Search Results for: blog and you thought hot dogs were bad for kids

Eating Out: More Trick Than Treat

Eating out is a big treat for most families.  Parents love the break from cooking and doing the dishes, while kids enjoy eating chicken nuggets in a different setting.  Unfortunately, splurging on a restaurant meal may come back to bite you. According to a new study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), parents are doing their children a disservice by treating them to dinner out.  Researchers say menu options offered to children by most U.S. restaurant chains have way too many calories, in addition to dangerously high amounts of salt and fat.  In fact, the group … Continue reading →

Do You Really Want to Know?

I’m old. Consequently, I don’t care about as many things as I used to. Actually, that epiphany was more a result of becoming a mother than simply aging, but there’s a definite connection. I’m old and parenthood has made me tired. Very tired. Thus, I don’t have the energy to care about all the minutiae I did prior to becoming the caretaker of another person’s soul. With that said I’m sure you can guess where I stand on the media hype surrounding McDonald’s move to post calorie counts on the interior and drive-thru menu signboards at each of the company’s … Continue reading →

Chuck Norris, Gays, and the Boy Scouts of America

You know all the Chuck Norris facts going around? Like behind “Chuck Norris’ beard is another fist.” Or, “Chuck Norris counted to infinity – twice.” How about “Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.” Although I’ve always thought of myself as a Bruce Lee girl, these always make me giggle. His 40+ year career as an actor and martial artist along with these Chuck Norris facts cause TIME to proclaim Norris an “online cult hero” in 2006. Too bad he showed a less than heroic attitude today in … Continue reading →

More Temptations for Kids

Greeeeaaat. As if parents don’t have enough to worry about, now Burger King is offering home delivery. The fast food restaurant’s announcement came just hours after Food Network star Paula Deen finally revealed her Type 2 diabetes diagnoses (and the fact that she is getting paid to be a spokeswoman for pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk) on NBC’s Today show. Talk about timing. With childhood obesity at an all-time high (and adult waistline’s expanding as much as ever) does this country really need Double Whoppers with cheese and large fries being delivered to our front door? What’s more, do parents really … Continue reading →

And You Thought Hot Dogs Were Bad For Kids

Don’t you love it when other parents agree with you? I had to chuckle reading fellow blogger Matt Pinkston’s take on hot dogs. The dad of four kids is as repulsed by the popular kiddie menu option as I am. As he noted in a previous post: “After four years of undergraduate science, and understanding thoroughly what sodium nitrates and nitrates, corn syrup, food colorings, and parasites in hot dogs will do to people, I’m not a fan. The conflict intensifies when one child requests hamburger, which I then prepare, then insists on hot dogs, an item seldom in the … Continue reading →

Driving the Family Germ-mobile

“If you’re a soccer mom, you’re essentially driving a germ-mobile.” Or so claims a microbiologist from the University of Arizona who conducted a study on bacteria levels in people’s vehicles. The conclusion: Most of us are driving around in motorized toilets. Scratch that. Actually, what this germ expert concluded was that in most cases the toilets in our homes are cleaner than the interior of our vehicles. Food for thought the next time you consider loading up the kids for a ride to grandma’s house. Before you start bleaching your dashboard take a look at the details of the study: … Continue reading →

Author Lauren Carr and the Many Animals That Inspire Her, An Interview

My next interview victim –er, I mean subject—is mystery author Lauren Carr. The thing that struck me most about her interview is how ingrained animals are in her life, and therefore in her books. Lauren shared a bunch of wonderful pet-related anecdotes that elicited more than one knowing head nod or chuckle from me. Will it be the same for you? Read for yourself and see if you can’t relate to her life with pets. Courtney Mroch: What kind of things do you write about? (Genre, subject matter, themes, what have you.) Lauren Carr: I am the author of the … Continue reading →