meal prep ideas for the whole family

For the picky kids: my person advice/experience is to encourage them to try things, but not force them to eat things they say they don't like. But that also means they can't 'not like' something they won't try.

Chili: is fairly affordable to make. Personally I've been using 85/15 ground turkey because its usually lower $ per pound at my main grocery store. I can buy 3 pounds of 85/15 turkey for $8 and 3 pounds of 80/20 ground beef for $12-13. I use 4 x 14 oz cans of tomatoes and 2 x 14 oz cans of kidney beans and 3 packs of store bought seasoning. If you have a blender, put the tomatoes thru the blender before adding to the pot. The result will be more of a sauce and then the chili will be less chunky. More 'kid friendly'. And this ratio (4 tomatoes, 2 beans) lowers the bean to meat ratio a little also. I don't like my chili to be too heavy on the beans, personally.

Potato soup: in the frozen potato section, look for bags of diced potatoes. They usually say something about Hashbrown potatoes, intended for breakfast use. Get 1 bag of potatoes, 1 32 oz carton chicken broth, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 8oz block of low fat cream cheese, 1 3oz bag of bacon bits. Have cheddar cheese on hand for a topping, or other toppings as you like. Put the potatoes, broth & soup in the slow cooker with some salt & pepper on low for 8 hours. At the 4 hour mark, pour in 1/2 of the bacon bits. At the 7 hour mark, turn the heat to high and add in the cream cheese block. Stir occasionally, especially that last hour to break up the cream cheese. The other half of the bacon bits can be used to top the bowls of soup. I actually make a double batch. If you have a 6 quart slow cooker, then it should be able to just fit a double.

I second Nooshi's advice! So for me, I tend to plan my breakfast and lunch as individual meals on my terms, and that leaves me to enjoy a portion-controlled version of whatever is for supper (often my husband is the cook). If it is something that doesn't meet my needs (like pasta), I'll make a big salad for the family and make sure I have half my plate be salad.

kdbulger wrote: »

I second Nooshi's advice! So for me, I tend to plan my breakfast and lunch as individual meals on my terms, and that leaves me to enjoy a portion-controlled version of whatever is for supper (often my husband is the cook). If it is something that doesn't meet my needs (like pasta), I'll make a big salad for the family and make sure I have half my plate be salad.

Yes, my OH and I eat the same meals, but I'll have more salad/veggies and less carbs.

When my kids were small I understood that some adult foods were new and strange, and so we had three rules. One was that you needed to give it a fair try, unless it was composed of things you already didn't like. (Kid who hated mustard is not required to try the honey-mustard glazed chicken, for example.) Second was if you had given it a fair try and it just wasn't working for you, you could request a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and have that for dinner, no drama. Third was that as you grew up, you needed to revisit the things you said you didn't like and see if your opinion had changed, because people's palates change as they grow up. Again, no pressure, just give the opportunity.

This saved a lot of dinnertime drama.


Currently my boyfriend has had weight loss surgery, I have IBS which means I don't eat most vegetables, and my roommate (female) has some food allergies. It usually works something like this:

Spaghetti and meatballs with pan-seared zucchini, and garlic bread.

Boyfriend gets pan-seared zucchini chunks in a bowl, with red sauce and meatballs. He says he doesn't miss pasta.
I eat the pasta with red sauce and meatballs. (I don't like zucchini.)
Roommate gets a plate of pasta with red sauce and meatballs and a side of the pan-seared zucchini.

It works out pretty well for the three of us.

I really like the cookbook "Cook Once, Eat All Week." The meals are pretty family-friendly and while it's not a diet book, many of the recipes are fairly low calorie. It's also easy to make substitutions (like using ground turkey/chicken instead of beef, etc.) to reduce the calories or just skip those weeks. It gives you a shopping list and I can usually get everything pretty inexpensive - meat is the most expensive part so look for what's on sale that week to decide what week you want to do if that's a concern.

And I will add that I have grown sons now who are not dealing with food addictions like I was or their dad is, and who can work out without drama what works for them to eat. One has a gut sensitivity to rice, so he doesn't eat it. One has a mild dairy intolerance, and has had to work out that he won't get family sympathy if he gives in and has a milkshake the day before he's scheduled to work. I think at some point he will decide that milkshakes are something that are more trouble than they're worth (I feel like that about egg rolls for myself) and give it up, but everyone has got to come to these sorts of things in their own time. All in all, I feel like I didn't pass my food traumas down, and that's a victory.