Meal Planning Made Easy

In my recent meeting with North Brunswick Moms Club on the topic of How to Get Your Picky Eater to Try New Foods it was discussed and agreed by many of the moms that dinner time can be hectic and stressful.

We all want to spend more quality time with our kids and eat healthy meals together as a family. I put together a few useful resources for busy moms and families to inspire you to plan your meals and be stress free. Well, as much as possible. 

With todays busy lifestyle dinner time is not only a real challenge but also a threat. No wonder they call it the witching hour, the six o’ clock scramble...Family members are hungry, tired, overwhelmed... It's the most stressful time of the day. It’s the end of the day and regardless of the fact whether you are a working parent or a stay at home one you are going to face the dinner time battle. 

A little planning can go a long the way. If eating together as a family and putting healthy meals on the table is a priority for you then this article is for you. 
I know several people who plan, and I mean really plan their meals-rave about it. They take time during the weekend to plan not only the menus but also the grocery lists. And with todays technology you can do everything digitally. There are apps for your smartphones and lots of good online services-some paid, some unpaid. It's like anything else in life-you have to pick what’s going to work for your family and stick with it. With meal planning you can:

• save time at the grocery store
• save money
• be less stressed
• spend more quality time with your kids

And who doesn’t want all of that?

Here are a few online meal planning sources. You might have heard about them but have you considered using them? 

The Six O’Clock Scramble

Food on the Table

emeals

5Dinners1Hour

Relish

The good news is they offer variety of plans, such as clean eating, vegetarian, kosher, gluten free. There is something for everyone. They are affordable. They also offer trial memberships. 

If you are a pen and paper type of person and love planning you can get one these cute already designed products found on Etsy. Just search meal planning. Here are some examples: 

Meal planning and grocery list examples 

                   

This is how planning looks like at my place. 

Big chalkboard wall in my kitchen

Frozen food, drive thrus, ordering pizza or chinese is not the only choice. Do you find yourself frantic, overwhelmed, putting kids in front of TV so you can prepare something? 

Remember you don’t have to be a trained chef to cook like one. 

I want to share one of my online friends meal planning strategy. She is super organized, hence her blog  iheartorganizing. Check out her post on how she plans her weekly meals. 

Need inspiration?

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What’s your meal planning strategy? What's your favorite online recipe resource? Do you plan? How is dinner time at your house? What adjective will use to describe it?

Bon Appétit!    

Two of my favorite online recipe places are:

foodnetwork

allrecipes

     

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Cooking With Kids

I decided to dedicate the entire month of May to healthy eating, food and family and cooking with kids. 

One of the cornerstones of happy families is food and mealtimes. Sometimes they can be chaotic, hard to acheive and very stressful. 

We all know that putting healthy meals on the table and eating together as a family can be a very serious challenge for modern families. 

One of my favorite childhood memories is cooking with my Mom. I still remember the retro, blue, small kitchen infused with aromas of roasted meat, fresh dill, and baked goods. I remember neighbors and family coming over and sharing food with us very frequently. My Mom was an excellent cook and baker. I guess I was naturally interested in the kitchen activities and my Mom was not opposed to me being an active participant and an experimenter. I made my first full course meal for the whole family at the age of ten. I also was given a chance to bake simple cakes and lick the batter, the bowl and the spatula. What fun times...I grew up in a family where everything was made from scratch and homemade was the gold standard. My grandparents had a farm and everything was wholesome: they grew almost everything and made their own pickles, preserves, bread, pastas, yogurt, butter, you name it...

Cooking with kids can be a daunting task like many other things but in my opinion it is well worth it. Kids learn by doing. Sure, they create more messes, they take up more time but hey, when you see the pride in their faces after they accomplish something in the kitchen you forget about the cleanup, at least for a short while. I think the overall benefits overweight the minuses. 

I do let my child “help” me in the kitchen but not as much as I would have liked. 

Today, I am going to share a child-friendly recipe that we created with my kid. My 5 year old daughter did 90% of the work. 

Fresh Asparagus and Potato Salad

• a couple of medium boiled potatoes (yukon gold)
• one bunch fresh asparagus
• red onion or scallions
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• paprika
• dill 
• olive oil
• lemon juice

Hard boil the potatoes. Peel and cut into cubes. 

Put it in a large bowl. 

Wash the asparagus. 

Cut the tough ends and chop into bite size pieces. 

Add it to the potatoes. Sprinkle some salt, paprika, black pepper to taste. Add your red onion or scallions. 

Drizzle it with olive oil and add a juice of one fresh lemon. 

Add your fresh herb in our case dill. Toss it and give it a try. 

The crunch from the fresh asparagus goes well with the texture of boiled potatoes. 

Adult involvement: chop the red onion and boil the potatoes 

Give it a try, you and your kids might like it. 

I hope we inspired you to go to the kitchen and cook with your kids. If you have tips or recipes don't hesitate to share. 

Happy parenting and bon appetite! 

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