Tag Archives: meal plans

Seasonal Meal Plans

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For some of us, eating seasonally is a no-brainer. You can save plenty of money on your produce by going straight to the seasonal stuff whenever you can. Even further, shopping seasonally is better for the environment and beneficial to the local economy. When you shop seasonally, your food is traveling shorter distances and, therefore, fewer pollutants are emitted in the process. The best part? Seasonal fruits taste better, too! While seasonal products do vary slightly from state to state, generally, the US has pretty standard seasonal produce cycles. Here are examples of seasonal produce for each season, with meals for each one:

Winter

  • Broccoli: Try making a warm broccoli casserole, or pair some broccoli rabe with Italian sausages and polenta.
  • Sweet Potatoes: Sweet potatoes are great in the winter time. Make a warm sweet potato pie with whipped meringue on top, or a creamy sweet potato soup.

Spring

  • Zucchini: Fried zucchini, grilled zucchini, however you make it, this vegetable is great in the spring. Try serving honey glazed chicken with a side of roasted zucchini, onion, and yellow bell peppers, seasoned with olive oil and peppers.
  • Lettuce: Lettuce is ripe and ready in the spring time so use this veggie for your lunch salads during the springtime months. Arugula, baby spinach, chives, herbs, sliced almonds, and goat cheese could be combined make a mouthwatering side dish.

Summer

  • Corn: Corn is a classic summer dish. Try making summer corn chowder with bacon, or simply serve your corn on the cob with garlic butter for a great side at an outdoor BBQ.
  • Watermelon: Cool down in the summer months with watermelon sorbet that’s the perfect, healthy dessert for warm summer nights. You can also make a watermelon, pecan, and gorgonzola salad that works great on a bed of fresh lettuce.

Autumn

  • Cranberries: Cranberry sauce goes great with turkey on Thanksgiving, but it can also be made into an autumn strudel with squash and cranberries, or a cranberry beef stew. The cranberry stew can be made with an economical chuck roast, beef broth, pearl onions, mushrooms, egg noodles, and, of course, cranberry sauce.
  • Pumpkin: Around Halloween and Thanksgiving, everyone has a hankering for pumpkin pie. Bursting with flavor, this veggie can be introduced to practically any dish, sweet and savory alike. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin oatmeal muffins, and best of all, pumpkin pie all taste great when the leaves are falling from the trees.

Having a seasonal healthy meal planner and shopping seasonally can help you cut down your grocery store bill while getting fresher and riper food straight to your table. Don’t hesitate to make traditions around your house based on these seasonal treats.

“Play with your food!”: Table Games and Family Meal Plans

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Studies show that traditions are critical to family happiness and bonding. In fact, family traditions encourage children’s social development and provide schedule and structure to everyone’s life. According to The Pfaltzgraff Co.’s national survey, comprised of over 1,000 married men and women, the daily ritual of eating together at the dinner table is the most important way to strengthen family ties. That’s why allotting one day a week to a fun dinner with a family meal plan, is a great way to bring the whole family together. Here are some games and family meals to go along with them:

  • Play the Critic: Make your kids your food critics when you’re trying out new recipes. Give a “review card” to your kids to get their opinion on new meal plans or create a thumbs up or thumbs down system. This works great with exotic dishes that you’ve never tried before.
  • Murder Mystery: Create a story of murder and assign everyone as the suspects. You can often find murder mystery plots and clues online to help you create your own murder mystery. This game is great for bigger families with older children.
  • Cooking Games: Cook fun family meals, like Smiley Face Soup (with ritz crackers as the eyes and cheese as the mouth), heart-shaped pizza, or dino-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches. All you have to do is cut out the dinosaur shape with an appropriate cookie cutter and make them green with pesto or mix butter with food coloring and put the dino to the grill. Whichever way you choose, you’ll have a green dino-sandwich ready to be attacked by hungry family members.
  • Guess Those Ingredients: Try to make your kids and husband guess the ingredients you put in a casserole, sauce, or sides. Tally up the points and give the winner a special price!
  • Dress Up to Dinner: Throw a theme night and have everyone dress up in costumes to dinner.  Add some meal theme ideas.  Everyone will have so much fun pretending it’s Halloween every Saturday night. Try matching your outfits to your meal plans. For example, if you’re having a Scooby Doo themed night, prepare Scooby snacks (cookies in the shape of bones) for dessert with a bit of ice cream and chocolate fudge.
  • Board Games for Dessert: If you’re not really the “play with your food type,” skip dessert and play trivia or board games after you’re done with your meal. Even a simple board game will promote family unity and make the whole family feel closer.

With theme nights, dress up, and cooking games your kids will be able to express their creativity, even at meal time. More importantly, after just a couple of fun game nights, you’ll feel closer with your family than ever before.

Meal Plan for Portion Control

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According to the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute, we’re eating more than 20 years ago. A lot more. Taking a look at the serving size 20 years ago, bagels used to be 3-inches in diameter, now they’re 6-inches in diameter. Cheeseburgers are now gargantuan and around 300 more calories than hamburgers back in the day. A serving of fries used to be about 2.4 ounces and 210 calories. Now? A serving of fries is about 6.9 ounces, and about 610 calories. If you’ve tried to make a healthy meal plan or a diet meal plan but haven’t lost any weight, you may have portion sizes to blame. Portion control is the key to making a successful healthy meal plan.

Servings of Each Food Group for Your Meal Plan

The key to eating the right portions is memorizing the right serving sizes and the amount of servings of each food group that you should be getting each day. The amount of servings you should eat could differ depending on your age, your exercise level, and your size. There are general servings that you should be getting of each food group, however. For items like bread, cereal, rice, and pasta for example, you should get anywhere from 6-11 servings a day. Fruits, we need about 2-4 servings a day, veggies 3-5, protein sources 2-3, and dairy 2-3, as well. The food pyramid recommends that we eat fats, oils, and sweets sparingly.

Portions of Each Food Group

Now that you know approximately how many servings you should be getting a day, you need to know approximately how much of each food group comprises a serving. The size of servings may surprise you . . .

Grains

One serving of grains could be anywhere from 50 calories for the less caloric grains to around 120 calories for carbohydrates like cereal or graham crackers. Examples include:

  • 1/4 bagel
  • 1/2 hot dog bun
  • 1/2 English muffin
  • 2 rice cakes
  • 3 graham crackers
  • 3/4 cup dry cereal

Fruit

One serving of fruit includes:

  • 2 tbsp raisins
  • 1/2 cup fruit canned
  • 1 1/2 cup watermelon
  • 1 small banana
  • 1 medium apple

Vegetables

Get enough vegetables by eating about 3-5 servings per day. One serving could be:

  • 1 cup of raw veggies or
  • 1/2 cup of cooked veggies

Dairy

Dairy is an important part of anyone’s diet. If you’re vegan or prefer nondairy products, make sure you’re getting your calcium through other foods or vitamins. Serving sizes of dairy could include:

  • 1 cup of skim milk
  • 1 cup yogurt or
  • 2 ounces of low-fat cheese

Protein

Protein helps us build muscle and keeps us fuller for longer. We don’t need as much protein as fruits or vegetables to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here are some examples of protein serving sizes:

  • 3 ounces of meat, like chicken, sausage, or deli meats
  • 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup of tofu

Keep in mind that there are higher and lower calorie options for each of these food groups, so if you’re trying to watch your figure you should look at the calories, not just the serving sizes. Make healthy choices to limit your caloric intake. For example, instead of peanut butter, you could opt for 1/4 cup of cottage cheese, which offers you a serving of protein with half of the calories. While calories aren’t the only important element of weight loss, it’s often a good idea to keep them in mind when trying to make healthy decisions. With this guide to serving sizes, you’ll be on your way to making your meal plan for optimal health in no time.