As I have mentioned before in other post I have been asked to help co-author a children’s book (so exciting!) hopefully going to be published this Fall, just in time for the school year.  My role in writing this book was to oversee the nutritional content of the recipes, create fun exercises for both kids and parents to do together, and more importantly speak to the parents offering up education and easy nutrition strategies to keep the entire family healthy without pulling your hair out!

We have A LOT of kid friendly recipes that are fantastic, but our publisher pointed out to us that there was no direction on how to effectively plan out meals for your family.  It can get pretty overwhelming when you have recipes but no strategy to plan, shop and cook them. 

Here is a my introduction to meal planning (with a few extras for the blog)  from the book coming out this Fall.  HAPPY PLANNING!

Introduction to meal planning-

This book is full of great recipes and nutrition tips, but we understand that meal planning for the family can be difficult.   This section is designed to give you strategies to put all of those recipes and tips into action.  Following a diet or nutrition plan as a single adult is fairly simple, you plan out, cook and eat your healthy meals, but when you have a family with picky eaters or different nutritional needs meal planning can get complicated.  As a mother of 5 (17, 16, and 12 year old “bonus sons” Ben Jr., Khamory and Santana and my 2 year old Lily and newborn Austin), I would like to say that I have come up with a successful meal planning system.  I remember one of the first weekends we had my “bonus sons” for the Summer after Ben and I got married, the whole mom thing was new to me. We went through a pound of bacon, sausage, a dozen + eggs and a loaf of bread for French toast, at that point I knew we had to come up with a effective meal planning system or I was going to go crazy and we would go broke!  Kids, especially boys, can eat!

The first thing I have found is that I have to plan out a week’s worth of meals ahead of time this is the most important strategy for success. If you plan day by day you may be wasting time, and money going to the grocery store more then you need to or you may cave and get take out because you are too exhausted to think about “what’s for dinner”.

Follow these simple strategies and your meal planning will not be as much of a chore as it sometimes feels.

• Stock up on the staples.  If you are planning on eating healthy recipes with taste then you will need to stock up on some staple items starting with herbs and spices.  Go to your local farmers market or grocery store and get all of the essentials (depending on your food preferences you may add or take away from the below list, but as a base guideline this is what I recommend my clients keep stocked in their spice cabinet):
  • Sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, cumin, rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, chives, turmeric, curry, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dry mustard to name a few.
  • Staple items to have in your pantry include:
    • All natural chicken/beef broth, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, raw honey, steel cut oats, quinoa, rice, stevia, vinegars (balsamic, apple cider, etc.), all natural nut butters like almond, cashew or sunflower butters, raw nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, etc.).
    • Staples for the fridge include:
      • Lemon, lime juice, salsa, unsweetened almond or coconut milk, eggs, and organic butter

• Make a list.  Making a grocery list ensures that you will adhere to your food budget, your meal plan and you will not forget anything.  Pick a day of the week when you have a little extra time to plan out your week’s worth of meal (typically a Saturday or Sunday).  Start out with the simple meals, breakfast and lunch.
  • Breakfast is typically a meal that can be repeated often and should be a fairly quick process in the morning.  Think about what your family would like to eat for breakfast… steel cut oats with honey, cinnamon and chopped walnuts, vegetable omelets with all natural sausage or bacon, or smoothies, etc.
  • Lunch is also a meal that can be repeated often but tweaked slightly to avoid boredom.  Salads, lettuce wraps, parfaits, sandwiches are all typical lunch options.  Get your family’s input on what they would like for the week in their lunch (what type of fruit, snack, and main entrée) and make your list off of their preferences.
  • Dinner is probably the most complicated meal to plan because everyone is tired and hungry after a long day of school and work; they look forward to a tasty meal.  Pull out recipes and plan what you are going to cook each night.  This way you can pull out the meat to defrost in the morning and plan the quick recipes (crock pot or grill) for nights that are loaded with activities and the more complicated or time consuming recipes for the nights when you are going to be home.
  • Snacks should be fairly simple, stock up on seasonal fruits and vegetables, hummus, raw nuts/seeds or nut butters, Greek or non-dairy coconut yogurts, hard boiled eggs, etc.
  • Make life easy by looking into a local food co-op or a shop from home grocery store like Green Box Foods, this will cut back on the amount of trips you have to make to the grocery store while ensuring you family is consuming high quality certified all natural and organic meats and fruits and vegetables.