How to Make a Meal Plan for Your Family

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By steacher
User-Submitted Article

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(8 Ratings)

By taking the time to plan your family's meals, you can save time cooking and shopping. You will also be able to create healthy balanced meals and rely less on take out and fast food.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Paper
Pencil

Step 1

Sit down with a paper and pencil. If your family has a calendar where they write down all they have scheduled for the week, bring that out so you can look at it.
Step 2

Make a chart that has breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for each day of the week.
Step 3

Start filling in the chart, but think about the needs of your family. Is Monday a busy night? Consider either making a meal ahead of time that you can freeze and pop in the oven or do something easy like sandwiches. On nights when you have more time, plan to cook something nicer.
Step 4

Don't forget about leftovers. If you are going to have time to cook on Tuesday, but not Wednesday, consider making double on Tuesday night. Or use leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day.
Step 5

Think about ingredients. If you buy a whole bag of frozen chicken breasts, can you use some of them one day and the rest a few days later? Fruits and veggis don't last forever, so consider using them in several meals in one week. Also, think about what you already have in the pantry.
Step 6

Think healthy. Now is the time to think about how you can incorperate fruits and veggis into every meal. Make things your family already likes, but try to add in some new stuff too. You never know - maybe they'll actually like that spinich!
Step 7

If you have picky eatters, let them help plan the menu. Give them guidelines like "you need to choose something healthy", but let them have some say as to what that is.
Step 8

Cook ahead. For those nights I know I am going to be busy, I always cook ahead. On Sunday afternoons, I cook several meals and freeze them. I also chop any veggis I know I am going to need and put them in ziplock bags in the refridgerator.
Step 9

Once you have your chart filled out, go through and make a list of ingredients you will need for each dish. Mark off the things you already have in you pantry, and you have your shopping list for the week. Now you can go to the grocery store, buy only the items on your list, and not waste time thinking about what else you need.