One of the best things you can do for your family’s health and happiness is sitting down together with a homemade meal. Dinner can be a challenging time for parents who have picky eaters. It may feel like they are feeding time at the zoo! As the zookeeper of your household, you have a lot of responsibilities such as menu planning, shopping, and cooking. Once you find a few foods that your kids like, it becomes much easier.
I have created a plan for next week that will do the mental work for you. The plan covers the weekdays and leaves the weekends open for leftovers. The recipes listed below will make approximately 4 servings each, but can be adjusted accordingly if you need to feed more people. There is a list of items to buy for the recipe, including a few staple ingredients that may already be in your pantry. Make sure to check that you have these items on hand before beginning.
SHOPPING LIST
1 butternut squash
1 head broccoli
2 large sweet potatoes
3 zucchini
1 tomato
1 head lettuce
1 red bell pepper
Green onions
1 lb (500 g) salmon fillet
1 lb (500 g) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb (500 g) ground turkey
Large eggs
Milk, non- or low-fat
Greek yogurt, plain, low-fat
8 oz (250 g) shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz (125 g) shredded mozzarella cheese, part skim
Whole-wheat pasta shells
Whole-wheat linguine
Whole-wheat breadcrumbs, preferably panko
1 ball (about 1 lb/500 g) fresh whole-wheat pizza dough
4 whole-wheat burger buns
Marinara sauce, low sodium
Teriyaki sauce, reduced sodium
Frozen peas
PANTRY STAPLES
Extra-virgin olive oil
Olive oil cooking spray
Salt and pepper
Mustard powder
Soy sauce, reduced sodium
Sesame oil
Sesame seeds
Corn or all-purpose flour
RECIPES
Sunday: Butternut Mac & Cheese with Broccoli
Sneak some veggies into your mac and cheese. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Cook the pasta shells for two minutes less than what is indicated on the package. Place 3 cups (15 oz/470 g) cubed butternut squash on a large baking sheet, toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil , sprinkle with salt , and roast until tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth. Butternut squash puree and milk are combined in a saucepan over medium heat and brought just below a simmer. 8 oz (250 g) of cheddar cheese, 1 teaspoon of mustard powder, and ½ a teaspoon of salt should be added and mixed until the texture is smooth. Add the cooked pasta and stir to coat. Pour into an 8-inch (20-cm) square baking pan. Sprinkle with ½ cup (3/4 oz/20 g) breadcrumbs . Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm with steamed broccoli .
This recipe yields 6 servings for adults or 8 servings for kids.
Monday: Baked Chicken Fingers with Yogurt & Peas
Kids of all ages love crispy, crunchy chicken tenders. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Spray a large baking sheet with olive oil . Cut 1 lb chicken into long, thin strips that are about 12 mm thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper . Break 2 large eggs into a shallow bowl and whisk them together with a fork. Spread 1½ cups (2 oz/60 g) breadcrumbs onto a plate. Dip each piece of chicken in the beaten eggs, letting the excess drip back in the bowl. Cover the food with breadcrumbs, pushing down lightly so they adhere. After coating all of the chicken, place it on the baking sheet. Spray over the top with olive oil . Bake the breadcrumbs and chicken for 20-25 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden and the chicken is firm. Butternut mac & cheese and peas can be reheated in the microwave. Serve warm, with yogurt for dipping.
This recipe makes 4 servings for adults or 6 servings for kids.
Tuesday: Teriyaki Salmon with Sesame Zoodles
Sticky-sweet teriyaki sauce is the secret to winning over the fish. Preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C). Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side , until browned In an ovenproof sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add chicken breasts and cook 2-3 minutes per side until browned. Place the salmon in the pan, flesh side down, and cook until it is golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn and brush with 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce . Bake the salmon in the oven until it is flaky and easy to pierced with a fork. This will take about 10 minutes. To make zucchini noodles, use a spiralizer tool to cut the zucchini into long strands. Boil the linguine for half a pound and add the zucchini in the last minute. Drain well and return to the pot. Coat the mixture with 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons sesame oil. Place the salmon and zoodles on a plate, and add sesame seeds and sliced green onions if desired. Serve warm.
This recipe will make 4 servings for adults or 6 servings for kids.
Wednesday: Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries
Everybody loves burger night! To make quarter-pound patties for adults and smaller patties for children, cook all the meat and save any that is not eaten for later. Preheat the oven to 400?F (200?C). Remove the skin from two sweet potatoes and cut them into slices that are about a quarter of an inch thick. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle them with salt, and toss to coat. Roast until golden and crispy, about 30 minutes. Combine ground turkey, zucchini, and egg in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Use clean hands to combine the mixture and then form it into 4 patties. In a skillet over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil . After adding the patties to the pan, cook them for 10 minutes, flipping them over once, until they’re no longer pink in the middle. After cooking, move the food to a different plate and let it sit for a few minutes. Distribute the buns, burgers, tomato, and lettuce evenly among four plates. The sweet potato fries and yogurt dipping sauce should be served together.
This recipe makes enough for two adults or four kids.
Thursday: Pizza Party! DIY Toppings
Kids can build their own mini pizzas with colorful veggies. Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C). Get one ball of pizza dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature until it’s soft. Roll out the dough into 4 thin rounds. If your dough shrinks, let it rest for 10 minutes and then roll it out a second time. Transfer to a baking sheet dusted with flour . Spread the dough with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and salt it. Cover each round with 2 tablespoons of marinara and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese. Arrange your favorite pizza toppings, like sliced bell peppers or zucchini, on top. continue baking until the crusts are golden and the cheese starts to brown and bubble Let the pizzas rest briefly. In a bowl, combine any leftover torn lettuce and sliced tomato, add salt and olive oil, and mix everything together. Serve the pizzas warm with salad on the side.
This recipe makes enough food for 4 adults or 6 children.
What is family meal planning?
Organizing your family’s meals ahead of time can save you a lot of stress and hassle. Meal planning can be done for a week, two weeks, or even a month at a time.
Pre-planning your meals by shopping ahead of time for all the necessary ingredients is key.
While some families plan all their meals for the entire week in advance, others prefer to only plan for that evening’s meal.
If you’ve ever stood in front of your fridge, trying to come up with dinner ideas or making a lot of last-minute trips to the grocery store, this could be the solution for you.
Meal planning ahead of time takes the guesswork out of what to make for dinner each night.
This will also prevent you from inquiring your children what they would like for their meal. They don’t know!
When it comes to food, young children are not the best decision-makers, so it is still your job to make decisions for them. You can give them a simple choice like peas or cauliflower, but that’s all the responsibility they can take on right now.
Meal planning can help people feel more organized and save time thinking about what to make for dinner.
What are the advantages of family meal planning?
Nutrition and variety
If you find yourself eating the same meals often, it’s likely that you’re eating too much of the same thing.
A varied diet is essential as it helps you consume the range of nutrients that the human body needs.
If we don’t plan ahead, we usually end up eating the same few meals over and over again. This can become boring and repetitive, and having less variety means you might not be getting all the nutrients you need.
By planning out healthy meals for your family, you can help ensure that everyone gets the nutrients they need from their food.
Children require forty distinct nutrients every day, which can be obtained through consuming a variety of different foods.
Creating a variety of meals for our children broadens their horizons when it comes to food. They’re able to try new things and familiarize themselves with different foods.
Children will continue to learn about food even after they leave for University.
Reduces food waste
If you plan your meals in advance, you can reduce the amount of food waste because you will only have in your fridge what is necessary for the upcoming meals.
This means that less is wasted because it is not used. In 2018, it was estimated that the UK threw away 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste (1) .
If you find that you have a few carrots at the bottom of the fridge, my meal planning guide will make sure they don’t go to waste by using them up the next week.
Saves you money
You can save money by cooking from scratch rather than buying convenience foods, takeaways, or eating out.
If we plan ahead of time, we can be smart with our money and choose meals that use cheaper ingredients that are in season.
It will help you stick to your budget when you grocery shop, and also save you from making unnecessary trips to the store during the week.
It’s the cornerstone of positive food parenting
When you plan family meals, you are using the best parenting style, known as “diplomatic food parenting.” The first element of this style is providing non-controlling structure for your child’s meals and snacks to ensure they are getting enough nutrients for growth and health.
In order to do this, you need to plan.
It saves time
Although it may take some time to plan out initially, having a meal plan for your family will save you time during the week.
This means that you will no longer have to spend time trying to figure out what to make for dinner or browsing the supermarket shelves trying to make decisions. You also will not have to make any more emergency trips to the corner store.
Make meal planning fun!
1. Would you like it if, once a week, your child got to choose their favorite meal and then cook it for you? Have your children take turns doing things if you have more than one of them. Allowing children to help with meal preparation makes them feel involved and allows them to explore their curiosity about food. Introducing children to various recipe books or online websites can help them get ideas for meals.
2. Once a week, take all the food you have in your freezer and turn it into a meal. This is a great way to use up leftovers and make a delicious, easy meal for your family. If you have something that you prepared ahead of time or leftovers from an earlier meal, use it up instead of letting it go to waste.
3. Have breakfast for dinner. It’s a common misconception that you have to eat certain foods at specific meal times. Some savory porridge recipes are a good option for breakfast, Pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon, or a cooked breakfast (grilled rather than fried).
4. You can have themed nights and be as creative as you like, trying cuisines from different countries such as an Italian, Mexican, Chinese or an Indian meal.
5. You should try having a plant-based or vegan meal at least once or twice a week.
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