I tend to cook most all our meals at home. Yes, we enjoy dinner out. but honestly dinner out is usually for my husband and me on our date nights. With the kids home – and we have a lot of them. It is usually easier (and much cheaper) to eat at home. But sometimes – just sometimes – I need a break from the kitchen. And I am all about loading everyone up in the car and finding a restaurant that everyone can agree on. That is a bit harder than you can imagine.
I want a restaurant that has healthy options and one that both the kids and adults can look forwards to dining in. Afterall, eating out is not an everyday, or even weekly, occurrence for us! This is why I was excited to learn about this new app! Finding healthful menu options for kids while dining out is easier than ever with this app.
The National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell program is celebrating its 4th birthday this month. The program has grown from 19 restaurant brands representing 15,000 locations to more than 155 brands and 42,000 locations with dietitian-approved menu options.
A free Kids LiveWell app for iPhone and Android helps find participating restaurants while on-the-go and shows Kids LiveWell-approved menu options from participating restaurants, giving parents and kids the opportunity to choose what they’d like to eat from a list of nutritious options. Restaurants that participate commit to offering healthful meals with a focus on fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy. They also limit unhealthy fats, sugars and sodium.
Sounds perfect to me!
The app is available for download here: Kids LiveWell App The National Restaurant Association collaborated with Healthy Dining to create the Kids LiveWell program. You can also find participating restaurants and their menu options on Healthy Dining’s website:
So many restaurants! Yes, you will notice there are a few fast food places on the list – so even if you head out for a fast meal, you can find healthy options! A few of my favorites are on the list as well! I love Mimi’s Cafe and El Pollo Loco!
So the next time we are loading everyone into the car for dinner – I will be checking out this app for the place with the best choices for my family – that means choices that are both healthy and delicious!
(Disclaimer: this post was sponsored by the National Restaurant Association. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)
Transparency of Medication Prices
I was so excited to find this app BUT iTunes is saying it is “not currently available in the U.S. store”… my son has a heart condition and I’d love to be able to have access to this when I’m not able to cook at home. Do you know when or how I can get the app? Thanks so much!
Oh you are right! That is a change since I wrote this post. I will see what I can find out.
This will be such a great resource for parents! It’s no hard to know sometimes and I love that this will help guide families to make better choices!
Yes, information is always helpful in making good decisions.
This sounds like a great app for our family. We all have varying tastes when it comes to restaurants.
I hope it helps you find healthy choices!
This is awesome! I may have to look into this app after a few restaurant encounters with no healthy options.
Yes, this should be really helpful for you!
What a great App. I’d never heard of it before.
Either had I! Good to know – being informed helps us make better decisions.
This is neat! I’ve never heard of it before so I’ll have to look into it.
I hope you find it helpful!
It is nice to catch a break from the kitchen every now and then! 🙂
This sounds like a neat app, and it reminded me of something. Whenever we visit California (which is usually an annual thing), I love how amost all the chain restaurants are required to disclose the calories and fat of each item. I think it’s a law over there. I noticed that I make better choices when that info is available. It’s very difficult to decide on burgers and fries when you see “1500 calories” staring back at you! No thanks. I’ll take the salad 🙂
Isn’t that the truth! The first time I saw it was when I was visiting New York City – and believe me it made a difference when I ordered! We do have that law in California – but unfortunately it is a hit and miss situation. No one enforces the law or It’s been suspended penning a re-write. It’s all confusing. Basically sometimes we know and sometimes we do not. I love knowing the information.
Seems like an awesome app i hope i can use it to check a few recipes. I also love cooking all our meals instead of eating out, you never know what’s on your plate unless you cook it! And i love keeping my boys healthy and well fed with real food.
Thanks for the awesome review!
Oh I hadn’t thought about using it as a source for inspiration. Good idea!
I’ve never heard of this app! How awesome! We have done such a good job about meal planning and eating healthier at home, but we have definitely been known to eat out often!
So glad to hear that you are managing meal planning, shopping, and cooking at home! That is no small feat. Plus you are setting your children up for developing really good habits.
I need to put this on my iPhone. We took a day trip to a local park and decided to eat out for lunch. We had no idea what options were available in the area.
This should help you find good choices!
We tend to eat at home the majority of our meals. Mostly because I want my family to eat as healthy as can be, and also because it is so much pain to get the little ones to wait patiently at a restaurant table. But when we do go out to eat I like the idea of finding a healthy dining option.
Thats so much the same for me! Thanks for stopping by!
I love having the option to find healthy meals out. I have a few places that I know I can get a good meal but it would be nice to try new ones too.
So true! I have my couple of standards because I know I like the fresh and healthy food options. This makes it easier scoping out some options before hand.
Great app! We love eating out, thanks for sharing!
I hope you find it helpful!
What a great app particularly in our society where fast food is popular and often child friendly, even if their food isn’t ‘child friendly’ x
Yes! So much marketing to children – and not always in their best interest.
This sounds like a great app! It’s so hard to find restaurants that make quality meals for children that will also appeal to their tastes as well. I can’t wait to try this out!
Isn’t that true! There is so much marketing to kids these days. Any thing that helps us is a blessing!