But now I've realized that if I spend an hour each week I can come up with a plan for breakfast lunch and dinner and a very specific shopping list. The first few weeks I was very intentional about eating exactly what my chart said for each meal. It was working but then life started butting in and I couldn't totally predict our days so I let it get a little looser and I think I've got it working for my family.
A few tips on the way I do it:
- find a good planner. Some people may like an app on their phone. Others may prefer an Excel document. I have to hand-write it and put it on the fridge where I can scratch out and easily see what's going on. I've tried it a couple ways and am currently using the form found here.
- Plan at least one meal that can be moved to the next week without any ingredients spoiling.
- Also make a notation to cook extra of something one night to freeze for later.
- Build in one night to use something from your freezer so you don't put a bunch of stuff in there and then never use it because you are waiting for the perfect day to need it...my personal issue... Plus you'll love not having to actually cook one night.
- Planning breakfasts and lunches puts so much time back in your day. No wandering around the kitchen eyeing the cabinets and asking everyone what they want.
- Plan meals with your calendar of events open next to you. So you don't plan to make a brand-new 3-hour recipe on the day your kid has soccer practice and a dentist appointment and you're taking the car in for an oil change.
Meal planning allows me to see at a glance how my family has eaten that week. I even make a list of snacks we have for that week so we don't eat Goldfish or Bunny Crackers twice a day for 7 days.
One of my main food goals is to make sure we all eat as many naturally colored foods as possible each week. Some days we don't eat anything green (gasp!) but we make up for it another day with zucchini muffins for breakfast, peas for lunch and broccoli for dinner...and meal planning helps me make sure that happens.
Occasionally though we do get all the colors in one meal...
Eat A Rainbow for Dinner
Purple Potatoes!!!
A great addition to a rainbow meal. The texture and taste is a good cross between a regular white potato and an orange sweet potato.
Becki and I were discussing how to make rainbow meals a few weeks ago and previously the only purple item I could come up with were purple Goldfish. This picture is from a lunch Zola and I created in February:
But a couple weeks ago I hosted a potato bar night for us and Grant's parents and when we were putting everything on our plates I realized I had accidentally prepared a great rainbow meal for us!
Here's mine:
I like to make separate little piles so can taste everything individually and then mix as I go.
and another version made by Grant:
He's a pile it all together because it's just going the same place kind of eater.
and Zola insisted I take a picture of her dinner too which conveniently added in the blue that was missing from mine and Grant's plates.
Here's the Roy G. Biv from our dinner:
Red: tomatoes in the salsa
Orange: Sweet potato, cheese
Yellow: cheese
Green: homemade guacamole (avocado, lime juice), cilantro
Blue: blue corn chips with flax seed
Violet: purple potatoes!!!
extras: black beans, white potatoes, sauteed onions
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