5 easy steps to creating healthy, simple meals for your family.
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Arriving home after a long day at work, it can be overwhelming to think about what to make for dinner. If you find meal planning challenging, rest assured you are not alone!
Here are 5 easy steps to creating healthy simple meals for your family:
1. Involve your kids. They know their favourite meals; you know their favourite meals. Together choose one new healthy recipe for the week. Look through your cookbooks, take a trip to your local library, or go online and find something that appeals to everyone. Get creative!
2. Plan your meals for the week. Devote 30 mins on the weekend to meal planning. Choose simple recipes for the weekdays, especially for evenings that are particularly busy. Many recipes have the amount of prep/cooking time. Choose recipes that meet your time constraints. Try out your new recipe on the weekend.
3. Write your shopping list with ease. Use a spreadsheet program, such as Excel, to create a grocery list template. Or email me at chloe@clearspaces.ca and I will send you one. The first column is for checkmarks, the second will list the food items that you generally purchase each week. Organize by section in the grocery store. For example: list fresh produce together, baked goods together, non-perishables etc. Leave some rows blank to add in special ingredients. Print out 10 copies of your list and VOILA!; no need to write a new shopping list every week.
4. Make dinner a family affair. Children who contribute to meals will feel a sense of accomplishment and be more likely to enjoy their food. Give them a simple task, such as measuring out ingredients, spinning salad ingredients, or peeling potatoes.
5. Purchase a crockpot. Slow-cooked food is not only better for you, but tastes delicious. It is economical and a time-saver. Recipes are easy to find online, or simply use the ingredients from your favourite soups or stews. Buy organic produce when possible. Either on the weekend or the previous evening, chop up all veggies and meat and seal in containers in the fridge. The next morning put all ingredients in the crockpot, along with herbs, spices and broth. Cook on high temperature for 1 hour, and low temperature for 6-7 hours. When you arrive home from work your kitchen will smell wonderful and dinner will be ready!
