The Family Dinner & Meal Planning Basics

I have had so many past clients ask me to provide them with meal planning information. There are resources and companies out there that will provide you with a print out of exactly what you should eat week by week. I have had clients receive this costly service from myself or other Dietitians I’ve worked with, only to find that no one ever follows them. Why not? Well who the heck wants to be told what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks?!!! Wouldn’t you much rather just eat what you feel like eating that day? So I don’t really recommend services that provide you with such plans unless it’s very general and open to interpretation. Or unless you are morbidly obese and are in desperate need of help and have no clue where to begin.

I think the hardest time of the day, especially for moms, is dinnertime. It isn’t easy ending a long day of work (and that includes stay-at-home mom duties because that is our work), having to come home to play chef, maid, mom and provide a healthy, hot meal for the family. However, I think it is so SO important to eat dinner as a family….with your kids…even if they are young.

When our son was a baby, we’d feed him, put him to bed by 7pm and then eat by ourselves. Yes, it was a nice chance to catch up with my husband but after about 15 months, we decided that was silly. We should eat as a family even if it meant bumping our dinner time up. As a result I think our son loves food so much because he has been exposed to family supper at a young age. Our daughter as well. Since she was the second child, we had her join us at the dinner table long before she even ate dinner. She is also an excellent eater. My point is, start the tradition now. Eat together as a family. Family dinners have gotten lost in our culture and the new norm is to fend for yourself; mom feeds something to the kids and then shoves something in her mouth while cleaning up and dad fends for himself when he gets home. I hear this often because I am always curious about other’s mealtimes. What you do now for your child, sitting with him/her and talking rather than having them eat in front of the tv alone will play a huge role in how they behave at the dinner table, how they act in restaurants and whether or not they are picky eaters.

I know it’s not easy. Trust me, I have two young kids with one on the way and I often wonder how the heck families with more kids do it. I already feel like it’s such a juggling act getting food on the table for four….but I do it. Every. Single. Night. The only exceptions are weekends when we enjoy take-out for dinner or eating out. I want to help you be better as well. We need to bring back the family dinner.

So how does meal planning fit into the picture? Bottom line if you don’t have a plan, it isn’t very likely you will sit together for a family dinner. Another huge benefit is that you will likely eat healthier if you plan out your meals for the week and won’t feel as scattered come meal time. My plan is to use my blog as a platform for posting our weekly meal plan. I’m calling it Meal Planning Monday and I encourage and welcome you to participate. The rules are simple- check in Monday and let us know your dinner plans for the week by writing it out in the comments section. Hopefully this will help you to actually plan the week out and get ideas from others that are leaving comments. I actually do my shopping and planning on the weekend so I always start with Sunday but do whatever works for you. I don’t include breakfast and lunch in my meal planning, unless I am trying a new recipe, however I still write a thorough list before heading to the grocery store to make sure we’re stocked with enough to eat for breakfast, lunch & dinner all week. Oh and if you don’t have kids at home, or a spouse, it is still important to plan for yourself. You deserve a real meal, even if it means cooking for one.

Things to keep in mind for simple meal planning:

• Pull out 2 (or more) new recipes to try each week- use cookbooks, blogs, magazines, friends as inspiration. Don’t put too much time into it- the first 2 or 3 things that look good, pull them out.
• Plan for 1 night of leftovers
• Plan for 1-2 nights of “no recipe” meals- old stand-bys like taco night, burgers, pita pizzas, spaghetti and sauce, chili, stir-fry (what ever is easy for you, preferably something you can throw together without a recipe).
• If you are in a rut, try a cold dinner- sandwiches, salads, dips & crackers (at times we’ll do a sampler of cold foods- hummus, hard boiled egg, cheese, raw veggies, pita/crackers if nothing else is planned)
• Think about a vegetarian meal once a week
• Consider trying something new each week- a new vegetable, grain or different type of cuisine

Here is a sample to get you thinking:

Sunday

Stir-fry Shrimp, Rice, Grilled Veggies with Basil & Parmensan (eggplant, squash, zucchini, red onion, asparagus) *Rotisserie chicken for kids

Monday

Chicken Sausage on the grill, Baked Potato, Grilled Corn, Leftover Grilled Veggies

Tuesday

Buffalo Chicken Chili, Raw Veggies with Homemade Ranch Dip, *leftover sausage and plain pasta for the kids

Wednesday

Turkey Burgers, Sweet potato fries, Salad

Thursday

Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella Sandwich, Dijon Asparagus, Fruit Salad *Carrots for kids, Fruit Salad

*I am noting when I plan another component of the meal for the kids. Otherwise their meals are the same.

The point is not to impress one another, you will not be judged, you will simply have a place to be accountable, organized and share your ideas for the week. Feel free to link up any recipes you plan on trying.

See you back here on Monday!