Newsletter

The start of a new year always comes with new goals, whether it’s working out more, getting organized, spending less, or eating healthier. These last two goals can be accomplished together by eating more meals at home. You can incorporate more vegetables, fruit, and other healthy ingredients into your meals when you cook at home. Plus, you know that there is no added sugar or unhealthy fats hidden in your meal since you’re the one who made it! However, for many busy families, it is difficult to find the time and energy to cook at home. Meal planning can be a big help, but it can be overwhelming to get started. Here are some tips to help you ease into meal planning to achieve your 2023 goals.

Start small

You don’t have to overhaul your family’s entire diet at one time. Start by setting a small goal. If the number of times you eat out each week concerns you, try to cook one additional meal at home per week. If you manage to get dinner on the table most nights, but it is chaotic and stressful, try to plan the week’s meals and prep some ahead of time so that it can be a more enjoyable experience when dinnertime rolls around. If you’re concerned that your crew isn’t eating enough vegetables, try adding one veggie per meal (even if that means you have to hide it in the food). Once you reach that goal, you can set a bigger goal but you don’t want to set yourself up for failure by trying to fix everything all at once.

Start with crowd-pleasing meals

Many enthusiastic goal-setters try to jump into healthy eating by finding recipes or plans from nutrition experts and copying them exactly. The missed first step here, though, is evaluating these plans to see if your family even likes those meals. Take some time at the beginning of your meal planning journey to write down a list of meals that your family always likes, and incorporate these meals into your weekly plans. Make sure to save your list for future plans!

Decide your meal-planning style

Not everyone’s meal-planning and prepping routine looks the same. Some people like to have lunches and dinners fully prepared before the week begins. Others prepare some of the ingredients (like chopping vegetables or browning meats) and finish the meals right before dinner. Some don’t want a rigid plan, they just want to have three or four meals prepped and they decide on that day which they’ll eat. Some even like to take one day a month and make a whole load of freezer-ready meals that they can heat up for many different dinners. Take a look at your schedule and your preferences and decide what you’ll do. Here’s the best thing: if you try one way and don’t like it, you can totally change the way you do it! Nothing is set in stone so keep experimenting to find what works for you.

Now you’re ready to begin!

If you have an early dinner time, skip the snack and offer the salad or vegetable you make for dinner to take the edge off their hunger.

What Snacks Are Good for School-Age Kids?

Here are some snacks that school-age kids might enjoy:

- home-made trail mix with whole-grain breakfast cereal and nuts and raisins

- string cheese with grapes or other fruit

- fruit smoothies made with yogurt, milk, or a dairyfree milk-alternative

- ice pops made with 100% fruit juice or yogurt in ice pop molds or ice cube trays. Add chopped fruit before putting in the freezer.

- whole-grain pretzels with peanut butter

- fruit slices dipped in low-fat flavored yogurt or veggies dipped in hummus

- Make Healthy Snacking a Habit

- Buy and serve healthy foods. Avoid snacks that are high in sugar, salt, and fat.

* https://kidshealth.org

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