I used to think meal planning was for extremely organized people. It turns out, meal planning is a necessity when you are a little less than organized, short on time, and low on budget.
In my case, I’d go nuts without having a master plan for my family. Working full-time and juggling three kids and all their activities leaves very little time to do anything on the fly.
It wasn’t until my children went to school that I began to incorporate lunches into my weekly plan. I began to see the benefits of meal planning shortly after I began planning our dinners and writing out a grocery list. Lunches however, were often forgotten, or I’d run out of ingredients.
For this reason, I now teach thousands of parents how to incorporate lunches into the dinner plan over at MOMables.com. Lunch is, after all, one-third of what we eat each day!
Following are some of my best weekly meal planning tips and techniques. They should get you started with ease!
• Create a master list of meals that includes healthy and quick homemade dinners your family loves. Whether you bookmark them on the Internet or print them out and store them in a binder, keep them all in one place.
• Write down what you will make for lunch for the week. Try out new recipes from this book as well as old favorites, and check out the ingredients you’ll need.
• Look at your planned lunches, and see if you can create shortcuts for yourself while you are making dinner. I’ve made sure to include lots of plan-ahead tips in most of the recipes.
• Schedule a prep day. Set aside some time to prep foods that will be healthy grab-and-go options for lunch and snacks.
• Bake treats and breakfast items while you are cooking dinner or right after, when your kitchen is more likely to be dirty and the oven already on.
• Remember your leftovers! Check the contents of your fridge, and put one of the awesome recipes in this book to use.
• Wash all produce (except raspberries) as soon as you get home from the grocery.
• Think of your crockpot as your kitchen assistant when you are off-duty.
• Get the kids involved in selecting the recipes they would like to try!
Here’s what a sample meal plan might look like in my house. Charts go a long way in keeping me on track!
WEEK 1 |
Breakfast |
Lunch |
Monday |
Kitchen Sink Muffins (page 35), fresh berries |
|
Tuesday |
Eggs-to-Go (page 36) |
Ninja Turtle Grilled Cheese (page 57), sliced apples |
Wednesday |
Kitchen Sink Muffins (page 35) |
Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta (page 145), Banana Split Bites (page 210) |
Thursday |
Build Your Own Parfait (page 125), granola |
|
Friday |
Eggs-to-Go (page 36) |
Grilled Chicken, Cheddar, grapes, carrots, Greek Yogurt Dip (page 177) |
WEEK 2 |
Breakfast |
Lunch |
Monday |
1 cup (230 g) yogurt, 1/4 cup (112 g) granola, berries |
Pesto Lover’s Box (page 132), Parmesan Crostinis (page 169), Rainbow Fruit Cups (page 202) |
Tuesday |
Cinnamon Roll Overnight Oatmeal (page 40) |
Mashed Chickpea Sandwich (page 79), Flourless Chocolate Cookies (page 211), orange slices |
Wednesday |
Breakfast Burrito (page 36) |
Neighborhood Meatballs (page 104), Parmesan Crostinis (page 169), Rainbow Fruit Cups (page 202) |
Thursday |
Blueberry Bread (page 163), 1/2 cup (125 g) sliced peaches |
Grilled Taco Sandwich (page 46), sliced apples, Homemade Salsa (page 180) |
Friday |
Orange Push-Pop Smoothie (page 189) |
ABC Pinwheels (page 65), salsa, Caramel Banilla Bites (page 202) |
WEEK 1 |
Snack |
Dinner |
Monday |
Peaches and Cream Smoothie (page 190) |
Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta (page 145), salad |
Tuesday |
Ladybugs (page 196) |
Homemade O’s (page 145), salad |
Wednesday |
Greek Yogurt Dip (page 177), carrots |
Grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, Bombay Rice (page 138) |
Thursday |
Kettle Corn (page 201) |
Ginger Carrots (page 155), dumplings, salad |
Friday |
Mango Madness Smoothie (page_181) |
Family Pizza Night: Pizza Dough (page 167), salad |
WEEK 2 |
Snack |
Dinner |
Monday |
Frozen Yogurt Berries (page 205) |
Breakfast Night: Whole Wheat Wafes (page 44), scrambled eggs, fruit |
Tuesday |
White Chocolate Peanut Butter and Strawberry Crostinis (page 208) |
Taco Night: ground beef, soft tortillas, shredded cheese, Homemade Salsa (page 180), Easy Guacamole (page 180), sour cream, black beans |
Wednesday |
Peaches and Cream Smoothie (page 190) |
Neighborhood Meatballs (page 104), spaghetti, salad |
Thursday |
The Hulk (Green Smoothie) (page_181) |
Creamy Avocado Pasta (page 141), salad |
Friday |
Sweet Ants on a Log (page 198) |
Tuna Quinoa Casserole (page 137), salad |
As a busy mom with kids in after-school activities, I often feel like a chauffeur who lives in her minivan.
So what happens when the kids start getting hungry between shuttle stops? They get cranky, and if this momma doesn’t have snacks packed, things turn into the “van of doom,” since I refuse to buy junk at a drive-through.
Here are my go-to snacks and how to pack them for minimal van cleanup:
• Strawberry Fruit Leather (page 84); bring wet wipes for sticky hands
• Blueberry Bread slices (page 163) in small individual containers
• Cheese sticks rolled inside ham slices
• Carrot and celery sticks with Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix (page 175) in a dipper container
• White Bean Dip (page 177) with veggies or crackers in a divided container
• Peanut Butter Fruit Dip (page 179) with apple slices
• Ladybugs (page 196), deconstructed in a divided container
• Maple Glazed Trail Mix (page 198)
• Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bar (page 206) and fresh strawberries in a divided container
• Smoothies in a jar (keep frozen for long road trips, and they’ll thaw during the drive)
The year my daughter entered preschool, I learned how challenging it was to bring snacks for an entire classroom of toddlers once every two weeks. When I asked the teachers what I should bring, they told me to just buy cookies and crackers in individual bags. Not my style!
Below is my list of go-to healthy alternatives to store-bought and how I pack them in individual portions for each student. (Don’t forget to make a few extra bags just in case!)
• Kitchen Sink Muffins (page 35), packaged in ziplock sandwich bags
• Breakfast Cookies (page 38), packaged in ziplock sandwich bags
• One small apple plus individual string cheese stick (if you freeze string cheese, it will thaw and be cold by snack time)
• Lunchbox Cheese Crackers (page 192), packaged in snack-size ziplock bags
• Protein Cookie Bites (page 194) made with sunflower seed butter (to avoid possible allergy), packaged in snack-size ziplock bags (two cookie bites per bag)
• Maple Glazed Trail Mix (page 198) or Kettle Corn (page 201), packaged in ziplock sandwich bags
• Rainbow Fruit Cups (page 202), packaged in small disposable containers
• Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars (page 206), packaged in snack-size ziplock bags
• Gallon-size jug filled with any of the smoothie recipes in this book, sent with disposable kid-size cups
