UPDATE: Find some funny and insightful comments on this doughnut here.

Baby A's favorite preschool teacher gave her a sweet Valentine's card that's also a coupon for a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme.

It's one of those moments I was glad she can't read yet. (Well, she can read her name, "Mommy," "Daddy," and "Yaya," her babysitter, and "Chick-fil-A" and "Armadillo Grill"...bragbragbrag.) Not because doughnuts are completely forbidden or anything—and there are new options like the whole wheat doughnut, pictured above. Made with 100 percent whole wheat, it's got a sweet caramel flavoring covered in Krispy Kreme's Original Glaze that flakes yummily like no other. And for those of you who pay attention to such things, it's got just 180 calories.

No, we won't be heading to Krispy Kreme only because once Baby A learns about a new treat, she asks for it nonstop for days on end. I'm talking like one hundred times. Over and over. Here's an example: We've had PEZ in the house for six months. They used to be the potty reward, but now they're after-dinner treats. Same with ginger men cookies, which have been around since Christmas. But what did she fuss about this morning? "Mommy, can I please have a PEZ? Okay. May I please have a ginger cookie?" She knows the answer. Yet she asks. Over and over.

In a way, I'd like to be able to take Baby A for an occasional Krispy Kreme. I like them, too, and have since I was a little kid growing up near Atlanta. (It's amused me to no end to see lines around the block in Los Angeles and Boston when new KK stores open...we've had them in Georgia and North Carolina for evah.) And we have an awesome, old-school KK store a few blocks away, HOT sign and all. But the incessant asking...I can't take the asking and the begging. Once we do it, she'll ask nonSTOP and I'll teeter on the edge of insanity, or at least risk yelling at her. Hate when I get frustrated and yell.

Has anyone else had a child who asks nonstop for treats? Does it go away after a while? How did you handle it?

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

Smoothies are remarkably flexible things. They can be snacks or treats, or they can be healthy enough to replace a meal. And the flavor combinations are almost endless.

So it's no wonder research firm Mintel recently found that the U.S. smoothie market is slurping up $2 billion in annual sales. That caps a five-year market boom that's seen smoothie sales increase by more than 80 percent.

Mintel says that with on-the-go dining and snacking moving to the American meal forefront, the U.S. smoothie market has been flooded with consumers looking for a quick portable meal alternative. Consumers are embracing the trend in a major way, Mintel says, and for a variety of different reasons.

* The market for health-conscious products continues to grow rapidly. Smoothies have quickly become part of the American landscape, with more than 4,000 retail locations reported in the U.S. last year. According to Mintel's consumer research, more than half of respondents in the 18- to 34-year-old range said that they had a smoothie in the last month.

* The smoothie industry is using emerging flavors, such as açaí and green tea, and hybrids of smoothies with other drink types. New nutrient "boosts" feed consumer need for evolving offerings as well. Smoothie companies have also remained on track with current food trends, utilizing "all-natural," low-calorie and other key buzz properties to build sales.

* In contrast with yogurt drinks, 39 percent of Mintel respondents agreed or strongly agreed that "smoothies are healthier than drinks made with yogurt."

* Similarly, more than half of consumers agreed or strongly agreed that "smoothies taste better than yogurt drinks," with yogurts getting only 15 percent.

How about your family? Are you smoothie drinkers? What's your favorite?

[strawberry image by Ernest von Rosen, www.amgmedia.com]

Posted by QSMama at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

QSK readers : YOUR EYES ONLY

Due to a matter of national security, our bureau has 87,000 special agents working undercover on a classified project involving your employee, QSMama.

As part of a special mission, QSMama was required to escort The Dalai Lama to a running tournament at an undisclosed location yesterday. QSMama was simultaneously performing surveillance and posting on her QSK blog when QSMama foiled a diabolical attempt to destroy the world by disarming a rogue nuclear device using only a sweet potatoes, a iBook G4, a paper clip and extreme courage.

QSMama was awarded a medal by Jude Law and spent the night recovering in a the Madeleine Chapel in Paris, all the while begging us to charter a jet to get to work on time. Although tardiness is certainly against company policy, remember, if it weren't for QSMama none of us would be at work today.
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Har, har, har. Want your own ridiculous excuse? Go McDonald's Morning Impaired site to generate one.

Posted by QSMama at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today at lunchtime, Baby A asked for some sweet-potato fries. She's been sick, so I didn't mind heating the oven up to 450 degrees on this, the first warmish day in weeks. She deserved a small pleasure.

I took the bag out of the freezer and poured some fries onto a baking sheet. They were covered in ice crystals. "Those need to be slaked," I thought. Slaked? Where did that come from? Remember...remember...oh, yeah, from an interview ten years ago with Wendy's founder Dave Thomas.

When I was editing QSR magazine, I had the chance to interview Thomas on two occasions. The first was for the cover of the premier issue—somehow, and I'll never be sure quite how, I got one of America's best-known faces to grant an interview for a new magazine that had no sample issue, nothing but a four-page media brochure and a lot of big ideas to speak for it. I called, I wrote letters, I played up the Duke connection (I'd gone to graduate and undergraduate schools there, he'd given a ton of money to the Fuqua business school). And somehow it worked.

Thomas talked with me for more than an hour, though I'd asked for only twenty minutes. He told me what he valued most in the kitchen—like taking a moment to shake the ice crystals and moisture off of the fries before plunging them into the oil. That's what he called slaking, and he insisted that small detail made his fries better than anyone else's.

What struck me most about that interview was Thomas's completely unpretentious personality. Success had not changed him. This multi-millionaire chief executive pronounced "specifically" as "pacifically," and "spaghetti" as "p-sgetti," and it did not matter. I went on to interview many more CEOs, most of them business-school stars who had fast-tracked to leadership roles at big corporations, names you'd recognize. But Dave Thomas taught me to listen for true talents—not book smarts, but the ability to motivate all kinds of people, to be relentless about the details, to persevere and earn success, rather than have the role handed to you.

As I put the fries into the oven, I made a mental note to talk with Baby A later on about these qualities. Of course, I want her to excel in school, but I also want her to value the qualities that made Dave Thomas successful.

I also remembered that for all the criticism of quick-serve food and companies—and some of that is certainly deserved—there are also hardworking people like Dave Thomas who pursued good principles.

There's a neat Flash-based biography here if you'd like to learn more about Dave Thomas's legacy.

This post brought to you by the sweet potato...and a mom who's been stuck home with a sick kid and thinking a lot. I'm sure you've been there.

UPDATE: Dave Thomas's original Wendy's location in Columbus, Ohio, will soon be closed because of lagging sales.

Posted by QSMama at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

All right. I'm in a rut, talking about chains that are alllllmost but not quite quick-serves. But it's Mardi Gras, and this one's about pancakes and a good cause.

Today, take your Quicksie to your local IHOP to celebrate National Pancake Day*—also known as Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday. From 7 A.M. until 10 P.M., IHOP will give you one free short stack (three) of buttermilk pancakes. In exchange, the company asks that you consider making a donation to support local children’s hospitals through Children’s Miracle Network, or other local charities.

Last year's National Pancake Day promotion helped IHOP raise more than $340,000 for charity. In
2007, the company is aiming to raise $500,000 for Children’s Miracle Network and other local charities. Pictured at left are IHOP chief executive Julia Stewart with Madison Charles, Children’s Miracle Network’s 2006 Champion Across America Child.

Not sure where your local IHOP location is? Use this tool to find it.

* For centuries, the English made pancakes in celebration of Shrove Tuesday, which marks the beginning of fasting during Lent. Early Lenten rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so people made pancakes to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other fats...hence the name Pancake Tuesday.

All I can add is that I feel sorry for those milking cows. Maybe this was the earliest instance of the pump-and-dump phenomenon?

[photo thanks to IHOP]

Posted by QSMama at 06:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Make sure to catch this post over at Noodad on how to avoid grazing on your child's plate when you're out to eat. Surely that's one of the easiest traps of parenthood—especially when you've paid for a meal your child has barely touched.

That post made me want to reiterate a related point: Why do kids' meal menus have to vary so widely from those of adults? Why, oh why, do they all have to be chicken fingers, cheese pizza, grilled cheese, and fries?

Holy cow, has it been a week since I posted? What can I say? Sickness, total laryngitis (try that with a two-year old!), work crunch (UGH!), mandatory preschool volunteering (double-UGH!), husband out of town nearly nontop...it kinda puts a dent in your blogging.

All of which means I have some great stuff saved up. So check back soon. And if you've come across some kids' menus with more to offer than the usual kiddie fare, please let me know.

Posted by QSMama at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For Valentine's, I'm departing from restaurants for a moment to ask: Why is it that candy holidays—Valentine's, Easter, Halloween—are so much cooler when you're a kid? And not so cool when you're the parent of a kid who goes absolutely freaking out of her mind when there's a lot of candy around?

Oh. That's why.

On days like this, would it shock you to learn that the average American child ate 25 pounds of candy last year? Read more statistics at that link if you really want to be shocked. (Three to four hours of TV a day??)

I don't have a big problem with giving Baby A candy sometimes. In fact, we used PEZ candy as a reward during potty-training. What annoys me is her attitude about it—bossy, whiny, commanding. Ugh. It so annoys me, to the point that the holiday is less enjoyable.

We insist on good manners, limit the candy to small amounts (without making a big deal about it), and try to counteract the sugar with lots of protein—peanut butter, meats, milk to drink. How do you handle the candy question in your family? Comment and let me know.

[thanks to reader Michelle T. for the tip! photo sorta kinda thanks to the USPS]

Posted by QSMama at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...I'd have Baby A inside this dreamy Starbucks for Kids in a heartbeat. Think it would provide childcare? Or would they just hang mattresses on the wall and let 'em have at it?

Either one's okay by me. Pardon the overly handy caption, but she's had the energy of two kids the past few days. Help.

Posted by QSMama at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I enjoyed this article from the WaPo, about childhood power-struggles over food can continue into adulthood.

Don't miss the last paragraph, about a woman who grew up sharing an apple with her dad every evening after dinner as they reviewed their days together. It's touching. The point she makes is important: We teach our kids best by being close to them and modeling positive behaviors.

Did you have any traditions like that growing up? Have you started one in your family?

And do you remember coming up with creative ways to skirt the dinner-table rules? I remember swallowing the required two bites of yellow squash whole. (Strangely, today I love it.)

Posted by QSMama at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Looking for real travel/stuff to do advice from real parents? New site Parentography features travel, restaurant, and cultural reviews written by actual parents.

I sorted by restaurants and found this.

Like all reader-driven content sites, this one will prove its worth over time. Check it out and see what you think...and consider becoming a parentographer yourself using the link on this page.

And if travel is on the calendar for your family, don't miss the well designed and tip-rich site Kids Can Travel.

Posted by QSMama at 06:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Interested in helping make sure a measure of clean water, good soil, and quality foods are around when your Quicksie has kids of his or her own?

Consider buying a calendar for five bucks at Chipotle. Proceeds from calendar sales will be divided among two organizations that reflect Chipotle’s mission of Food With Integrity: The Land Institute and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. If all available calendars are sold, Chipotle will raise about $100,000 for these organizations.

I talk way too much about Chipotle, don't I? Oh, well.

Posted by QSMama at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sure, it was like 25 degrees this morning in our Southern state, and tonight the forecast calls for 13 degrees.

It's never too cold for ice cream...especially when it's buy one, get one free!

Print the coupon and redeem by February 28. Enjoy!

Posted by QSMama at 06:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More importantly: Wouldn't you want to?

This news really tees me off: Meat from cloned animals won't be labeled clearly as such.

Shoppers who want to be sure they're not getting cloned meat will have to look for the green labels indicating organic standards on meat in stores. The FDA says the government can't tell a difference between clones and conventional cows, pigs, or goats.

As for ordering in restaurants, who knows?

Thing is, truly organic meats (as opposed to naturally raised meats) are very expensive. Bill Niman, founder of the Niman Ranch Cooperative, told me that raising organic livestock is often prohibitively expensive and difficult for today's farmers, meaning the small amount of organic meat on the market comes at a high premium.

The AP article I linked to doesn't say whether or not naturally raised meats will be guaranteed not to contain cloned meat or milk products. Given the muddling of organic and naturally raised standards now that big retailers like Wal Mart, Target, and Costco are offering them, I don't trust the system so much anymore.

Disturbing thought of the day: Will the average quick-serve hamburger soon contain cloned beef? I hope not. We're just back from a yummy late lunch at Five Guys. We don't go out for burgers often—that's one thing TWH and I can cook really well—but I'd hate to think that all restaurant burgers might one day be off our menu. Cloned and genetically engineered stuff are not something I want my little Quicksie eating.

A much brighter thought: Will the next quick-serve beef craze, after Angus beef, be naturally raised meat? Let's hope so. Homemade burgers are the best, but once in a while I'd like for someone else to do the work. :)

What do you think? Is cloned meat something to worry about? I'm not asking about the technology, because it's out there—and it can have plenty of good uses, such as in health care. But would you want to eat it? Feed it to your family?

[photo from here]

Posted by QSMama at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Whew. Sooooooo glad it's Friday, even though I'll be working a bunch this weekend on other writing projects. Something about the weekend just makes everything easier.

So let's get started with some fun.

• Into football? Super Bowl Sunday is almost here, and quick-serve restaurants are gearing up for the annual "Super Bowl surge." But, according to this news release, some of those restaurants are trying a new strategy this year: Letting the customers handle placing and paying for their orders themselves, using a kiosk.

EMN8, the company that ran the release, says kiosks lead to faster service, line reduction and an estimated 15- to 30-percent increase on per-ticket sales.

Have you used a kiosk to self-order food? How did it go? The only time I've seen one in action (besides at a trade show, that is) was at a Sheetz location. Lots of people were mighty confused.

• Hilarious baby duds from Chipotle. If you can't make out the words in the picture, the onesie says, "Food goes in here. Comes out here." That pretty much sums it up.

• Check it out! Bush urges parents to get kids to play outdoors—now, while it lasts! So weird. The authorities want to make sure kids get outside and play for at least an hour each day. When I was a kid, I was like, Just try to stop me from playing outside for hours on end. What's happened?

Wait. This isn't fun.

• Ugh! But, you know, anything as big as a venti-sized drink is going to contain a lot of calories, unless it's water.

Oh, sorry. That's not much fun, either.

• But this is. Oh, K-Fed. Give it up already. And to the Natioanl Restaurant Association: Chill a little, okay? Sometimes it's okay just to laugh and let it go.

What do you think? Is that commercial offensive? Or just funny? Or neither?

Posted by QSMama at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)