We had a good week of meals last week even though I had one of those days where takeout was the only answer.  It was a tough day at work and I didn’t get much sleep due to my teething  15-month old.  I couldn’t imagine myself in the kitchen preparing a meal so I didn’t.  My husband picked up Pollo Loco instead.

I think that is what takeout is for — those days that you just need a break. It so hit the spot and I did not feel an ounce of guilt.

Last week updates: I tried the Gnocchi with Spinach and my husband and I loved it.  But neither of our kids gave it a try.  I think my son had a little stomach thing because he didn’t eat much of his afternoon snack either. We enjoyed the healthy sloppy Joes. I’ll be posting some recipes soon.

This week I”m pulling out the slow cooker for a couple of recipes from Stephanie at A Year of Slow Cooking.  I feel like it’s time for some meat so I will be making Carnitas. I’m also trying a new pasta and bean dish.

For more meal plans see Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking this Week?

Monday: Slowcooker Carnitas with sides of black beans, tortillas and all the toppings including guacamole and salsa.

Tuesday: Garlicky Pasta, bread and green beans (Six O’Clock Scramble Cookbook)

Wednesday: Slowcooker Cowboy beans, mixed green salad and fruit

Thursday: Potluck/leftovers

Friday: Salmon topped with veggies, mashed sweet potatoes, salad and fruit

Challenges

My 3-year old is going through another stage with her eating.  Bean burritos are one of her favorites but lately she is only eating the tortilla and guacamole.  And for some reason she’s no longer eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Both days last week I sent them to school and she ate everything else I sent except the sandwich.

I’ve seen her go through stages like this before and she always returns back to eating more of a variety.  Sometimes I wonder if she does it to get a reaction out of me but I never make a big deal out of it.  I will remind her about all the food on her plate but I that’s it.  What bothers me the most is that I can see the consequences of this change of eating in the toilet.

Yes, I’m going there.  She’s been getting a little constipated– and has been going less frequently.  Actually, since she’s been potty trained, for several months now, she seems to put off going poo as long as she can which doesn’t help.  I know she has to go when she walks on her tippy toes.

Harder stools usually have one of three causes — hydration, fiber and activity.  Since she stays pretty well hydrated and is active, I know it’s the fiber.  She still eats plenty of fresh fruit though some days she shuns it.  But I think the real culprit is she’s eating fewer beans and whole wheat bread.

I’ve been talking to her about how eating a variety of foods helps make her poo softer (not at the kitchen table of course).  I’m using those toilet times as “teachable moments.”   I’m also going to make some high fiber muffins and up the fresh fruit and veggie offerings.  I plan to write a post on this wonderful subject in the near future so if you have any questions/challenges let me know.

Somebody has to talk about it.

News

We recently went out to dinner when a babysitter with three kids sat down next to us.  When their meals were served the babysitter helped set the kids up and they started eating.  I’m guessing the ages were 3-8.  The youngest, no doubt the pickiest of the bunch, barely touched his burrito (but he did eat quite a bit of rice). 

The babysitter started pleading with him to take at least a three more bites of his burrito or else dessert wouldn’t happen.  There was no talk about whether or not the kid was hungry or full.  I wondered if their parents knew how their babysitter fed their kids.

This reminded me of something I read on one of my go-to blogs, Family Feeding Dynamics.  Dr. Rowell mentions an article published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior where they videotaped childcare workers feeding children.  I looked up the study.

More often than not, the childcare professionals told children to take more bites or to finish their food without mentioning hunger or satiation.  There was also a lot of “you won’t get dessert until you finish your food.”  I discuss the consequences of such feeding strategies in 10 pitfalls to avoid when feeding picky eaters.

If your child is in childcare/school it’s important to find out how they are being fed.  You may provide the food, but the “how of feeding” is just as important.  As Rowell says in her post, “Remember that over time, children can be fed in a way that overrides and buries their internal cues which means they are likely to eat more or less then they need.”

I think this is a completely overlooked culprit to weight problems in kids and adults.  Almost every adult I see for weight problems tells me they were told to “clean their plate” as kids.  

For those of you new to my site, I often talk about how important it is to raise my kids to be intuitive eaters.  That means they eat for hunger (not boredom, etc) and stop when they get full, a gift they are actually born with. 

I’ve been talking to my daughter about tuning into her tummy.  Is it full?  Still hungry?  Satisfied?  We were having ice cream the other night and I stopped and told her I was satisfied.  She asked me what satisfied meant.  I told her it’s that perfect point you know you’ve had enough.  Not quite full but not wanting more.

She soon stopped and said “I’m satisfied now.”

Last week turned hectic because my daughter’s sickness spread to the rest of us.  It wasn’t as bad as last time but it still threw the whole week off.  I never got to the Red Beans and Rice but I did make the Chicken Pesto Parm.  I haven’t had much success with producing tasty and moist baked chicken, but the mixture of parmesan and pesto worked beautifully.  I know I’ll make this one again soon. 

I’m looking forward to this week’s meals because I have an incredible new cookbook to try.  I’m going to review it soon but first want to test a few recipes.  For Wednesday slow-cook day, I’m going to make my favorite stew-like meals before the weather gets too hot.  I’m usually not a fan of stews but this one rocks. 

For more meals plans go to Org Junkie.

What’s Cooking This Week

Monday:  Black Bean Burritos, guacamole and toppings

Tuesday: Ravioli with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes, bread and salad (new cookbook — recipe forthcoming).

Wednesday: Italian Chicken with White Beans, Parmesan Crusted Asparagus and bread.

Thursday: Potluck/leftovers

Friday: Roasted Vegetable, Feta Cheese and Basil Pizza

Will have salmon/tuna for lunch to make up for this week’s fish deficit.

News

Three months ago news of the Let’s Move campaign to fight childhood obesity, and Michelle Obama’s leading role, took center stage.  The new White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity promised the public a “plan of action” in 90 days.

And they delivered on that promise.

Last week the Task Force revealed their 124-page report to the President: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity within a Generation. 

I did not read the entire document word for word (but you can!) but concentrated more on the recommendations. 

The five areas the taskforce focus on include Early Childhood, Empowering Parents and Caregivers, Healthy Food in Schools, Increasing Access to Healthy and Affordable Food and Increasing Physical Activity. 

The Early Childhood section includes ways to increase breastfeeding, improve the quality of prenatal care and childcare settings and make the American Academy of Pediatrics screen time guidelines (2 hours or less) more available.

Empowering Parents and Caregivers focuses on ways to disseminate the 2010 Dietary Guidelines (out soon) and to improve food labels and food at restaurants (with calorie counts for both vending machines and establishments). 

Marketing unhealthy foods took center stage in this section.  The taskforce recommends no advertising to kids, even in-store.  They recommend media and licensing of popular characters only be allowed for healthy food.  And if this doesn’t work they recommend the FCC consider new rules all together.

There will also be a heavy focus on BMI at pediatrician offices and at schools.  This means weight is likely to be checked at schools and kids would go home with a note for parents. 

Pediatricians and schools will provide tips to parents on ways they can help their overweight children.  If things don’t improve more intense treatments may be recommended.

Healthy Food in Schools covers the importance of nutrition education, improving resources for healthy meals, establishing farm-to-school programs and updating nutrition standards for meals and expanding them to a la carte and vending. 

In order to improve Access to Healthy Affordable Food, the taskforce recommends a multi-year, multi-agency healthy food financing initiative to improve the food at underserved urban and rural communities.  They also recommend incentives to grocery stores to include more healthy food as well as wellness policies at public and provide facilities that serve children.

The last one, Increasing Physical Activity, includes ways to decrease the cost of sports, increase recess and physical education classes and make “active transport” a reality for more kids.  Basically active transport is walking or biking to school.  According to the report, 13% of kids currently walk to school compared to 44% in 1969.   Some ideas including walking school buses with adults walking kids to school.

What I don’t like

I’m having trouble with the Empowering Parents and Caregivers section.  Not much of what they recommend is empowering at all, especially the concentration on marketing to children.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a proponent of marketing to kids.  But how do these messages empower parents?  Instead of telling parents they are powerless to advertising, let’s tell them they are the biggest influence on their kids’ eating.  A study published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology showed that parents who talked to their kids about the nature of advertising and provided limits/structure on such foods, had kids that were less impacted by advertising.  Restricting advertising only worked for young children (<8 years).

And there is no mention of family meals or how to feed kids.  How can this message not be included when study after study shows the benefits of family meals on weight, fruit and vegetable intake and disordered eating?  Instead it’s the same old focus on the “what” of eating, telling parents of overweight children to eat healthy.  Don’t they already know that? 

I’m still concerned how this focus on weight will play out.  How will pediatricians counsel families?  Maybe having a dietitian on staff would help?  And they don’t mention anything about making health tips a family affair.  Successful childhood weight management programs that have been shown to effective, such as Shapedown, include the whole family in the process. 

I could go on but I won’t.  I just know that information alone will not motivate people to change.  We need to remove their barriers.  They will take the note and tips from the doctor and go home to the same roadblocks.  When I first started working as a dietitian, I counseled patients this way and most never returned for follow up.

What I like

I like the increasing physical activity section, especially the idea on active transport.  Finding ways kids can have activity naturally built into their environment is key. And making exercise a regular part of their school day is vital.

I also hope that schools get more resources to help them expand their nutritious meals.  And the ideas for increasing healthy foods in more communities sound pretty good. 

I’m curious what you all think about this.  As a parent, do you think much about this obesity epidemic?  Sometimes I think this “childhood obesity” conversation is only being had by health professionals, policy makers and food enthusiasts.

Have a great week and let me know your thoughts!

I can’t believe I was able to get this weekly meal plan together. This last week has been one of those weeks no parent wishes on another parent. Of course I feel the need to share…

Warning: If you are eating (or are about to) don’t proceed.  You could lose your appetite.

Monday/Tuesday:  My teething 11-month old won’t sleep.

Wednesday: Baby (David)  finally sleeps but 3-year old (Anna)  wakes up at 10 pm saying her stomach hurts.  We put her on the potty and she goes number 2.  We are relieved.  Then, about 2 minutes after being off the potty, she starts vomiting non-stop all over the floor.  We rush her to the bathroom.  She seems okay.  We think it’s over just some poo and vomit, no big deal.  So back to bed she goes.  Fifteen minutes later more vomit .  She ends up in bed with me throwing up all night.

Thursday: An hour after going to bed, Anna vomited one last time.  She went back into bed with me and had no further episodes the rest of the night.

Friday: Anna is much better all day, starting to eat more.  There’s hope for our future.

 4pm: David throws up a little.  I tell myself it’s just some spit up, please God.  Then 10 minutes later he vomits all over the rug in his room.  It is red because he just had yogurt with strawberries.  I call my husband to tell him we have another sick kid.  We commiserate.

7pm: I go to bed next to David (he is in the pack-n-play in our room). After some gagging episodes he seems okay and goes to sleep.

9:30pm: I start to feel nauseated.  I tell myself it’s just from all the foul smells I’ve been exposed to.  Please God. 

10pm: I throw up twice.   My husband goes to be with David.  I crash on the couch.

Saturday: I wake up feeling like a truck hit me.  My husband acts like I should do my usual mom thing.  I inform him that I feel very bad.  David seems much better and in a good mood. 

2pm: I start to feel better and David seems okay.  We’ll get through this!!

10pm: Husband throws up.  Now we all have had it. The worst has happened,  right?

Sunday: After David gets up from his morning nap, he throws up all over me. 

What??

David is cranky all day, my husband is useless and my daughter is full of energy.  So after putting the kids to bed I did my best to pull a meal plan together.  It will be a different week (no Mexican on Monday) because of everything going on.  Here’s what I came up with:

Monday: Chicken Noodle Soup with crackers.  I found this on All Recipes and it looks easy and tasty.  Plus it got good reviews.  I figure this isn’t the last time my family will be sick so it makes sense to have a good chicken noodle soup recipe on hand.

Tuesday: Shrimp and Broccoli Pasta with bread and (maybe) salad.  The pasta and bread is bland enough for my husband who will probably still not be able to eat like normal

Wednesday: Potlock/leftovers

Thursday: Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole with carrots and bread.  I got this one off of 5 dollar dinners and it is super easy (and cheap).  Just needs to cook for a while. My mother-in-law can put it in for me if I’m home from work late.

Friday: Will have burrito night.  We all should be up for Mexican by then.

Weekend:  I plan to try one of the awesome Tilapia recipes readers sent me with some roasted asparagus!

So, I’m wondering, what do you feed your kids (and yourself) when they are sick?  I’d love to get some ideas!!

I’ll leave you with some tips on overcoming the challenges of feeding kids balanced meals from SimpleBites.net.  Balanced Meals for Kids: Not Until You Eat Your Vegetables.

Every Monday Laura from Orgjunkie.com posts her weekly meal plan for her family and encourages other bloggers to do the same. Last week she linked to one of my meal planning articles and it brought some new subscribers to us (so welcome!)

So I thought I’d start a new tradition by listing out my family’s meal plan for the week.  I may not do this every Monday but will do it as often as I can.  I also thought it would be a good time to talk about challenges everyone is having. (And in case you were wondering, I always look like the girl does in the picture and my kitchen is always spotless) 

So I’ll share my challenges, and feel free to share yours. And maybe we can help each other.

What’s Cooking This Week:

Nothing out of the ordinary is going on this week.  I work Wednesday so it’s usually a long slow cooker day and Thursdays are leftovers or potluck (thanks to Sandy for her tip in our meal planning series).  Monday is Mexican and Fridays fish.  Let’s take a look…

Monday: Black bean & rice burritos with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and guacamole.

Tuesday: Spinach* ricotta stuffed shells with bread, salad and fruit.  This is a new recipe that I got from fellow RD, Estela, at Weekly Bite. I will let you know how it turns out.

Wednesday: Slow cooker White Chicken Chili from last week.  Will top with cheddar cheese and serve carrots* and hummus (my daughter loves carrots).

Thursday: Will combine leftovers and do a potluck and probably roast some broccoli to go with everything.  Last week we all chose a sandwich.  My daughter had PB&J, my husband had egg and cheese and my son and I had scrambled eggs and spinach.  I put out some cantaloupe chunks.

Friday: Baked salmon with sweet potatoes* and green beans.

Saturday: Eat out

Sunday: Dinner with extended family. 

Nutrition and feeding challenges

In 5 Secrets to the Perfect Weekly Meal Plan, I provide tips on how to ensure balanced nutrition while meal planning. So I make a point to include beans twice a week.  I also include at least one vitamin A-rich veggie and vitamin-C rich fruit (the starred items have vitamin A). On the days I don’t have a vitamin-A rich item for dinner I will offer one for lunch or snack.  I serve vitamin C-rich fruits at breakfast (cantaloupe, orange, strawberries or kiwi).  I worry that my seldom-meat eating 3-year old doesn’t get much iron so the vitamin C helps absorb the iron in her fortified cereal and raisins. 

One of my biggest nutrition challenges is reaching my goal of having fish twice a week.  We usually have salmon weekly and will sometimes make tuna sandwiches or shrimp, but that doesn’t always happen.  We all take fish oils around here but I want to start making more fish.  So if you have a good recipe, let me know.  (I recently tried pan frying some tilapia but it got all crumpled up). For more on the importance of fish see Kids & DHA: The Complete Guide for Parents.

Both of my kids (11 months and 3 years) eat meals with the family.  My youngest will eat just about anything so I’m trying to take advantage of it.  Studies suggest that the more flavors and textures you introduce early, the more variety kids will accept when they get older.

And my 3-year old is still cautious when it comes to trying new foods.  I’ve been talking to her about this and encourage her to try more foods (without being overbearing or pressuring).  She does much better at home – last week she took a few bites of a turkey sandwich and has been eating broccoli pretty regularly.  But when we go to someone else’s house for dinner, or to restaurants, she is especially anxious.

I know a lot of parents incorporate the no-thank you bite but I don’t feel comfortable doing that.  I encourage her, try to be supportive and leave it at that.  I’d love to hear from someone with older kids comment on how their kids grew out of this phase (or not).

What are you having this week?  Any feeding/meal/nutrition challenges you want to share??

I’m wrapping up the family meal planning series with some expert tips. These are food and nutrition experts who spend a lot of (productive) time in the kitchen. The goal of this series was to help you overcome the “time” barrier to getting rewarding meals on the table, so I hope it succeeded.

It’s all about taking different ideas and finding your own way. Once the routine is set, the stress of family meals can be replaced with pleasure. I still have stressful weeks (usually when I don’t plan) but it’s gotten easier.

To keep the spirit of meal planning alive, I plan to feature rock star moms (or dads) who have a good system for preparing meals. So if that’s you, send me a note!

Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD www.RealMomNutrition.com

1. Stock up when you can: When boneless/skinless chicken is on sale, I buy a bunch, boil it, shred it, then freeze it in baggies. Then it’s ready for casseroles, soups, and burritos/tacos.

2. Try batch cooking whenever possible: If I’m making a turkey meatloaf, I double the recipe and put one in the freezer. Same for lasagna and turkey meatballs (can be used with pasta and then I make small ones for soup).

3. Plan for weekends too: A lot of people plan their week’s meals but end up ordering out or going out all weekend because they didn’t have a plan.

4. Try “Pot-luck” nights: This is a much-needed break for me and can be just as healthy as a more elaborate meal. I’ll make PBJs on whole grain bread plus fruit and veggies for the kids, I’ll have a big salad, and my husband will have soup or leftovers. We still sit down and eat together and have that family mealtime experience, but it’s much quicker to prepare (and helps get rid of leftovers and odds and ends).

Janice Bissex MS, RD and Liz Weiss, MS, RD, authors of The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time!
www.mealmakeovermoms.com

5. Rely on convenience foods but choose wisely: Some of our favorite nutrient-packed convenience foods include frozen fruits and vegetables, canned beans, frozen ravioli and tortellini, pre-shredded reduced fat cheeses, and jarred pasta sauce and salsa. We recently posted a fast broccoli & bean soup recipe to our blog that busy moms can have on the table in minutes.

6. Turn to appliances that deliver fast meals: Two of our favorites are the slow cooker — it’s best to organize all ingredients the night before so in the morning, moms can load up the slow cooker before heading out the door — and the pressure cooker. Modern-day pressure cookers are safe to use and help to get nutritious meals on the table in minutes. Here’s a delicious risotto recipe using the pressure cooker.

7. Mise en place: This is a French term for “everything in its place.” We encourage busy parents to measure out and chop up all ingredients ahead of time so when dinner rolls around, they’re ready to go! Doing this the night before or any time parents have a few free minutes is a great strategy. And having a nonstick skillet in the kitchen is also great … because it means less mess and clean-up required.

Sandy Nissenberg, MS, RD, author of Quick Meals for Healthy Kids and Busy Parents: Wholesome Family Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less From Three Leading Child Nutrition Experts www.kidsliketoeat.com

8. Choose foods from each group of the food pyramid: Pyramid your pantry so you can easily select items that fit.

9. Combine homemade items with those that are prepared, like salads in bags, canned fruit, pasta/veggie combinations.

10. Have little ones help out: Make dinners that the family can help with, i.e., wrapping tortillas, quesadillas; packing a pita pocket; stuffing a baked potato.

11. Create combo meals: Try stir fries, casseroles and all-in-one skillet meals.

Kathleen Cuneo, PhD www.dinnertogether.com

12. Put a support system in place: Get help from older children, neighbors, your spouse or other parent friends. For more on how to do this see Putting a Support System in Place.

Feel free to add your own time-saving tips in the comments!

Previous: How to Spend Less Time Grocery Shopping

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In part 3 of this series we talked about planning a weeks’ worth of healthy meals to save time. But I think the most challenging part of the whole meal planning process is translating that plan into a readable grocery list — getting all the food you need and storing that food in an organized fashion.

I have been known, on occasion, to forget an ingredient or two and not discover it until it’s too late. My husband comes home, I cry, and he’s off to El Pollo Loco. Not fun.

Learning what leads to those bad weeks has helped me figure out what’s needed to make this process run smoothly. And I care because the better job I do meal planning and shopping, the better my whole week goes, and the less time I spend running back to the grocery store. So without further ado, here are some tips on how to maximize efficiency when grocery shopping:

1. Healthy Grocery Checklist: I’ve been using a pad of blank paper to write my grocery list on. The problem with this is food is listed randomly on the paper. So when I’m in the store, I’m more likely to miss something or have to backtrack to another department (not a good thing with kids in tow!).

So I devised a printable grocery list that also contains helpful nutrition tips. The idea is to hang it on your fridge and check off items as they run low so there are no fun surprises later. Then finish filling it out before your big shopping trip. This dowload is only available to subscribers so sign up today.

2. An organized kitchen: I often write about my lack of organization skills. But I know that having an organized kitchen is key to minimizing mistakes. Because when it comes time to write up your grocery list, you need to check and see if there’s anything you need. And if you have a pantry or fridge that looks like mine, that’s going to make life difficult (see “before” picture of cereal pantry below).

(I often blame my disorganized fridge on its small size but that’s just an excuse –even though a bigger fridge would help….)

To show you I’m serious about getting organized, I decided to revamp my food storage areas. So I cleaned out the pantry and fridge, labeling everything so even my husband knows where things go. I have decided to give it a touch up each week so it stays nice all week long. This blog is helping me to become accountable!

Before

After

After (sorry, accidently deleted the before pic)

3. Designate which ingredients are meal/recipe items: After figuring out which everyday items you need, you’ll have to list ingredients needed for your meals/recipes. I either highlight or circle them so they stand out from the other grocery items.

Why?

Because if you like how the week turns out, you can use the meal planning chart and grocery list again. Simply save the “good” weeks and soon you’ll have a collection to pull from. I’ve done this a couple of times and it was a lifesaver, especially for those super-busy weeks.

4. Going to The Grocery Store:I wish that there was one grocery store that had it all. I seem to need three of them (Trader Joe’s, Vons or Ralphs, Whole Foods), make that four if you count the farmer’s market. But going to each of them weekly is not realistic for a busy mom like me. So here’s what I do:

As I said in 5 Secrets to the Perfect Weekly Meal Plan, every Sunday is my big trip to get the bulk of groceries for the week. I do this big trip solo, during the kids nap, but sometimes my daughter will come with me if I do it earlier in the day.

I first go to Trader Joes and get all I can there and then head to the Ralphs next door to get the things Trader Joe’s doesn’t have. I usually have to go grocery shopping again sometime before the following weekend to get more fruits and veggies and little items for the weekend. This would also be the time I try and go to a farmers’ market, but I’m not always successful.

I also try to make it to Whole Foods once a month because there isn’t one near me. Whole Foods has some items the other stores don’t have like homemade baby food and frozen food items for kids (they have salmon fish sticks that are pretty good — too bad Anna won’t touch them!). I almost forgot about Costco. Luckily my husband works close to it so he gets the bulk items as we need them.

So what do you do? Any master grocery plan or do you just wing it? Do you think my fridge is small?

Next: 12 Tips for Getting Meals on the Table Fast.

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Okay, so far in this series we’ve covered meal planning barriers and how to collect easy & healthy family meals. But now we are getting to the most exciting part of the series – concocting your weekly meal plan.

(I understand that my newfound passion for meal planning is a sign that I’m not nearly as hip as I used to be. If you know me, please stop laughing.)

I don’t claim to have years of meal planning under my belt. Being organized and cooking are not natural talents of mine. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that getting nutritious and tasty meals on the table takes planning. It’s the only time-saver I know of. And because I’ve been doing this for a while now, you can benefit from my mistakes. So I’ll share with you my meal planning secrets. And I hope if you have some of your own, you’ll share them in the comments below.

1. Pick a day to get it done: I take one day to plan the meals for the week and do the big grocery trip. (I’ll cover the grocery list and shopping in next week’s post.) I currently only plan dinner meals but am going to start planning other meals and snacks. For me the best day of the week to meal plan and shop is Sunday. I’ve tried various days including Monday but have found Sunday is the best because it allows me to get stocked up for the week so Monday can be spent having fun with the kids.

2. Look at the week ahead: When it comes to picking meals for the week you’ll want to grab your calendar and consider what’s going on that week. I’m lucky that I have a regular schedule. For example, Wednesday and Thursday are workdays so I plan an 8-10 hour slow cooker meal for Wednesday. Thursdays are leftovers. Monday, Tuesday and Fridays I can make something in the oven or a slow cooker meal with a shorter cook time. Saturday we eat out and Sunday is dinner at my mother-in-law’s.

3. Let each family member have a say: My husband and I generally like the same things but I like to include his favorites (as well as mine!). My daughter’s favorite meal is Mexican food so we have that every Monday. There really aren’t a lot of dinner meals she’s guaranteed to eat, but meatballs and soup or stews with beans can be hits. When she’s older I’ll have her play a more active part in planning weekly meals. Recently when I asked her what she wanted for next week’s dinner and she said “cookies and apples.”

I also consider my 10-month-old boy who has recently started feeding himself (and will eat anything — gotta love babies!). A couple of our recent slow cooker meals have been soft enough for him to eat with a little mashing. I love that we are getting away from separate meals so early. He loves our food!

4. Ensure Balanced Nutrition: I think planning meals is the key to providing your family with a variety of nutritious foods. The three big picture nutrition items I look for are fish twice a week, beans 2-3 times a week (as entree or side) and at least one vitamin-A rich veggie and one vitamin-C rich fruit daily. For more details on nutrition for the week see 7 Must-Dos for Family Meal Planning.

5. Incorporate simplifying techniques: I have found that picking “theme nights” makes planning easier and more fun. For us, Mondays are Mexican night, Wednesdays are for the slow cooker and Fridays are fish. I leave Tuesdays and Thursdays open.

I try not to make too many complicated dishes at once – it stresses me out. If it’s a time-consuming entrée, for example, then the veggie has to be easy. A more complicated veggie or side has to be made with a slow cooker chicken or fish. When I first started cooking, I had my share of disasters. I think it’s progress that I haven’t had one in a while.

The last simplifying technique I use is pre-prep. Every night before bed I look at what’s for dinner and do pre-prep if needed. It’s either taking meat or fish out of the freezer, chopping fruit and vegetables, making salads or putting together slow cooker dishes for the morning. The key is to do most of the work ahead of time so the preparation part is easy.

Bonus Meal planning chart: Because I got tired of writing down my weeks-worth of meals on random pieces of paper, I made a handy meal planning chart. It has nutrition tips, boxes for every meal and snack during the week and boxes for the pre-prep that may be needed. Use it as you like, only plan dinners or plan the whole week.  It’s perfect to place on your fridge where you can see it. The chart is only available to subscribers so sign up today and start using this time-saving tool.

Let me know if you like it. Happy meal planning!

Next: How to Spend Less Time Grocery Shopping

Previous: How to Uncover Easy and Healthy Family Meals

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There are plenty of online services that provide family meal plans, recipes and grocery lists. And while I think this can work for some people, I just find it odd being told what meals to make and what ingredients to use. I mean, beef stroganoff on Wednesday — really?

I could devote this series to healthy family meals you “should” make but that would be of little help. Only you know your own cooking abilities, family’s taste preferences and comfort using certain ingredients. So when it comes to finding rewarding meals for your family, you are the best judge!

In part one of Raise Healthy Eaters’ family meal planning series, we talked about overcoming barriers to getting healthy meals on the table. In part 2, we are focusing on how to find meals that are perfect for your family.

-Create a home for recipes:Your most cherished recipes and meal ideas need a home. I’ve started to use this recipe book that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. The idea is to try out a recipe and if it turns out well, add it to the recipe book. For example, if I add a recipe from a cookbook I write the page number down in my recipe book so it’s easy to find. And when I print recipes off the internet, I store them in a red folder and write “red folder” in the recipe book (see examples below – sorry about the second picture, I had the choice of retaking it or going to bed).

As parents, our brains are in overuse mode already. By putting all of your favorite meals in one spot, you won’t have to rely on yourself to remember what they are.

-Become a Recipe Collector: I recently spoke to a friend who doesn’t use recipes. She says she starts dinner sautéing garlic and olive oil and just throws in different items. I, on the other hand, need the framework of a recipe to function in the kitchen. The idea is to find recipes or meal ideas you feel comfortable making. If you are a beginner cook, for example, simple slow cooker recipes might be good for you. But if you are more advanced, you might only use a recipe for inspiration.

You can find recipes anywhere — cookbooks, the internet and magazines. The internet makes it so easy to find – and store — recipes. Some of my favorites are All Recipes, My Recipes, and Cooks which allow you to see how the meals are rated and the comments people have. You’ll also get your share of easy and healthy recipes here.

-Look for a variety of recipes that are nutritious and taste good: In my recipe book I separate recipes into categories such as Mexican, Italian, Meat, Beans, Veggies and Fish. So if you don’t have any fish meals, for example, look for recipes that sound good and try it one night. The key is to collect a variety of meals.

When it comes to nutrition, aim for meals that are made with unsaturated fats such as olive oil, canola oil, nuts and avocados. Also make sure to include lean meats, whole grains, fruit and vegetables. I use saturated fats less often but will sometimes cook with butter and we love cheese around here. It’s not about getting it perfect every time. Some of our meals are higher in fat but I’ll serve them less often. Others might be high in sodium, but again, this isn’t an every night occurrence. It’s all about balancing nutrition, taste and ease of preparation.

-Practice, practice, practice: I absolutely hate when a new meal is disappointing. I know when my husband asks, “where did you get this recipe?” I’m in trouble. But I’ve learned that the failures are part of discovering which meals work for my family.

How do you know when a new meal passes the test? If I waited for my daughter’s approval we’d be eating burritos, meatballs and bean soup every night. So the verdict falls on whether or not my husband and I like it and it’s kid-friendly. This means it’s easy to chew, has a nice flavor and isn’t super-spicy.

So if you haven’t been doing this already, make a nice home for your recipes and continually add to it. If you haven’t had much success you might be choosing the wrong types of recipes for you.

What are you doing right now? Do you have a system for storing recipes that works well? Any cookbooks or websites you recommend?

Next: 5 Secrets to the Perfect Weekly Meal Plan

Previous: Top 5 Barriers to Making Meals Happen

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Nobody tells parents-to-be the commitment involved in feeding a family. Once my daughter started eating regular meals and snacks, I panicked because I realized I’d be doing this for the next 17 years. Three meals and two-to-three snacks, day in and day out.

So each week I’d tell myself I “should” get to meal planning but always put it off. I did such a poor job that I’d run back to the grocery store all week long. You see, even though I’m a dietitian I never learned how to cook for a family. Not only was I lacking confidence, I felt like I just wasn’t born with the gift of cooking.

Thankfully, I changed my attitude, got organized and now find great satisfaction in the whole process (although it’s nowhere near perfect). But nothing was going to work until I overcame my barriers.

Welcome to part I of Raise Healthy Eaters’ Meal Planning Series. Before digging into the mechanics of meal planning, take time to consider what may be holding you back from feeding your family the way you want to.

1) The time factor: In our recent survey, many parents said that time is a barrier to planning and preparing meals. Maybe you work long hours or have a high-needs child that doesn’t allow for free time. Or maybe it’s something else.

Whatever it is, dig a little deeper to see if time is really a red flag for something else. Maybe you don’t feel confident preparing meals for your family. Or maybe you’re less than thrilled with the way your dinners turn out. And if it is because of your busy schedule, stay tuned because this series will give you plenty ideas on how to make meals happen without taking a lot of time out of your day.

2) Expecting perfection: I’m not a food snob. I don’t expect parents to always use whole foods fresh from their garden. It’s a wonderful thing to work towards but if you currently rely on convenience foods, or eating out, changing overnight to making everything from scratch is not realistic.

So parents may put off making meals until they have more time to cook from scratch, instead of starting where they are now. As Ellyn Satter said in my interview with her, simply start by getting into the habit of eating together. In part 2 of this series you’ll learn easy ways to add tasty and healthy meals to your repertoire.

3) Wacky schedules: One parent works late so dinner doesn’t happen. If your kids are older they might play sports, making it hard to come home and prepare meals. Families are so busy today that dinner together can seem like an impossible feat.

Just know there are always solutions to schedule conflicts. If your husband works late, for example, see if he can come home early (and work from home if need be) one day a week and make sure the family eats together on weekends. We’ll talk more about this in part 3 of our series: Secrets to the Perfect Weekly Meal Plan.

4) Our culture: Several years ago my husband and I visited my family in Serbia. I was amazed at how my aunt and cousin cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. I mean real, from scratch meals. In their culture, feeding yourself takes priority.

But in our culture it is acceptable to feed yourself poorly. I once talked with a woman who thought going into a store and buying a cheese stick was too much work. When I find myself complaining about going to the grocery, I remind myself that nothing is more important than feeding myself and my family well.

5) Kids won’t eat it: There’s no doubt that coming up with meals everyone likes is a major challenge. We’ll get into this later but don’t let your kid’s picky palate hold you back from making family meals.

It’s important to remember that the dinner table is where kids learn how to eat. You can’t expect them to come there already loving a variety of foods — it takes time. Sometimes changing your outlook is all that’s needed. For more on this see How to Make Dinners More Kid-Friendly.

I know there are all types of people reading this blog. Some of you are avid cooks and others are beginners. Many of you might be meal planning already while others haven’t even thought about it. But more than anything I hope we can learn from each other so we can raise children who make feeding themselves a priority.

So I leave you with one question that you can comment about or stew over. What is (or was) your biggest barrier to getting good-tasting, nutritious meals on the table?

Next: How to Uncover Easy & Healthy Family Meals

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It takes time and brain power to plan and prepare a weeks’ worth of family meals. But even after all that work, how can you be sure that everyone at the table is meeting their nutrition needs?

While it’s not your responsibility to make sure every family member eats, it is your job to provide balanced meals. Studies show children will get the nutrition they need when offered a wide variety of foods. But in a world where nutrition advice can be very confusing, what exactly should that variety be?

While there are no strict rules to family meal planning there are “nutrition essentials” that every mom should know about.

1. Have dinner together most nights: Research continues to support the multitude of benefits to family dinners. In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Adolescent Health revealed that the 6th, 7th and 8th graders who ate dinner with their family consumed fewer soft drinks, ate breakfast, were less concerned about their weight and were more confident about eating healthy at home and with friends.

Remember to include your smallest family members in this family ritual. Once babies transition to finger foods, for example, they can eat most of what everyone else is eating. Of course, you’ll have to take into account their ability to chew and swallow certain foods. Cutting items into small pieces will often work.

Why is this important? Any parent of a toddler knows that when pickiness sets in family dinners can be rough. If toddlers are brought to the family table too late, they’ll already be used to eating their “special food.” But if all they know is the family dinner, they’ll be more likely to go with the flow and try new foods.

2. Provide a nutritious variety of fruits and vegetables: To ensure an array of nutrients choose at least one vitamin C-rich fruit and one vitamin A-rich vegetable. Vitamin C fruits (orange, strawberries, cantaloupe – click through to see list) are perfect at breakfast when eaten with iron-rich cereals (C increases iron’s absorption). This is especially important for children under 2 years of age when they are at the highest risk of iron-deficiency.

Vitamin A-rich vegetables (spinach, carrots, kale – click through to see list) are a vital part of a balance diet. If your child rejects green vegetables, try vitamin-A rich carrots, sweet potatoes and cantaloupe until their palates come around.

3. Make half your grains “whole:” Check out my guest blog “7 Ways to Boost Your Family’s Intake of Whole Grains” on the popular www.5dollardinners.com. Basically, make sure that at least half the grains you serve are whole grains. Include whole wheat bread, whole grain cereals and brown rice with meals. Health experts recommend Americans eat 3 servings of whole grains per day.

4. Feast on fish twice a week: The American Heart Association recommends that Americans consume fish at least twice a week. While most people associate fish with heart health, it is also extremely beneficial for brain health. That’s because fish contains the essential omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) not found in plant sources. If your family doesn’t eat fish then they aren’t getting enough of these powerful nutrients. And kids, whose brains are still developing, especially need DHA and EPA.

If you never serve fish start out preparing it once a week by trying salmon, halibut, shrimp or trout. You can also make tuna sandwiches at lunchtime. Most experts believe the benefits of fish outweigh any risk associated with methyl mercury. Just in case, follow the FDA guidelines to avoid swordfish, shark, tilefish and king mackerel and consume no more than 12 ounces of low mercury fish and canned light tuna (no more than 6 ounces of canned albacore tuna) per week.

5. Provide a variety of protein sources: When planning protein for meals remember 2-2-2 – fish, lean meats and poultry and beans twice a week. Growing children benefit from the easily absorbed iron and zinc in animal proteins. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that Americans consume at least 3 cups of beans every week. That includes black, kidney, pinto and garbanzo beans. Beans are packed with B vitamins, iron and fiber and can be included as the main meal or a side dish.

6. Choose your vegetable oils wisely: Emerging science suggests that Americans consume too much omega-6 fatty acids. You see, we evolved from a diet with equal amounts (1:1) of omega 6 and omega 3 yet the ratio we eat today is somewhere between 10:1 and 30:1. Changes in the food supply over the last 100 years have allowed for mass production of vegetable oils like soybean, cottonseed and corn oil all high in omega 6. A diet out of balance can increase the risk of inflammation and chronic health conditions like heart disease.

Whenever possible, cook with olive and canola oil, both relatively low in omega-6 fatty acids. Consider making your own salad dressings or find a prepared one made with olive or canola oil. For more on this subject see 3 Things Most Parents Don’t Know About Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

7. Let them have low fat dairy: Did you know 9 out of 10 children don’t get enough calcium? Low fat dairy products are rich in calcium and other nutrients. 2- to 8-year olds need 2 servings of milk products a day, 9- to 18-year olds need 3 servings a day and 19-50+ year olds need 3 servings a day. A serving equals 1 cup of milk/yogurt or 1.5 ounces of cheese. If you and your family won’t (or can’t) eat dairy consider calcium-fortified juice, soy or rice beverages.

Do I always serve my family perfect nutritious meals? No! But it’s good to have a goal each week when I sit down and plan for the week ahead.

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References/Resources

Woodruff SJ, Hanning RM. Associations between family dinner frequency and specific food behaviors among grade six, seven, and eight students from Ontario and Nova Scotia. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2009 May;44(5):431-6.

My Pyramid

2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The Ultimate Omega-3 Diet: Maximize the Power of Omega-3s to Supercharge Your Health, Battle Inflammation, and Keep Your Mind Sharp by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD