Crushing the daily dinner GRIND
Oh my GOSH - DINNER AGAIN!!!…the daily grind is SO real…
In our crazy busy lives as parents, how do we consistently put good wholesome food on the table day in and day out? Well….we absolutely don’t!!!…not always….and that is OK!
I’m the first to admit that I totally need to start menu planning to make my life easier. Even as a paediatric dietitian, I still dread thinking about what is for dinner tonight!!
Meal planning can sound overwhelming and time consuming, but once you get used to it, it will actually save you time and money. After a long afternoon of children’s activities when the takeaway shop is calling…..yet again, you are more likely to resist if you have something “semi-planned”….. even if it’s a bit of a thought and some ingredients at home, that you can use to quickly whip up a healthy meal!
Here are my top tips for meal planning:
1. Involve everyone in the family - consider having a quick family meeting (or simply going round the house and asking everyone) so that they can all have input into what they would like to eat. This doesn’t guarantee that their chosen meal will be cooked every week, but it’s important that everyone is able to contribute - especially kids. When children are involved in the whole process, they are more likely to eat the food.
Have a go at writing down your 7 dinners for the week, plus some healthy kids snack options such as homemade banana bread, bliss balls (recipes can be found at here)
2. Create a shopping list based on your chosen meals and snacks. It doesn’t have to be a spreadsheet – just a simple list written on a piece of scrap paper you’ve stolen from the kids! A shopping list will not only save you time wandering around the supermarket but will also save you money!
3. When possible (and its not always possible…so perhaps on the weekends) cook with the kids – with appropriate supervision and safe utensils, this is a brilliant way to increase a child’s acceptance of new healthy foods. From savoury meals to homemade banana bread – sharing a love of cooking wholesome food will definitely pay off in the long run.
4. Keep it simple – some weeks, you will need to stick to easy “go-to” recipes that are quick family favourites and just work. Other weeks when you have more time and energy you may be able to try a new recipe, or even get your child to pick a new recipe that you can cook together.
5. Value Add! Tweak recipes to make them more healthy, high in fibre and nutrient rich. Hacks include: using wholegrain breadcrumbs for schnitzel (or I like to make them at home with grainy bread and oats), high fibre or wholemeal pasta, brown rice, add lentils or kidney beans into pasta sauces such as bolognese. Try nuts in stir fries and butter chicken.
Always make sure there is lots of colour! Include a variety of coloured vegies throughout their day – it doesn’t matter whether it’s in raw, frozen, tinned or cooked. Having fruit and vegies consistently in their lunch box or on their dinner plate will definitely increase their acceptance in the long run.
When baking, use wholemeal flour when baking or in pancakes, consider adding chia or LSA for more fibre and always try to reduce the sugar to ½ cup per cake or muffin recipe.
6. Twice as nice! – Make extra for dinner so that you can use it for a lunch addition the next day. You could even send it off to school in a thermos to keep it warm. Great ideas include pasta dishes, fried rice, or other finger food such as homemade chicken nuggets, meatballs, fish cakes, mini quiche or zucchini slice.
7. Sunday BAKE day – try to reserve an hour on a sunday to bake a few healthy kids snacks such as wholemeal muffins, banana bread, muesli slice, bliss balls. I find this really helps to reduce the white processed foods that they love to inhale.
In their lunch box and after school, kids are often looking for that starchy/sweet snack and it’s so nice to be able to give them something loaded with nutrients rather than pulling out yet another packet of rice crackers, tiny teddies or BBQ shapes. Check out my low cost recipe E-book here
We are all in it together! Let’s face it , they are not easy to feed day in, day out… so don’t ever feel like you are alone, we are just in different homes! Celebrate the small wins, eat together and have fun!
So if you’re up for some menu planning, grab your FREE download HERE
Karina xx