I'm not going to lie. One of my favorite foods as a kid growing up was the McDonald's Hamburger Happy Meal. I can remember one summer vacation while driving to Myrtle Beach my resistance towards my parents to eat anything except a Happy Meal Hamburger Pail (that is what the Happy Meals were coming in).
Each time we stopped to eat, I insisted on a Happy Meal because in my childhood world Happy Meals were FOUR STAR dining hands DOWN! It must be something I passed on to my children because their favorite fast food stop, any guesses?? McDonald's for the Happy Meals! I admit, I still am a huge fan of the McDonald French fries and certainly would never pass up the opportunity to enjoy a package!
As a mom to three very active children, it is often hard to fit meals and we find ourselves in the drive-thru more than I would like to admit. However, things are changing at McDonald's as the Happy Meals are going to make you MOMS and DADS happier as they have transformed the meals to include a fruit serving. Kids will love the meals because they are still the same meal, but now they have apples with them!
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Recently, I traveled to the Big Mac Museum in North Huntingdon, PA., to learn about a new, more balanced Happy Meal. Yes, well balanced. Let me explain...
The old version of the Happy Meal (hamburger): burger, fries or apple slices/caramel sauce and milk, apple juice.
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The new Happy Meal automatically includes apple slices (¼ cup or ½ serving) as a side to the choice of Chicken McNuggets®, a hamburger or cheeseburger, and choice of beverage, which includes the options of fat-free chocolate milk and 1% white milk. In addition to apple slices, the meal also includes a new smaller size French fries (1.1 ounces). For customers who prefer apples only, an additional bag of apple slices is available in lieu of fries.
By adding fruit to every Happy Meal, McDonald’s hopes to address a challenge children face in meeting the recommended daily consumption of produce. A new Happy Meal with 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, apple slices, new smaller size French fries and 1% low fat white milk or fat-free chocolate milk will deliver produce and dairy – two food groups encouraged by the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 and MyPlate – as well as at least 10 percent of the daily value for vitamins A and C, calcium and vitamin D.
In addition, the sodium in Chicken McNuggets has been reduced by more than 20 percent since 2003. In fact, as part of its national sodium reduction efforts, McDonald’s recently reduced sodium by 10 percent in the most of its chicken menu items.
We had a lot of fun visiting the Big Mac Museum today, we hope you will try out the new meal.
