Building a healthy meal plan for your family
There are so many benefits of meal planning, particularly with children. For the little time spent mapping out the meals of the week and compiling recipes, you can in less stress and madness throughout the week.
There are so many benefits of meal planning, particularly with children. For the little time spent mapping out the meals of the week and compiling recipes, you can in less stress and madness throughout the week.
And if you have picky eaters, meal planning is almost essential!
Why meal plan for your family?
Meal planning helps ensure you can add a variety of different foods into your family’s diet to meet their nutritional needs.
It can be used as a strategy to help you be proactive in addressing different dietary requirements.
Planning your meals helps you avoid poor food choices when you’re too tired to cook, haven’t got the ingredients on hand or are coming back late from team sports.
It can help you stick to a budget as well as select meals that are relevant to your family’s skill set.
Meal planning can also help you become proactive about your child’s picky eating behaviour.
Meal planning for some seems like it will be time-consuming and turn out to be very expensive. But, when down correctly, meal planning can be a saviour!
Getting started with meal planning
A big part of successful family meal planning is finding a system that works for you. It’s common for people to meal plan on a Sunday and do a lot of prep for the week ahead. But, that doesn’t work for everyone’s schedule.
A screenshot of my Copy Me That recipe collection.
Some of you will be meal planning with a pen, paper and some recipe books and others will prefer to jump online.
Here are some first steps to get started:
Choose a day of the week
Select a day that you can set aside 20-30 minutes each week to meal plan.Establish a system that works for you
Do you prefer working on the computer or go old school with pen and paper?Organise your recipes
Compile the recipes you have into family favourites, meal types or by dietary restrictions. You can do this in a binder, Pinterest or using a recipe saving tool like Copy Me That.Prepare a meal planning chart
Make your own meal plan chart or spreadsheet, or download a copy here. You can also do this for shopping lists if helpful.Take an innovatory
Take stock of what you already have in your pantry. If anything has expired or doesn’t fit into your healthy diet plan, throw it away. Make a list of the food remaining to help inform your meals for the week.
Key components of a healthy meal plan
A healthy meal plan doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, stripping it back to basics it what is the cornerstone of a nutritious diet and it can save you money in the long run.
The four key components that I ensure are included in each family-friendly meal and snack are:
Wholefoods – fruit, vegetables, healthy fats, whole grains, nuts and seeds
Protein – quality meat, chicken, fish and vegetarian sources such as quinoa, lentils, tofu
No refined carbohydrates, sugars or packets with health claims
Water
Ways to save time and money meal planning
If you are new to meal planning, start where you are at. If you are only cooking three dinners a week at the moment, don’t launch into a breakfast, lunch and dinner meal plan. Start planning out those three dinners or add one meal before progressing once you get use to your system.
Here are some tips to help reduce your budget and save you some time.
Reuse your weekly plan for 1 month or season
Double your meal for leftovers or freezer-friendly dishes
Invest in a slow cooker
Wash your produce on your shopping days
Purchase your dry ingredients in bulk
Meal planning tips for picky eaters
Meal planning is a great strategy for fussy eaters as it helps break the habit of kids ordering food as though you’re working in a restaurant!
If you have a picky eater, there are some extra ways you can make meal planning work for you:
Make sure your child’s favourite foods are on rotation throughout your meal plan.
Keep the plan simple and repeat some of the meals throughout the week.
Get your children involved in meal planning whether that’s requesting a meal or taking ownership of the planning and making one of the meals.
Introduce theme nights like “Mexican Monday” or “Fast-food Friday”. These can help to create a routine as well as fun to your meals.
Consider adding a couple of family share meals to allow your child to select manageable portions of food as well as introduce them to new ingredients.
Be consistent! Don’t bend the rules and turn meal planning into kids meal ordering.
Need help with meal planning for your family? Book a complimentary Wellness Discovery Call where we can discuss your challenges or enquire about our meal planning service.
Need a meal plan tailored to you?
Our health practitioners can help take the stress out of meal prep and provide specific guidance tailored to your family’s health needs so you can provide nourishing meals every day.
