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food & drink
McDonalds, Northbrook Street,
Newbury Retail Park and Tot Hill
Does the Happy Meal make parents happy by
being healthy? No trans fat now means
the Happy Meal is better. Nuggets are
best, with carrot sticks or a fruit bag.
To drink go for organic milk, mineral
water or a Small Fruitizz (made with fruit
juice concentrates of grape, apple and
raspberry mixed with sparkling water).
All nutritional information is on
McDonalds website, but as an example:
a cheeseburger is 290 calories and 11g
of fat, a hamburger is 240 calories and 8g fat,
chicken nuggets 190 calories and 12g fat.
Fries are 100 calories and 5g of fat and apple
slices 15 calories.
But, like Burger King, be aware of the salt
content of your children’s meals. Check
the website.
Burger King, 34 Greenham Road
Best choices are nuggets, hamburger or veggie
burger and Apple Fries to replace French fries.
All nutritional information is on
their website, but a veggie burger
is 330 calories and 12g of fat.
Nuggets are 190calories and 12g
of fat. The kiddie-sized burger is
260 calories and 9g of fat.
No soft drinks come with kids’
meals – like McDonalds – just milk,
chocolate milk, apple juice or water.
Pizza Express, Market Place, Newbury
The Piccolo menu at Pizza Express has, for
example, Bolognese, mushroom béchamel
pasta, American pizza with pepperoni, but
healthiest is the Pollo Salad – torn chicken,
Cos lettuce, roasted red and yellow peppers,
light mozzarella and light house dressing,
served with polenta chips or dough balls. Three
courses for kids is £6.95. A healthy dessert is
a Bambinocinno, a frothed milk drink
with a sprinkle of chocolate powder.
The traditional dough balls come with
a fresh salad of crunchy cucumber
and red baby plum tomatoes.
DISHING IT UP
Three fun ideas for mealtimes
Disney 3-Piece Disney Princess Story Telling
Melamine Set, Amazon £7.99. This very girly
set Includes a plate, bowl and tumbler
Churchill Wheels on the Bus 4 Piece Breakfast
Set, John Lewis £30. Included inside this gift
box from Churchill is a plate (17.2cm), a bowl
(13cm), a mug (284ml) and an egg cup (6.5cm).
Twisted Envy Whatever Ceramic Tea Mug,
Amazon, £5.99. For the teenager in your life…
Sage Fast Slow Pro Cooker
by Heston Blumenthal £159.99
This 6L cooker is a multi-purpose machine,
hence the price. Combining the benefits of
a slow cooker and pressure cooker into one
handy unit, the Fast Slow Pro brings the best
of both worlds to your kitchen in a stylish
and space-saving option.
With six pre-set settings including pressure
cooking, slow cooking, searing, sautéing,
reducing and steaming, the Fast Slow Pro
makes getting the cooking process
started incredibly simple.
It even has a keep-warm function to ensure
your food stays hot and ready to serve for up
to two hours after it’s cooked.
Crock-Pot Black Digital
Slow Cooker, £39.99
Easy-to-use one-touch button settings and
a generous 4.7L capacity, this is ideal for
catering for up to five people. Two heat settings
allow you multiple cooking options as and
when you require them. A keep-warm function
guarantees piping hot food whenever you eat.
The countdown programmable timer allows
you to set your cook time, ranging from 30
minutes to 20 hours. The digital timer will count
down the minutes and automatically switch the
cooker to warm when cooking time is up.
Removable stoneware, which doubles as a
convenient serving dish, and safe glass lid are
all dishwasher safe, for ultimate convenience.
Lakeland 1.5 litre
Slow Cooker, £22.99
This basic cooker will do the job. It has three
heat settings – low, high and auto. Low is
for simmering and slow cooking, high is for
faster cooking and auto is a standard setting,
which cooks food on high until the correct
temperature is reached, then keeps it warm
until ready to serve. Its heating element
encircles the crock for even cooking and it has
a dishwasher safe ceramic cooking pot, while
the glass lid allows you to see what’s cooking.
Just right when cooking for one or two.
TEA TIME
Invest in a slow cooker – bung some ingredients in the pot in the morning and return to a healthy meal for the family.
Here are some recipes and three of the best slow cookers to buy if you don’t already have one
OUT FOR TEA
So the cupboard is bare and you did not prep the slow cooker.
If you take the little ones to a fast-food place are there really healthy options on offer?