Simple kid friendly meal plans?

[heather6773]

Any ideas ladies? I want to cook more for my family but my "creations" lack some of the enthuiasum that I would like to see when I put it on the table....

[heather6773]

I think I'll have to look at the library and see.

[Deana]

Hey Heather, sorry I missed this!

I usually just feed my kids whatever is on the meal plan, with some exceptions. I know that they won't eat fish or steak (we rarely eat red meat anymore though), so in that case they get turkey dogs, chicken nuggets, or veggie burgers.
I always try to incorporate SOMETHING that I know they will eat like pasta, rice or a 'common' veggie (both of my girls love green beans, broccoli, corn, potatoes, etc). My philosophy is to offer what we are eating and if they cannot stomach it (which is really rare) then give them something I know they will eat.

I know that is really vauge. Do you like to meal plan? What kinds of stuff do your kids like to eat? What about your favorite foods?

[heather6773]

I had posted about meal planning but it must of gotten lost. I would like to learn but have no clue as to where to start. I usualy make one meal and we all it it. My thought for this year is to eat more healthy and balanced meals. We like pasta dishes. I try to do a meat a few times a week but I don't like too much meat. We like chicken,turkey,pork(some) and fish. I always add veggies.

[Csara]

One easy way to meal plan is to make each night of the week kind of a set thing.......you can change it up though so that not each Monday is pasta night, but do something like this:

M - pasta
T - chicken
W- turkey
Th - fish
F - pizza or other vegetarian
Sa - meat
Su - chicken

.....it just gives you a bit of a guideline to go with.

[Deana]

for meal planning, I always try to do a protein (sometimes vegetarian), veggie and a starch. I just really try not to do the same foods two days in a row. So, I sort of alternate between proteins/starches and veggies. If I make a casserole w/lots of veggies, then I don't do a separate veggie. I also take into account what the day will be like -- if I am going to be out all afternoon or hosting playgroup or something, I'll do a crock pot dinner or soup and sandwich - something that is easy and something that I can prep in the morning. We order in about once a week (Saturday has become pizza night).

I go to costco once a month and load up on staples like meat/chicken/frozen stuff/frozen veggies/pasta, so I really try to mealplan around what I have. I try to only make one quick trip to the grocery store per week - mostly produce or fresh items.

I have about a zillion cookbooks - but I try to only use one or two per week, so that I'm not flipping around through books all the time. I also use allrecipes.com a LOT. My sister also mealplans, so sometimes we do our mealplans jointly over the phone - sometimes she or I will just steal the other person's mealplan all together!

I also will double an easy recipe (meatloaf, baked spagetti, stir fry) and freeze one portion - makes it easy to pull out a healthy home cooked dinner if we are having a hectic or lazy day.

[heather6773]

Thanks ladies,
That will defiantly help. Especially when I work late and DH is in charge if dinner.

[Deana]

I just dug up my Rachel Ray 30-minute Kid Food cookbook. I am going to mealplan from this for next week - they are kid-friendly recipes, but dh and I would also enjoy too.
I'll post some recipes later after I meal plan

[heather6773]

sounds good deana!!! Thanks alot. I saw that cookbook at the library too. Maybe I'll check it out.