Making Healthy Meal Plans Is A Pain In The What?

Creating Healthy Meal Plans day in and day out seems daunting. Actually when I first thought about it, it sounded downright painful. Trust me, it's not. In fact, it's kind of fun, especially when the whole family is involved and when you're prepared.

If you need a jump start, don't hesitate to use the services that are available today that specialize in helping families enjoy eating at the dinner table again. Most of the online services will offer free trials, sample menus and a bunch of other bonuses.

Here's a list of some cool ones that I found:

Menu Planning Central
Weekly Meal Planning - Free Sample
Are You Eating Healthy? - Free Sample Menu

And the best thing about planning my meals in advance is that I don't end up purchasing junk or making a visit through the drive-thru just to get us through dinnertime. I really find that I save time and money by planning my meals.

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My Healthy Meal Plans Tips Part 1

Here are some tips that I use when organizing the Healthy Meal Plans for my family.

I honestly believe with a few adjustments to your daily routines, creating and sticking to meal plans that are healthy, fun and delicious will become really simple and second nature.

1. Take inventory of what is already in your refrigerator, freezer and pantry. Create your initial Meal Plans using the foods that you already have on hand.

2. Think ahead. If you are going to eat dinner at 5 p.m., don't attempt planning a healthy meal each day at 4 p.m. Under that kind of pressure, you are more likely to succumb to serving your family unhealthy, processed, convenience foods.

3. Clean out your refrigerator and pantry once every few weeks to make room for healthier foods. It's amazing what can lurk in the back of a kitchen pantry month after month.

4. Always have fresh fruit and fresh veggie available as a healthy snack alternative to salt and sugar-laden snacks.

5. Write it down. Sticking to Healthy Meal Plans takes commitment. If you write down each day's meals along with an accompanying grocery list, you are more likely to work your plan each and every day.

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Choose Your Ingredients

I just stumbled upon this website which is free and a really cool addition to your Healthy Meal Plans. It's called The World's Healthiest Foods.
I like it because you can use a tool on their site that allows you to click on the ingredients you like (or conversely, the ingredients you don't like) and it will generate a bunch of recipes using the criteria that you inputted. Oh, and all the recipes can be made in 30 minutes or less. Pretty cool.

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Planning Healthy Meals Is Not Torture!

...even though it can seem like it. When you begin working on healthy meal plans for your family, it may seem like a daunting process doing it day in and day out.

Once you get started and work your plan on a consistent basis, it gets easier and easier. As they say (whoever said it), "it takes 21 days to create a habit." The first week may feel like a lifetime, but don't stop. Planning your meals WILL get easier and faster.

Try getting your whole family involved. Have each family member make a list of their favorite meal items by creating columns on paper of each food category (meals, cheeses, vegetables, potatoes, rice, fruits, miscellaneous.) Warning: Chicken nuggets, mac 'n cheese and french fries are not allowed on the list.

If someone mentions "salads" as a top choice, ask to clarify what kind of salad and with what ingredients.

Give yourself enough time to think through your first week of meals. If you feel overwhelmed, use the services that are available that specialize in healthy meal plans for families.

There is also a ton of free information on the Internet as well. The moms (and pros) at Menu Planning Central offer a Free Menu Plan and Shopping List that can help get you started.

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Picky Eater Mommies Unite With Healthy Meal Plans!

Something happened when my daughter turned 7. All of the healthy, wonderful foods she had been eating since baby-hood have all but disappeared from her vocabulary. Oh, unless she follows the word with "ewww."

I mean, this kid was eating broccoli, spinach, zucchini, lasagna, steak, burgers, salads, etc. on a regular basis. I honestly don't think her tastes have changed that drastically (although perhaps they have). I think she thinks it's "uncool" to eat certain foods.

It got to the point where I just couldn't make her happy with what I was putting on the table (and I cook nearly seven nights a week!) My husband and I were always so proud of our kids because their eating repertoire consisted of more than chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese.

Enter the world of Healthy Meal Plans. Now, I plan every meal for every day. I do it mainly because I'm concerned that she won't be getting the balanced nutrition that she needs if I don't. I also do it because it saves me a lot of grey hair, stress and headaches when mealtime rolls around.

I do alot of my Healthy Meal Planning myself, but I also use the information in magazines, on the Internet and on various services to help me stay on track and keep a variety in my Healthy Meal Plans.

I like keeping diaries so I thought I'd chronicle how I go about developing my Healthy Meal Plans and their success rate.

I'm trying to rid the world (or at least my house) of picky eaters forever...on meal at a time!

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