Fast food you should eat.

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Jennifer Tyler Lee is a mom and the creator of Crunch a Color™, the award winning healthy eating game that makes mealtime fun. Challenged by trying to get her kids (ages 5 and 7) to eat healthy meals, she decided to take matters into her own hands. In a few short months, Crunch a Color™ has gone from her kitchen table to nationwide stores and winner of the Dr. Toy and Parent Tested, Parent Approved awards for one of the best children’s products of 2011.

Convenience, cost, and taste are why Americans choose fast food. Fast food consumption has increased dramatically – up 5x since the 1970s, and now 1 in 3 children eat fast food daily, according to a study in Pediatrics. Fast food is clearly meeting a need. Parents are busy. Budgets are tight. Families need quick, convenient low-cost food options, and fast food delivers. So I say, “Go ahead, eat fast food!” – but with a caveat.

What if wholesome, nutritious, healthy foods were fast? What if you could prepare a healthy meal in less time than it takes to drive to McDonald’s and order a Big Mac? I’m a busy mom just like you. Most nights I’m lucky if I have 15 minutes of uninterrupted time to prepare a healthy meal. If it’s going to make it in our house, it needs to be fast AND healthy. Instead of fighting the tide, I decided to assemble a no-fail list of healthy, fast foods. Foods that I can prepare and cook in a matter of minutes, and are guaranteed to be home runs at our family table.

My current favorite is kale chips. They are an easy, healthy fast food that your kids are sure to enjoy (their nutty flavor is akin to seaweed). Start with a fresh bunch of dark green kale – preferably lacinto (“dino”) kale. Bonus: They are easy enough for a 5 year old to prepare, which wins them more points in my book. This is the kind of fast food I can get into.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: about 15 minutes

  1. Preheat oven to 250°F
  2. Wash kale. Peel or cut leaves from center stalk. Chop into medium size pieces. Pat dry.
  3. Toss in 1Tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt.
  4. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.
  5. Bake about 15 minutes, or until crisp. Cool then serve.

Fruits and veggies may not beat fast food on cost, but they can definitely compete on speed. Healthy food can be fast food too! For more ideas and a free set of printable healthy, fast food recipes your kids can cook visit www.crunchacolor.com/pages/printables.

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November 29, 2011
Note: This Perspectives Blog post is written by a Guest Blogger of DrGreene.com and is provided in order to offer a variety of thoughtful points of view. The opinions expressed on this Perspectives Blog post do not reflect the opinions of Dr. Greene or DrGreene.com. As such, Dr. Greene and DrGreene.com are not responsible for the accuracy of the information supplied. This post is used under Creative Commons License CC BY-ND 3.0.
 
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Comments

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2011-11-29 12:57.

So many ways to stay healthy

Great post! We also like dried apples and apricots. We agree that some of the quickest foods can be the healthiest--hard boiled eggs and nuts are also great snacks. Love the post and your writing in general. Keep it up! Lindsey Scial Media Specialist http://vectorblog.org/