with organic and natural ingredients. Nice one-two healthy punch, isn't it?

Posted by QSMama at 07:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Caught this story today...a North Carolina quick-serve chain, Sino Wok, is using bamboo dishware that biodegrades in about six months.

So what does bamboo not do? It's used in clothing, bedding, flooring, and now dishware. Bamboo...it's the new hemp! But here's the problem for quick-serve chains: the bamboo stuff costs a few cents more per piece, and even that small increment can wreck quick-serves' margins.

Here's the real question: Could the cost be worthwhile in terms of publicity and compliance? I remember publishing stories about quick-serve chains getting sued or otherwise held responsible for roadside litter. In fact, this N&O article notes that San Francisco and Oakland last year banned restaurants from using plastic foam containers to reduce the amount of slow-degrading materials deposited in landfills.

Could bamboo be an ideal solution? Could the positive news bring more customers through the doors and make up for the cost? What do you think? Would you eat at chains more often if you knew you were producing less trash?

{image: Eatware}

Posted by QSMama at 06:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

We've been watching "Extreme Home Makeover" tonight because a wonderful Raleigh family gets a new home.

The mom, Linda Riggins, has worked for years educating and counseling needy kids. While they were building the family's new house, the show gave Linda's school a major makeover. And when the students got to see the new auditorium (I refuse to use the most overused word in TV today...the reveal!), there was a quick-serve-related surprise.

John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's, walked in with a pizza lunch for everyone and one hundred gift cards that would allow the kids' and teachers' families to eat free for a year.

Cool dat.

Posted by QSMama at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Enough Friday Fun to peter away at least an hour this afternoon! Hooray!

How cute is this? The new-ish parenting site Babble shot a baby fashion feature inside cafes and coffee shops. The pictures are beautiful—check them, and the rest of Babble, out. Love their feature stories.

Mmmmmm, donuts, that Friday morning office staple...I've been out of the office environment for more than two years now, but I still get a hankering for glazed chocolate Munchkins every now and then.

So it's good news that donut-makers are hopping the slightly-better-for-you bandwagon.

CNN reports that
a burger battle is brewing between a Texas state legislator and the owners of a restaurant who claim the hamburger was invented in New Haven, Connecticut.

So much for thinking it orginated in Hamburg, Germany.

Confession: This has nothing to do with quick-serves or kids. But chimp stories are always funny.

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Posted by QSMama at 01:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...if you can call less than an inch "snow." We got nothing last year, though, so this is the first snow Baby A might remember.

We made a very petite (petit?) snowman and threw a few snowballs.

Baby A's preschool was closed this morning (I know, I know, the roads are safe, but that's the South for you) so it's nearly impossible to get work done. As I type this I am being wrapped up in a scarf as Baby A makes me into Leo from the "Little Einsteins" series.

"Leo! June! Come right now! Jump into Rocket so we can fly away from the dragon!" Etc., etc.

Posted by QSMama at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Starbucks is working on gradually eliminating milk with bovine growth hormones.

Cool.

This follows on the heels of Chipotle's removing sour cream with rGBH and Starbucks' working on removing trans fats from its menu.

Posted by QSMama at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I think this letter is a total sham.

Please. Restaurants in California haven't paid the federal minimum wage for years. And if the manager is cutting back everyone's hours, who is working?

Update: The letters to Salon on this topic are really interesting. Check 'em out.

Posted by QSMama at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Back when fast food meant primary-colored plastic tables and chairs bolted to the floor, noisy kids weren't so out of place. It was understood: fast food was for kids, while casual dining on up was for adults...and the occasional, extremely well-behaved child.

Today it's safe to say fast-food—ahem, quick-serve—restaurants are somewhat more adult places. Most chains have seriously stepped up their decor, daring even to put fabric upholstery and flat-screen TVs in the dining rooms.

All of which make the environment a bit less forgiving to food-tossing, loud-talking kids.

Raise your hand if you've struggled to enforce good behavior from your kids in restaurants. Oh, you, too? Uh huh. We've been there, over and over.

In the ongoing search for effective discipline methods, we've been happiest with the Love and Logic series. Have you heard of it? It's not perfect—no "method" applies perfectly to every family—but I love its no-yelling, no-lecturing, consequences-driven approach.

Love and Logic sends a weekly enewsletter. Thought you might enjoy reading this snippet from a recent one:
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Manners Matter

Maybe you’ve also noticed that manners seem to be a rare commodity these days. What a great opportunity for your kids! Since the rarer the commodity the more valuable it becomes, we can give our children a powerful advantage in the workforce...and in life...if we teach them. Listed below are some tips:

Model good manners.

What a bummer. This is the hardest part for me!

Set enforceable limits on behavior by describing what you will do or allow.

"We will stay at the restaurant as long as you guys can sit in your chairs, use quiet voices, and follow directions," is an example of an enforceable limit.

Follow through with empathy and logical consequences.

One mother wasn’t afraid to get serious:

I’d been practicing table manners with my three ADHD boys, and I decided to take them out for a practice session. As soon as we ordered our meals, they started acting horrible. I guess they didn’t believe I’d do anything about it. I said, "How sad, we need to go," and I took them right home. Now they get frequent compliments from others when we go out in public. The cost of that uneaten meal was sure worth it!

— Dr. Charles Fay
Love & Logic
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Posted by QSMama at 05:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Yikes! Could eating trans fats lead to infertility?

Children of Men, anyone?

Naw. I think food scientist Marion Nestle makes a good point in that article when she says it's rarely one food, or one class of foods, that causes a problem. Most often, it's the big picture. It will be interesting to watch results from further studies.

In the meantime, it's clear that consumer demands are pushing restaurant companies and food manufacturers to eliminate trans fats from their products, and that's likely for the best.

Posted by QSMama at 06:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Seth Godin's wonderful blog recently passed along a McDonald's training video from 1972. Take a look.

As Godin points out, the first thing you'll notice is the slow pace of the video. It's about as quick as a Baby Einstein video. Truly, our attention spans have shortened.

The second thing you'll notice is: Why the heck is that customer wearing a hard hat as he orders his McDonald's lunch? Does he expect the employee to throw his order at him? Is he afraid a batch of burgers will fall from the sky, a la Captain Kangaroo, my own favorite video treat in 1972?

We'll never know.

But overall you'll notice how little the need for good customer service training has changed. I've often said every American kid should have to do a six-month-minimum "tour of duty" waiting tables, starting around age 18. Nothing's better for teaching young adults things like...

• Just as there are rules in your family, there are organizational rules employees have to follow. Family rules are the first training ground for getting along in the rest of the world.

• It's hard to please a lot of people, but when it's your job you have to keep trying.

• It's nice to be kind to the people who are serving you. That means being polite, patient, and a thoughtful tipper.

Did you have a job waiting tables or working a register? How did that job prepare you for other parts of adult life?

Posted by QSMama at 07:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So I check the webstats on this site more times each day than I brush my teeth or tell my husband I love him. In fact, my stat checks number about the same as my espresso drinks, which is to say, three, or four on a bad day.

Sad, isn't it?

One thing I know: There are WAY more people reading these pages than commenting. That's why I was thrilled to learn it's Delurking Week, brought to you by the Paper Napkin blog.

Do me a favor and comment this week. You don't have to say much. Just type "hi," if that's all you can say. If you can type a little longer, tell me where you're writing from, or how you ran across Quick Serve Kids. I'll read every comment, I promise, and be grateful for each one, too.

Posted by QSMama at 05:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Rumor has it that by the third or fourth kid, you give up worrying about perfectly clean hands. Now that Baby A is two and a half, I can understand. At some point, safety becomes more about making sure the child hasn't run out into the parking lot and less about keeping those little fingers sanitized.

No kidding. We recently installed a slide-lock way up high inside our front door because Baby A was opting to go on walks outside by herself. Scary, huh? And to think a (childless) friend asked me recently whether I thought breastfeeding had made Baby A less independent. Um? My child, who has never given a second thought to taking off?

Anyway.

For those of us with the luxury of focusing our cleanliness obsession on only one child, restaurants still seem like repositories of ick. That's why it was great to hear Chick-fil-A launched a program January 3 to put complimentary hand-sanitizer wipes and disposable placemats in Chick-fil-A restaurants.

The Chick-fil-A Children’s Placemat is a disposable sanitary eating surface designed to help babies and toddlers eat finger foods safely. It's ideal for kids who are using tray-less high chairs. (The official announcement specified "kids three and under," but Baby A and many of her friends gave up high chairs a long time ago, before age two.) The placemat also features educational games that parents can play with children while eating, as well as information on Chick-fil-A’s Kid’s Meal options

The placemat is supplied by Neat Solutions, Inc., which was founded by a mom trying to clean up her own kids' dining experiences.

Chick-fil-A partnered with GOJO, inventors of Purell, to offer co-branded sanitizing hand wipes at participating Chick-fil-A locations to encourage customers to clean and sanitize their hands before eating. Chick-fil-A franchisees operating stand-alone restaurants now have the option of installing a special dispenser adjacent to their playground areas that has individual Purell hand wipe packets for parents to help their children to use to clean their hands after playing.

Restaurants also will offer the wipes to on-the-go customers ordering through the drive-thru, as well as hand them out to customers in the dining rooms. The wipes also will be available at the chain’s mall locations, where it is more difficult for customers to wash their hands before eating in food courts that no longer have easy access to restroom facilities.

Amen, amen, and AMEN. Our whole family used a Purell station inside the playground at a Chick-fil-A just last week. (That was after I had to climb twenty-five feet up inside said playground to convice A. it really, truly was time to leave. But that's for another post.)

Just the other day, Baby A decided to explore the underside of our table in the food court at the mall. "What's that, Mommy?," she asked, picking at a wad of dried-up chewing gum. "Is that a treat?"

Nope, honey. But restaurant chains paying attention to what parents want? That's a big treat.

Posted by QSMama at 07:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's some news that caught my eye this morning...

* Los Angeles mulls a ban on trans fats. Will it go the way of New York (passed) or Chicago (failed)? Good Times Burgers & Custard is also trying to go trans-fat-free. "This is the right thing to do," says president and CEO Boyd Hoback.

* This study turns the usual point-of-view upside down: How do children's eating habits affect those of the adults in their households? Turns out the answer is "not so well," and busy schedules plus the convenience of fast food might be partly to blame.

* Snacking might be the next frontier for quick-serves. A new study from Technomic Inc. found that consumers' snacking behavior is evolving, and there is stronger interest in more and healthier options. Restaurants, however, have only had limited success so far in attracting this business, says Technomic.

"We view this as an excellent but underdeveloped opportunity for many chains," says Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic Information Services. "By analyzing their current offerings from a fresh perspective and offering new options that appeal to the snacking consumer, chains could make a measurable impact on same-store sales and add business during what are frequently off-peak hours."

Go here to view the breakdown of reasons Americans give for their snacking.

Come to think of it, healthy snack options are PERFECT mealtime options for little kids.

Hey, chains, you have two strong markets here!

Posted by QSMama at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I need to go off-topic just long enough to say...

OMG! iPhone!

Steve, you're still dreamy. And Apple—you continue to rock my world.

Okay, back on topic:

Are salads part of your family's New Year's resolutions? In its most recent financial news, Wendy’s said it will promote a new cranberry pecan chicken salad in first quarter of 2007. It's a limited-time, seasonal cranberry pecan chicken salad, featuring spring mix greens, Mandarin oranges, chicken, dried cranberries, and pecans, with a berry balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

It looks and sounds pretty good (see below for a picture).

Baby A won't eat salad greens yet. Parents of older kids, please tell me—when should I expect that to start?

At the very least, I bet she'd pick the oranges, chicken, and pecans off of this salad, which would be just fine.

Posted by QSMama at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey, everyone, sorry for the extended posting break. We sorely needed some vacation around QSK HQ, also known as The Bungalow (scroll down). I hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours—full of happiness, family, and good food.

It's hard to believe the holiday season is over. I have to admit it's nice to have Baby A back in nursery school several mornings a week. (Sorry, honey, whenever you get old enough to read that. One day, when you have a wild two-year-old of your own, you'll understand.) And I'm enjoying a renewed focus on work.

A look around the industry as 2007 gets underway sees—surprise!—lots of chains playing to our New Year's resolutions. You can't swing a stick around the restaurant news section without hitting a health-focused announcement. Here are a few:

Starbucks shuns trans fats: Saying it's been working behind the scenes for a couple of years, Starbucks announced it will drop trans fats in foods in some locations. As of yesterday, company-owned Starbucks stores in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland were tol have zero trans fats in their food.

Saying everyone who resolved to eat more salads in 2007 just "caught a lucky break," Carl's Jr. announced it would add a Chipotle Chicken Salad, a blend of charbroiled chicken, fresh salsa, parmesan cheese, and zesty chipotle dressing over a bed of shredded lettuce and piled into a crispy tortilla shell bowl. "It's technically a salad," says the company, "but it's so big on taste you'll feel as though you're breaking your resolution early." Hmmmmmmm.

Speaking of salads, Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., parent company of Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants, unveiled a contest offering guests an opportunity to—quoting them, not me—"ride the fitness freeway and fulfill their New Year's resolutions."

The contest prizes will be provided by Healthyroads, Inc., a national provider of telephone- and Web-based coaching programs that help people reach their health goals. Interested? Learn more at any Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes restaurant or online here.

Organic To Go says it's expanding quickly in California and the Pacific Northwest, driven by consumer demand for convenience, speed, and, of course, organic foods. Saying it is the nation's first fast-casual cafe to be certified as an organic retailer, the company announced it ended 2006 with $10 million in sales. On tap for early 2007 are new retail, corporate, and university locations in Southern California and Washington state.

That's it for now. Check back soon for more kid- and family-friendly restaurant news.

Posted by QSMama at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)