(Spanish Version)
HealthWorks! Healthy Living Series: Meal Planning
by The Center for Better Health and Nutrition/HealthWorks! at Cincinnati Children’s
Barbara Lattin, Registered Dietitian: “Do you find meal planning challenging? Feel like you don’t have enough time or it’s too hard to come up with ideas? Or you waste too much food when you don’t cook the planned meals?
Don’t give up. With a few meal-planning tips and a little bit of practice, you can reduce stress and save time and money while feeding your family healthier meals.
Start your meal planning with your family calendar or schedule, your family’s likes and dislikes, and involve as many family members as you can. Everyone who eats can help, and it can help eliminate mealtime complaints.
Make sure your meal plan fits the amount of time you have available. Think about the recipes you want to use. Use simple ones you’re familiar with on busy nights, and save new recipes for more complicated dishes for the weekend or when you have more time.
Consider following a meal cycle, healthy family favorites like Meatless Monday, Healthy Taco Tuesday, Breakfast for Dinner or a family favorite.
Think about cooking methods: a stir-fry or pressure cooker meal when you need something on the table fast. Or a slow cooker meal you can put together in the morning. It’s hot, ready and waiting when you get home.
Or have leftovers if there’s only time to reheat. No cooking at all? Try salads and sandwiches.
Make a list of everything of everything you will need to make your meal plan happen. You’ll want to keep shopping trips to a minimum. Consider what you already have on hand. Keep a running shopping list, and consider healthy convenience items to save time, like bagged salads and frozen or canned vegetables and fruit.
Having a meal plan can help your family have a healthy meal even with a busy schedule. Also, check out our other videos for more meal planning ideas.
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The funding for these videos was in part provided by Master Han and the Han’s White Tiger Tae Kwon Do Annual Break-A-Thon. Thank you!