We always want to be served the best meal every single day. This goes the same for family, we also want to serve the best meals for our family every day. Not only is it necessary for every meal to be tasteful and delectable, but the nutrition in each meal must also be given the most importance. As we age, we must age gracefully and beautifully. To do that, we must start now and the best way to do this is, of course, to give our body the most healthy food our body needs. We must always consider what our body takes in and because of this, considering a family meal plan is a good option to make sure that our body gets what it needs. While a lot of us may be very busy making a meal plan, it is never an excuse if you really want to do it. There are many ways we can still prepare a family meal plan even if we have a tight and busy schedule. It just takes a little time and effort. And to help you give a start, here are the ways in how we can prepare a family meal plan.
1. First Create a 7-Day Meal Planner
When it comes to things like this, when are just trying things out for the first time, it is best to start small. A 7-Day Meal Planner will be a good start just to see how things will go. In your 7-Day meal plan, map out your menu with what you want your family to eat. With this, you can find several cookbooks which you can get. You can also base your menu on what you see in supermarkets. This way, it won’t be difficult for you to purchase the ingredients since they are readily available. To make it even easier for you, you can base on what you already have on-hand in your pantry. The food doesn’t have to be too fancy, it just needs to give you the nutrition you need for the 7 day week. You can also look at several websites online to help you in planning out meals for the rest of the week. Some websites even help you put together your plan for a month or a year depending on your preference. While it still takes effort to plan the whole thing, these websites and applications will save you a significant amount of time when it comes to planning.
2. Make A Grocery List
Once you’re done with your meal plan, it’s time to start creating your grocery list. Grocery lists also help save time in the grocery since you won’t have to think anymore and just head to the food sections right away. Making grocery lists not only saves time but money as well since this avoids making impulse purchases that you don’t necessarily need. However, it is very important to strictly stick to the grocery list when you also want to save some cash. A grocery list also makes sure that you are on the right track when buying food. It reminds you of the things you need and the things that may not be necessary. And as said earlier, because it saves you time, it also makes room for you to get things done right away. This means that once you are done making a grocery list, you can head to the grocery, get the things you need and go straight to making a meal preparation.
3. Create A Meal Prep
Meal prep is different from meal planning because this literally means preparing the food you set for your meal plan. Once you are done with your set menu, it is now the time for you to start getting your hands on the food and creating a meal preparation. But first, you have to make another list of how this should go. It is important for you to write down what to do with each ingredient to determine how advanced your meal prep should be. If you are making meal preparations for meat, make sure to place them in the freezer a day before you will make them. Slice the vegetables or fruits you need and store them in re-sealable containers. You can easily put this in your children’s lunch boxes or in your salad bowl for dinner.
4. Cook in Bulk
The next thing to do is to cook in bulk. The good thing about meal planning is that you can make more food from the meal plan that will keep you full until the end of the week or even at the end of the month. From the food you cook, you can even make other types of food such as soup and stews and more. You have even more leftovers, you can turn them into dessert for snack time. An example of this can be veggie & bean quinoa bites when there are too many vegetable leftovers. With a meal plan, you can make more than just one meal and this makes it easier for you to plan the following days ahead.
5. Make it Even Easier with Themes
One way to make meal planning easier and fun are to get creative with themes. With themes like these, children will enjoy them and, of course, you will also have a great time planning them. You can also involve the kids if they are into it making them exposed to the importance of knowing how to handle food. Themes such as taco Tuesday or fish Friday and everything else just like that. This makes it easier for you because you no longer have to think about it, rather, you just have to follow the theme set for that specific day. You can also stray away from the typical themes and just make your own depending on what you have in store in your pantry. You can always accustom your theme depending on what your family prefers or what you have available. What matters is that these themes help you take one step forward in your meal plan.
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