Family Meal planning involves the decision to choose what your family will eat either daily, weekly or Monthly. A healthy meal plan for the family takes a lot of considerations and efforts regarding the right nutrients, food composition, food cost and other factors that may affect your choices.
Understanding that setting a meal plan is a challenge for every meal manager makes it a satisfying experience when the well being and health of the family is met. That alone justifies all the hard work and I applaud you for doing a great job.
A typical meal plan covers three main meals for the day which includes- Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and maybe one or two snacks in between the day. In order to meet the choices, allergy concerns and satisfaction of the family members comes the need to tabulate a healthy and flexible meal plan that will take care of the nutritional needs of the family.
STEPS FOR A HEALTHY FAMILY MEAL PLAN
Healthy meal plan is the one discussed by the family. Come one, come all makes the plan effective, stress free and satisfactory. Here, the allergies and preferences of the family members and the nutritional specifications of the foods are considered. I will guide you through 4 major steps of family meal planning, they include:
- PLANNING
- PURCHASING
- PREPARATION
- FOOD SERVING
Voila! you have come a long way to see these secrets of healthy family meal planning. I will explain the details of each step, describing what you should look out for in the above steps and how it will aid you to plan for the best meals with no stress.
STEP 1- PLANNING
Before you make either some days, weekly or monthly family meal plan, you have to consider the following:
- Review your schedule and figure out from your busy days or week when you will have time to cook for the family. Failure to check your schedule will either disturb your personal plans or your meal plans. I know both are important to you, hence the need to strike a balance.
- Ensure to satisfy the preferences and the nutritional needs of the family members in the family meal plan.
- Make a list of foods from each food groups to maintain the principle of a good meal plan which includes: balance, nuritional quality and variety
- Check the prices of the listed foods from the grocery store app and decide which of the foods fit in the family food budget.
- Visit your pantry, refrigerator and freezer to check ingredients and food leftovers. This will help to reduce food waste and cost saving. At this point, you are ready for the next step.
STEP 2- PURCHASING
Hours of brain storming process for family meal planning makes food purchase easier and faster. Things to check while purchasing foods:
- Ensure you have a good space for storage of the purchased foods.
- Check the best places to purchase fresh foods at affordable costs.
- Buy perishable foods in quantities you will use within the period of your meal plan.
- Buy meat and cereals in bulk.
- Maintain your budget and don’t buy stuffs outside your meal plan. Purchasing is simple right? Oh yeah, you did most of the work in the meal planning and that’s fantastic.
STEP 3- PREPARATION
Food Preparation requires a lot of skill to make the food delicious while maintaining the nutrients. As a food manager in the family you should consider the following:
- Balance the likes and dislikes of the family members in the food preparation.
- Prepare variety of foods so that your family will obtain all the nutrients needed each day. Remember, variety is the spice of life.
- The schedules of the family members will help to checkmate the quantity of food prepared to avoid food waste.
- Start the meal prep on time depending on the choice of food and the help available.
- Prepare some foods like stew, soups, sausages and meat in bulk and store in the freezer. It makes the process faster next time. This takes us to the last step, you wouldn’t want to miss it.
STEP 4- FOOD SERVING
This is the yummiest part of the family meal plan. Serving a delicious balanced meal after preparation shows how appetizing the food is and acceptance of the food by the family members. Food serving is also an emotional part where the family members relax from the day’s stress and eat together with each individual served the right proportion. It helps to promote good eating habits which helps the family members to manage their weight easily.
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