Last month I attended a McDonald’s First Taste event in New York City. The event was designed for media and bloggers to be able to sample some new menu items, meet with key McDonald’s representatives, and speak with McDonald’s nutrition manager and chef. We also had the opportunity to speak with a registered dietitian who focuses on nutrition in the Latino community.

While our family is not against fast food and do occasionally eat it, we realize that we need to be careful with our choices and monitor how much and how often we eat fast food. Attending the McDonald’s First Taste event allowed me to learn more about the various choices McDonald’s offers that will make a visit to the restaurant a more balanced visit, food-wise. I also learned about the Bag a McMeal section of the McDonald’s website, where you can choose menu items to create a more-balanced meal and monitor the nutritional information. This is good if you’re wanting to choose lower-calorie or lower-fat options from the McDonald’s menu before heading to your local McDonald’s. It definitely gives you a good perspective on what you may have been eating thus far and how you can choose better options.

I spoke with both Julia Braun, McDonald’s nutrition manager, and Sylvia Melendez-Klinger, an independent registered dietitian who focuses on nutrition in the Hispanic community. Both ladies provided insightful information regarding the McDonald’s menu. Check out the videos below to learn some tips from Sylvia on putting together a meal that meets your calorie needs, plus her take on what the Latino community can do to make healthier eating choices.

Sylvia Melendez-Klinger on Creating a Balanced Meal at McDonald’s

Sylvia Melendez-Klinger on How Latinos Can Eat Healthier

I also took the opportunity to ask Julia Braun about marketing to children at McDonald’s. Hear her response regarding McDonald’s stance on responsible marketing to children.

Julia Braun on Marketing to Children at McDonald’s

A couple of the new menu items we sampled included a mango pineapple smoothie, an Asian salad McDonald’s is bringing back for a limited time, and new sauces for the Chicken McNuggets, including a ranch sauce which will please my daughter who dips pretty much everything into ranch dressing. Of course, McDonald’s wants you to try out some of their new menu items, so they’re offering a giveaway to ModernMami™ readers with a gift card so you can do just that. Remember to also give the Bag a McMeal site a try and see what meal combinations you can come up with. Sylvia provided some tips on how you can even keep your meals around the 500 calorie mark. What 500-600 calorie meals can you create for a better fast food meal choice?

McDonald’s Gift Bag Giveaway

One Three* readers will win a McDonald’s gift bag, which contains the following items:
*Update 6/11/11: I’ve been told by the PR company that I can giveaway three bags instead of just one!

• Tips and recipes from Chef Dan
• Lavender scented eye mask
• Pineapple scented candle
• Mango scented candle
• Notebook with pen
• Bamboo pen
• Balance bracelet
• $25 McDonald’s Arch Card

How to Enter

Required entry: If you’d like to enter this contest, simply leave a comment below telling us which McDonald’s 600-calorie (or less) meal combination you prefer.

Extra entries (optional):

Each of the following will count as 1 extra entry. You’ll need to leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow @modernmami on twitter.
2. Tweet the following: Enter to win a McDonald’s gift bag & gift card from @modernmami! http://bit.ly/lKjQxv #mcdonalds #giveaway #contest
3. Receive post updates by subscribing to our RSS feed. You can do so either via email or through a RSS reader. Leave a comment saying you did so or are already a subscriber.
4. Subscribe on friendfeed and leave a comment with your friendfeed ID.
5. Like ModernMami™.com on Facebook.
6. Write a blog post on your own blog sharing the details of this contest. Be sure to include a link back to this post. Leave a comment with your post link.

All entries must be in by Friday, June 17, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. You must be 18 or older and have a valid U.S. address to enter. Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. The winners will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified via email. (Please be sure to provide a valid email address with your entry.) Winners will have 48 hours to respond and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I attended the McDonald’s First Taste event courtesy of VPE PR and McDonald’s. All expenses paid. No compensation received.

Photo credits: McDonald’s

This month’s Potato Tastemaker 2K10 challenge was Nutrition on a Budget. I had to create a nutritious dish for 4 with only $10 – using potatoes of course!

First, a few facts about potatoes:

• one medium-size potato has just 110 calories and is absolutely fat free
• one potato provides 45% of your daily value of vitamin C
• when eaten with the skin, a potato has more potassium than a banana
• potatoes are often one of the best values in the produce department, costing (on average), just $.25 per pound

For more potato goodness, tips, and recipes, check out Mom’s Dinner Helper from the US Potato Board.

Now, watch and see what I created:

Make sure you click over to the ModernMami.com YouTube channel and rank the video. You’ll have to sign in, but it’s super easy and free to create a YouTube account if you don’t already have one.

Here’s how to rank the video:

• View the ModernMami #tastemaker challenge 2 video at YouTube. Just click that link to go there.
• Sign in with your YouTube account or Google account; either works.
• Click the stars under the video to rank it.

That’s it!

Make sure to spread the word to your friends!

Rank the video. Pretty please?

Thanks!!!

Don’t remember what I made for part 1 of the challenge? I showed you how to make rellenos de papa…with a salmon twist.

Disclosure: As a Potato Tastemaker challenger, for round 2 of the challenge, I was provided with $10 for creating my dish. Additionally, I received a few kitchen gadgets and a recipe book. No other compensation received.

The other day, I posted about my daughter wanting to go shopping so she could buy turkey.

In the comments, it was noted that she doesn’t eat meat…not really.

I figured, I’d expand on this a bit.

Though we’re far from being a vegetarian household, for some odd reason, my daughter will not eat meat.

The only meats she eats are chicken nuggets and/or chicken fries and sometimes deli meat. More often than not, we force her to eat the nuggets/fries and sometimes we sneak the deli meat into her sandwiches.

If it were up to her, she could go without.

Now, this wasn’t always the case. When she started eating solid foods, and especially when she started eating on her own, she would eat cut-up chicken, bacon, and sometimes she’d even eat some beef in a broth with rice.

But, she slowly started rejecting all meats and we had to re-introduce the little bit she’ll eat now.

Like I said, we’re not a vegetarian household, so it all seems very strange to us. She sees us eat meat all the time.We keep offering it to her in various forms. But, nothing.

I know there are vegetarian kids out there who are perfectly healthy. Her doctor even said it’s fine and wasn’t concerned.

But, as her mami, I can’t help but worry if she’s getting enough protein. She doesn’t eat beans either. Well, not in the way we cook them with the gravy. I haven’t tried another way.

I keep hoping she’ll outgrow it and will soon start eating some meat, so I can just give her the same food we eat.

Actually, I keep hoping she’ll overcome being a picky eater in general.

Any vegetarians out there have any suggestions?