Meal Planning

Mhvela

I have a full time job, plus I'm a wife and mother. I have to cook meals for my family and would like to know what I could do to help myslef with meal planning. I have actually thought about something like nutrisystem just because the food would come to me ready to go and I wouldn't have anything to worry about. I hear a lot of people talking about "eating clean" so they're against it. I want to do something I'm going to stick with and if I just don't have time to prepare myself gourmet meals 3 times a day. I'm just wondering what everyone else does.

kbmnurse

You should eat what you make your family. Just make sure it is the correct portion. Don't spend all that money on Nutrisystem--heard it is not that great and once you stop eating it you gain the weight right back.

livingleanlivingclean

I eat the same thing nearly every day - that helps with prep and planning. Dinner is a choice of two curries - I make big batches and freeze in appropriate portions and get one out the night before to defrost. It gets reheated whilst I cook fresh vegies to go with it. You could have 3-4 meals in the freezer to give your family variety.

Lunch is salad with chicken or salmon. Chicken is cooked in bulk, portioned out and frozen. Salad is made 3 days worth at a time...

When I prepare vegies, I prepare a few days worth at a time. Not eating different things every day makes it easy to prepare, easy to shop for, and means less wastage.

cwolfman13

just eat the same food you are preparing for your family in proper portions. You don't need to prepare yourself gourmet meals 3 times per day either...it's not all or nothing...there's tons and tons and tons of middle ground.

5thbidness

the thought of you preparing a meal for your family before hanging out in the corner with a can of replacement goo makes me feel sad and hungry and resentful... please don't resign yourself to foregoing solids and family time in order to meet your goals.

i don't have anyone else to cook for and i still think it's a hassle. to put an end to my frazzled last minute pizza delivery habit i recently subscribed to a meal planning service called mealime, which provides recipes (all under 30 minutes to prep) and weekly grocery lists. am i capable of doing the legwork myself? probably, but i never bothered to manage it consistently. in my case, automating the habit as much as possible has made the transition easier, and what i'm spending on subscription fees is comparatively miniscule compared to the cost of eating out all the time, or eating prepackaged, sodium-laden whatnot.

it's whole, unprocessed food; i only shop once per week; and it has reduced my food waste to practically zero (this part is awesome!). it covers me for 6 suppers and 6 lunches per week, and i just do a green smoothie for breakfast with apples and almonds for snacks. mealime in particular is geared towards single folk, but i'm sure there are similar providers who offer plans with families in mind. have you considered this option?

Leisalynn84

Crock pot meals are great. I also like to make double portions and freeze them, so often I'll make 2 lasagnas or two big pots of soup. If you are already doing all the prep making two isn't that much extra effort. If you are worried that the things you usually make aren't all that healthy try just eating smaller portions with a big salad or lots of veggies. I agree there is a big area between nutri system and gourmet. Often I cook a few chicken breasts and a starch and veggie, by changing the way I make the chicken (just salt and pepper, marinara and mozzarella on top, a slice of swiss and ham) and changing the starch ang veggie up I can get away with making chicken three times a week and my family never gets tired of it.

Leisalynn84

I usually spend an hour or so on Sunday making breakfast sandwiches with ham, bacon or sausage and freeze them. I've heard breakfast fajitas freeze well but i don't like eggs so I've never tried it : )

slainger

You should definitely eat the way you plan to down the road. The benefit of cooking healthy food that you can eat, is that your family will also be eating healthy! Weigh and measure your portions, and you will do great. Just by changing how I cooked, my teenage son lost 15 pounds the first year I was losing weight! The main thing is to create habits that are sustainable.

MJ1975CA

I work full time and I am a mother of three. Pre planning is the key. I try to always have cut up veggies and fruit in the fridge I can grab. I also make ahead meals and freeze them in portions for me so if the family has something that doesn't fit in my calorie range for the day I have quick options.

If you do not have a crock pot-Get one! quick and healthy crock pot meals are endless!!! I make shredded chicken or pork in my crock pot and use the left overs for salads, taco, burrito and more. I make the meat generally plain and add sauce or salsa for the family as needed.

My favorite crock pot meal these days is boneless skinless chicken in the crock pot with a jar of salsa (or two), cook on low all day and shred. I serve tacos for the family and I eat mine on brown rice with black beans, avocado and 2% plain greek yogurt for a yummy burrito bowl. I weigh out extra meat and freeze with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice and/or black beans for meals another time. I use the portioned left overs for quick soup, stuffed peppers, healthy taco/burritos/nachos or a quick taco salad. Just be sure to write the portions on the container you are freezing it in

It takes a little time and practice to be organized for dinner-but after a few weeks it's easy. If all else fails, I always have a frozen Lean Cuisine or Amy's meal on hand. It's to the point in my house that I always have my basics on hand for a quick crock pot meal. Get a crock pot and search online for recipes (or ask me, I love sharing recipes)

good luck!!!

meshashesha2012

i dont have a family to cook meals for, but i find it easiest when i make the majority of my meals for the week on a saturday or sunday. i fell out of the practice and am just now getting back to it, but what i do is fix 2-3 hot meals and a large salad. that combined with with the stuff i eat that dont need preprep time (like yogurt,fruit, etc) is all th food i need for a week plus a bit left over that i can freeze for emergencies.

this week i made :

breakfast quiche :
combine whole eggs, cooked ground turkey, baby spinach, chopped mushrooms, chopped onions, feta cheese in a bowl. pour contents into a casserole pan and bake until firm.
(i usually have that with a baked sweet potato with butter and cinnamon and berries)

crockpot turkey/chicken thigh chili:
first cook ground turkey and chicken thighs in crockpot (i cook in low sodium broth with red pepper flakes, garlic, cilantro, onions,black pepper, cumin) . once done, separate from the liquid (keep the liquid), cut/shred the meat. (i cook a lot of meat at a time and will divide it to be used in multiple dishes or for salads.

in the same crockpot throw in the meat, hot peppers, garlic, chili powder, red pepper, worcestershire sauce, nutmeg, onions, all spice, pinch of bakers chocolate (i like cincinnati style chili), cumin, black pepper, mushrooms, onions, baby spinach, corn, canned tomatoes, drained and rinses cannelini beans and some of the left over liquid from the meat. cook on low for a few hours.

stuffed cabbage:
get purple cabbage and in the center use some of the crockpot meat, along with shaved carrot, chopped kale. wrap the leaf up. in a casserole dish place uncooked brown rice at the bottom and put the stuffed cabbage on top (seam side down). when you have all the stuffed cabbage you want/can fit in the dish pour in the reserved crockpot liquid (add in broth if you need more liquid). cover and bake until the rice is cook and all the reserve liquid has been absorbed.

emAZn

I usually take sunday afternoon to meal plan 4 days worth of breakfast, lunch, and snack, and then I just eat the family dinner minus the heavy cheese and loaded carbs ect.

For example this week is an egg sandwhich for breakfast, tilapia with birdseye lightly sauced rotini for lunch and yogurt with fruit for snack. The reason I make 4 is because something usually comes up during the week and then I can re-use one of the meals I've preped on the 5th day or even on the weekend.

Next week will probably be protein oatmeal for breakfast, tuna salad with apples raisins and almonds for lunch, and plain greek yogurt with buffalo pretzel thins for snack...

SeeingLessofKristin

I plan my whole week in advance and then try to get at least some of it done on Sunday afternoon/evening. For example, this week I made gazpacho to take for lunch each day this week, spicy roasted chickpeas for a snack, and cooked up chicken breast to use in several recipes over the week. It saves me so much time just knowing what I will be cooking each day!

Machdude

Check out the website "skinny taste". Gina takes regular recipes and leans them down a little. Most are delicious and even the non-dieters in the family go nuts over some of the recipes. You can eat real food using MFP. Making up a big batch of soup, chili or other casserole over the weekend then freezing meal size portions is helpful for us.

candacewoodburn

Im just starting out on planning my meals and this is also difficult for me. I'm glad you posted this, it gave me a lot of idea. The only thing I would add that I didn't see is don't forget to plan your snacks as well. When you eat snacks you don't get as hungry and you wont eat as heavily at meal time. Eating 3 small meals and 3 snacks a day is the best way to keep your sugar level balanced and to keep you feeling full. Good Luck.

amysmartin

I'm also a working mom of 2 and instead of cooking for the whole week on Sunday sometimes I just need a break, lol. I tend to eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, I don't really pack/cook in advance but I stock the fridge/pantry with what I know works and it makes it easy to pack my lunches. For dinners I try to plan a couple healthy meals, a couple husband friendly meals, and we eat out quite a bit. If I know what I'm cooking I'll log it early in the day so I know in advance how big my portion should be, or if I need to take a walk after dinner, etc. If we are eating out I'll sit there using the mobile app logging as I eat/order and just try to stay on target as much as possible. I agree with the other posts on healthy crock pot options, I have a couple soup/chili recipes that are great, filling, work nice as lunch leftovers.

I've been tempted to go the Nutrisystems route just because they make it seem so easy in the commercials. In the end, I think it is much better that I just stick with the routine that I know and the recipes/foods I like and just modify my portions and track everything.

Mhvela

Thank you all so much for your ideas! Very helpful. I guess planning is key. I better dust off the crock pot too. I won't be in the corner eating my prepackaged meal lol.

godblessourhome

eat what you feed your family.

a lot of people blog their menus each week (including myself). check out www.orgjunkie.com on monday afternoon for her link-up. lots of blogs with fabulous ideas, recipes, grocery lists, money-saving tips, eating around an allergy, freezer meals, etc.

this week i added buffalo chicken stromboli, roasted sweet potatoes with parmesan and mozzarella, fajita chicken pasta, white bean and chicken soup, and copycat applebees oriental chicken salad to the future recipes i want to make.

my blog is 'everything is better with cheese' if you ever want to visit.

Nicolee_2014

Either eat what the family eat (smaller portions) or make bulk meals for you, freeze them & take them out when it's dinner time.