SARAH'S BLOG OF FUN: McDonald's Happy Meals Are $2.99 Each-Now With Nutritious Options. Enter My ~~Giveaway~~ #HappyBalance

Friday, October 3, 2014

McDonald's Happy Meals Are $2.99 Each-Now With Nutritious Options. Enter My ~~Giveaway~~ #HappyBalance

**All opinions expressed are 100% my own. I was compensated for this post. The postings on this site do not represent the views of McDonald's.**



Back-to-School season is in full-swing. Ballet practice and soccer games now fill the calendar and families are stretched for time and money post-summer fun. Family life is busier than ever these days and it's a challenge to strike a balance between grabbing a quick bite of food to feel good about. At $2.99, McDonald's Happy Meal is the perfect option for families who are looking for simple lunch and dinner ideas for their kids.


McDonald's Happy Meals provide wholesome options such as Apple Slices and Go-GURT Low-Fat Strawberry yogurt. Additionally, 1% low-fat while milk, fat-free chocolate milk and 100% apple juice are the perfect beverage pairing for your kids Happy Meal. Later this fall, customers can expect to see Cuties clementines from Sun Pacific included as a Happy Meal side as well.

Back to school is a very busy time for me. This year both kids are in school, which gives me more time for those couple hours they are gone, but it also makes my life busier with double the activities once they are home!!

Ben this year has boy scouts, and he plays the violin (just to name two current activities.) Doug has a ton going on with school too, and Mommy is there to help.

On weekends, we are even busier. Ben Sr works 12 hour shifts, so I am the taxi driver, cook, personal shopper, etc.

Saturday's we go food shopping. For anyone with kids, you know a normal 20 minute trip is now three hours!! I use coupons, so it makes it even longer.

Before we head out to shop, I let the kids do a building shop at our local home improvement stores. It gives them something to do that they enjoy, and helps them to "relax" before the stores. They are less excited, and are more willing to take on tasks they don't like once they have a new project/toy to play with!!

Another great way to survive these long trips is to bring activities for the kids to play with while sitting in the shopping cart. I bring iPads one trip, and then coloring books another. Keeping the kids occupied lets me get in and out as quick as possible.

During the week when Ben has lessons, we have a short time between school and lessons to eat dinner. I try to make meals ahead of time (crock pots are my best friends!!) On those days that I just don't have enough time, we hit McDonald's and get the kids Happy Meals. I am greatly enjoying the fact that they can get apple slices, apple juice and Go-GURT Low-Fat Strawberry Yogurt​ with their meals. I want my kids to learn that there are many ways to make long days easier while still trying to eat right!!


Here are some terrific facts about McDonald's that you might not know.

· - --As an industry leader, McDonald's is committed to the well-being of children and has made an effort to align with key partners to make a large impact in the area of nutrition.

· ---McDonald's seeks out key partnerships to make a positive impact on nutrition. After listening to customers, McDonald's partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and made a Clinton Global Initiative commitment in 2013. This partnership aims to increase access to fruit, veggies and low-fat dairy, and to help families and kids make informed choices.

· ---As part of McDonald's "Commitments to Offer Improved Nutrition Choices," we introduced the new Happy Meal in 2012, which automatically included apple slices and a reduced kids-size French fries. Since then, McDonald's has served more than 1.1 billion bags of apple slices.

· ---McDonald's is committed to providing options Moms feel good about serving to their children – McDonald's knows they want the best for their kids. As of July 2014, customers will now have the option to choose between a bag of apple slices or Go-GURT® Low-Fat Strawberry Yogurt made exclusively for McDonald's.

· ---At 50 calories per serving of tube of yogurt, and with 25 percent less sugar than the leading kids' yogurt*, Go-GURT Low-Fat Strawberry Yogurt also delivers one-quarter cup of low-fat dairy and is a good source of vitamin D and calcium.

· ---Moms and families now have the choice to order both Go-GURT Low-Fat Strawberry Yogurt and apple slices as their sides in place of a kid-size fry.

· ---The addition of Go-GURT in kids' meals provides another wholesome choice, joining Apple Slices, 1% low-fat white milk and fat-free chocolate milk and 100% apple juice beverage options.

· ---McDonald's will continue to evolve the Happy Meal and its nutritional offerings for families, as the brand is set to offer Cuties clementines from Sun Pacific later this fall.

· --- In support of their commitments, this May, McDonald's USA introduced a new Happy Meal brand character, Happy, who helps celebrate the fun of the iconic Happy Meal while reinforcing the company's commitment to children's well-being.

· ---These latest efforts to evolve the McDonald's Happy Meal will remind families of the fun and happiness of the menu offering, while reaffirming that McDonald's is a brand that cares about children's well-being through the food we serve.

Do you have some fun and creative ways to make going Back to School easier on yourself and family?? I would love to hear them!!

Comment below with your creative ideas, and then enter to win a $25 Arch card from McDonald's using the rafflecopter form below.

Good luck, and welcome Back to School!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**All opinions expressed are 100% my own. I was compensated for this post. The postings on this site do not represent the views of McDonald's.**

I received compensation from McDonald’s in exchange for writing this review. Although this is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own.



Sarah's Blog Of Fun
This post is written by Sarah Coulsey. She is a Wife, and Mother of two boys living in New England. This post may contain affiliate links.

13 comments:

Shelly Peterson said...

I prepare as much as possible the night before.

Kasee said...

I work an extra 10 minutes into the morning schedule to allow for last-minute stragglers. Getting 7 kids out the door and into the truck each morning is not easy, but ORGANIZED CHAOS can be handled better if there's a cushion in the time schedule.

Jackie said...

My tip is to set up a homework time and place and to be consistent. My daughters always do their homework right after they have a snack, and then have the rest of the night free.

shirley said...

My tip is have a time set for everything including free time and fun time.

Charity and John said...

I make a weekly to do list so I have everything organized the night before such as clothes, permission slips, after school activity items, etc.

Mami2jcn said...

Cook and freeze meals before school starts so that you'll have easy to make dinners in those first hectic days.

Maryann D. said...

We survive my planning ahead and getting supplies, bookbags, books and everything necessary ready way ahead of time.
twinkle at optonline dot net

Janice said...

Start getting the kids in a routine to get to bed earlier at least a week before school starts.
tweety800265(at)yahoo(dot)com

LauraJJ said...

My back to school tip would be to stay on schedule, even on the weekends! We find that if we get off schedule on the weekends, we have a crabby boy on Monday morning.

scottsgal said...

lay out clothes the night before to help the morning rush

Cori Westphal said...

Make lists! Lots of them! And keep them up to date so everyone is on the same page!

coriwestphal at msn dot com

Betsy Barnes said...

Plan your meals and lunches out for a week, makes it much easier when you have a plan. :)

Anonymous said...

Keeping on a schedule keeps us from going insane.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...