Have you ever wanted to plan a menu but had no idea how to really put it together, except for Thanksgiving? Here is your opportunity to learn the basics of simple and healthy menu planning.
Because our lives’ are so busy, meal planning actually becomes an important tool to meet the basic requirements for good nutrition for your family. Learning to plan meals takes time and practice, but it’s an investment that will grow in value.
For some people, deciding what to eat five days from now seems overwhelming or boring. But planning meals is a great tool when it comes to healthful eating. Developing weekly meal plans and sticking to a shopping list helps keep stomachs from dominating food choices.
A good meal plan starts with a budget. When you plan a budget, you decide how much money to spend for food. The challenge for any family is to provide wholesome, enjoyable meals without spending more than the budget allows. To set up a food budget, simply find out how much your family is currently spending on food – keep your eating at home food budget separate from your eating out budget. You may keep records for a few weeks then calculate how much of your income you spend on food. At this point, a decision can be made to decide if current food expenses are acceptable or if you need to make any adjustments.
Top Ten Tools To Consider When Planning Meals:
1. Make a list – As you choose your recipes and prepare your weekly menus make sure you have all the necessary ingredients for each meal. This will make your grocery shopping more efficient and economical. And don’t forget to check the newspaper ads and flyers and online coupons in order to get the best price for those items on your list.
2. Reducing food waste – Avoiding food waste starts by preparing food properly and at the right time. Recipes can be reduced for smaller families or appetites. Serving smaller portions also discourages overeating, while safe storage protects leftovers for future meals. To avoid wasting food, do a pantry, refrigerator and freezer check before writing your grocery list.
3. Savor Flavor – Use foods that are in season to get the best flavors at the best prices. Also, avoid using foods with familiar flavors in the same meal. For example, if you serve fruit salad with the main course, choose a dessert without fruit. Try to combine flavors that go together. This is when themes come in handy. Make a Mexican night, Big Game dinner, Asian dinner or left over night, etc. Using versatile, tasty and nutritious ingredients kids love, such as Ragú® pasta sauces, helps keeps children interested in even the healthiest meals.
4. Food groups – This should be your guide to making sure you are getting enough nutrients. Use the food guide pyramid to find out age appropriate portion sizes from each food group. For more information go to www.mypyramid.gov.
5. Skill Level – Successful meal planning takes advantage of each family member’s cooking skills. Less experienced cooks can contribute simpler steps, gradually learning more complicated techniques from more skilled family members. They can also learn important rules for kitchen safety and cleanliness. Families need to pool the time and energy available to each member and assign tasks based on who can do them most conveniently.
6. Colors – Choosing colorful fruits and vegetables helps to brighten a meal and add plenty of nutrients. To maximize the nutritional value of a meal, challenge your family to see how many colors you can include on your plate.
7. Shape and size – You can create different effects from a single food. You can slice a tomato vertically to form wedges or dice it for simple chewing.
8. Texture – How foods are prepared affect the way they feel when you chew. To add a healthy crunch, serve carrots raw instead of cooked. Toast bread to go with soup or top a casserole with bread crumbs.
9. Temperature – A food’s temperature affects its taste and texture, as well as its safety. Cheese and sausage on a pizza are soft and flavorful right out of the oven. Keep hot and cold foods at their most appealing temperatures.
10. Equipment – Every recipe calls for certain equipment, but sometimes there is more than one right method to prepare a recipe. For example, many stir-fries can be prepared in a skillet instead of a wok. Casserole recipes often give directions for using different size pans.
Below shows a sample meal plan to get you started:
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
| Breakfast | Pancakes with low reduced calories syrup Strawberries 2% milk | Oatmeal with Raisins and brown sugar Banana 2% milk | Blueberry muffin Orange juice Honey dew slices | Wheat cereal or grits with margarine Apple slices 2% milk | All Bran cereal Banana 2% milk | Bagel with reduced fat cream cheese Cantaloupe slices Orange juice | Scrambled eggs with English muffins Red grapes |
| Lunch | Chicken noodle soup Tuna salad sandwich with low fat mayo Apple slices | Taco salad with ground turkey Lettuce, tomato and low fat cheddar cheese Green grapes | Tomato soup Turkey sandwich With low fat mayo Mango slices | Lentils with ham and lean sausage Rice Zucchini Cauliflower Orange slices | Chicken salad over lettuce Cantaloupe slices | Hamburger Lean beef patty Oven baked fries Tossed salad with low fat dressing Honeydew slices | Turkey chili with beans Oyster crackers Orange slices |
| Dinner | Spaghetti with meatballs and Ragú pasta sauce Tossed salad with low fat dressing Garlic bread 2 % milk Red grapes | Meatloaf Mash Potatoes Broccoli Dinner roll 2% milk Orange slices | Teriyaki Salmon Rice pilaf Green beans 2% milk Pineapple slices | BBQ chicken Broccoli Sweet potato Wheat bread 2% milk Peaches | Ravioli with lean beef and Ragú pasta sauce Green beans Corn Garlic bread sticks Green grapes | Beef stew Green salad with cucumber and tomatoes Low fat dressing 2% milk Dinner roll Apple slices | Chicken tenders Corn Coleslaw Dinner roll 2% milk Peaches |
