How to Make a Grocery List for Healthy Snacks & Meals
Adopting a healthy lifestyle begins with the foods we eat. A healthy diet consists of three well-balanced meals, plus one or two snacks during the day. Using the USDA's Food Pyramid is one way to ensure your meals are well-balanced. You may have heard of the food pyramid, but be unsure of how to apply it to your meal plan. Fortunately, there are tools on the USDA's website that help simplify the process. Use the online menu planner to plan your weekly meals and shopping list. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Visit MyPyramid.gov and click "Menu Planner" in the "Interactive Tools" section. Enter your name, age, gender, weight, height and physical activity. Take note of the "Daily Goals" chart and "Daily Limits" bars. You will use these to guide your meal decisions.
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Type the name of a healthy food, such as broccoli. Make a selection from the list. For example, after typing in "broccoli," you may choose broccoli-rice casserole. Choose the amount you plan to eat and select the meal time. Click "Add" to add this item to your meal plan. The daily goals chart will update with the nutritional information for this meal.
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Search for the foods and recipes that complete three meals and two snacks for the day. Watch as the daily goals increase with the addition of every food. Be mindful of the "Extras" bar in the daily limits section. If you have added all three meals and two snacks, but still are far from reaching 100 percent of your recommended daily value in every food group, make adjustments as necessary. For hints, click the colored bar of a specific food group. Complete this process for each day of the week.
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Click "Reports" and then "Weekly Menu." You will be presented with your menu for the week. Print this menu and write down every ingredient you will need to make these meals.
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