Fast Food A Treat Once In A While

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to stop for fast food. Two of my girls and I had gone shopping and now, at dusk, they were ready for something to eat. They wanted french fries.

We pulled into a McDonald’s and waited. Before we knew it, a friend of mine and her son had pulled up behind us, and the woman came up to my car. She laughingly said she couldn’t believe that I, a healthy food advocate, would come to McDonald’s.

“Oh, we like to come as a treat, like everyone else,” I said, adding: “We’re just here for french fries.”

She laughed.

“What are you getting?” I called out to her as she got back in her car.

“Drew’s getting a Big Mac,” she replied.

I had an idea. When we pulled up to give our order, I asked the young female employee if she would tell the people in the car behind us that the restaurant was out of Big Macs. She hesitantly agreed. So we pulled up and watched the action.

The woman gave her order. A perplexed look came over her face as she listened to the reply. Then she turned to her son and told him; he also got a quizzical look on his face. Finally, the employee told them the truth. I don’t know who laughed more, them or us, but the joke made our day.

The story would have been funnier if there hadn’t been a beef recall because of possible E. coli contamination that left some fast-food places in the Midwest burgerless last weekend.

Play it safe at home, too. Cook ground beef until it’s done; it doesn’t have to be dry and overcooked, but the internal temperature should be 160 degrees.

We’ll play it safe with a tuna casserole from Justin Miller, a 7-year-old cookbook author who was making cabbage rolls at the tender age of 8 months.

And here’s to our next treat of french fries.

Danny’s Tune-a-Fish (Tuna Rice)

From “Cooking With Justin, Recipes for Kids (and Parents) by the World’s Youngest Chef,” by Justin Miller (Andrews and McMeel, 1997).

1 chicken bouillon cube

1-3/4 cups hot water

1 (10-ounce) package frozen sweet peas

1 (10-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup

2 (6-ounce) cans water-packed tuna, drained

1-1/3 cups instant rice

Dissolve bouillon cube in hot water in a large saucepan. Add peas, bring to a boil. Add soup, stir until smooth. Add tuna and rice, bring back to a boil. Cover, remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 435 calories, 6.5 grams fat (13 percent fat calories), 32 grams protein, 60 grams carbohydrate, 1,336 milligrams sodium.

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