The most important meal planning advice

The most important meal planning advice is to Start where you are and use what you have.

Take foods you already like, and write them out in a menu.

When I provided weight loss counseling, people often wanted me to just give them a menu to follow.

I would never give someone a menu to follow.

Why?

No one would actually follow it.

To write a menu you would actually want to follow, I would have to know what you like, how much time you have to cook, how well you know how to cook, where you shop, what cultural limits you have and how much money you have to spend.

You know all those things about yourself, so the best person to write out your menu is YOU.

Ask yourself the following questions if you want to plan a menu that you will actually follow:

#1. How much time do I realistically have/want to cook?

Some people hate cooking and want to spend as little time as possible doing it.

Some people love cooking and spend too much time doing it.

The key to having a successful meal plan is to look at how much time you will honestly spend cooking.

The time you have to cook will dictate what you can cook. Also think about cleanup time.

If you only have 30 minutes, lasagna is not going to work, but there are sooo many easy healthy meals that can happen in 30 minutes. (see my recipe page)

Every time I menu plan, I sit down and write what will be happening the next week so I know how much time I have to spend cooking each day.

Here's what that looks like for me the next week:

I have zero time to cook between 4:45 and 6:30 every day, so I either do something fast (like quesadillas), make ahead (like soup), or we eat early in the day (like 4pm).

You might be working full time. You might have to pickup kids from daycare at 5, sit in traffic until 6, and then muster some real superhuman powers to make dinner while taking care of little kids. If this is you, fast easy meals that come together without much fuss are going to be required!

Just do what you can with what you have and make a realistic eating plan based on your time restraints.

#2 What do I already have that needs to be eaten?

Always plan your menu around foods you already have lurking in the fridge and pantry. This will save you so. much. money.

Before I plan my menu, I go through my fridge and figure out what needs to be used and write it on my menu plan somewhere (circled in the photo).

I just do this on a piece of paper because I'm a paper and pencil person, but you could totally do this on your phone or with an app.

#3 What do I feel like eating this week?

Do you love mexican? Italian? Salads? The cook should cook what they feel like eating.

I love greek food. I had leftover parsley in the fridge. So I put tabbouleh on the menu.

I love soups in winter, I had leftover bacon, so we're having soup that calls for bacon.

Will my kids complain? Maybe. That doesn't matter. I'm the adult, I'm the one who knows about nutrition, I'm the one who does the shopping, I'm the one who does the cooking (mostly) and I also need to eat, so I choose the menu.

Kids can learn to eat what we eat (as long as they can safely chew and swallow it). You don't need to put chicken nuggets and mac+cheese on the menu just because you have kids. But if YOU like those foods, then go ahead!

#3 What can I add to make my meals healthier?

Every meal needs the following 4 things:

Fruit

Vegetable

Whole Grain

Protein

After I've planned my menu, I go back and make sure each meal has all 4 parts.

This usually means adding in a fruit and and a whole grain bread (see items circled below).

I'm pretty savvy on what's in season. If you aren't sure what's in season, just look in the ads for whatever fruit is a good price/on sale and buy that. More on how to save money on produce in the next blog post.

#4 What else do we need for breakfast/lunches etc?

Once I've written down everything I need to make my planned dinners, I'll add on things I need to buy for lunches/breakfast.

That's it! My menu is planned! Time to head for the store!

How long does this whole process take? About 15 minutes. Sometimes 30 if I'm using a bunch of new recipes.

Seems like a lot of time upfront, but it will save so much time later in the week when you don't have to go to the store a million times or dither about what you are making for dinner!

The next step is to go to the store. I've got some tips on that in the next post.

See you next week, happy menu planning!

The #1 most effective way to save money and eat healthy

Happy New Year!

If you are like half of all Americans, you probably made a 2024 New Years Resolution to

1) spend less money

and

2) get healthy by exercising more and eating better

https://www.statista.com/chart/29019/most-common-new-years-resolutions-us/

In my 16 years as a dietitian, I've learned that the #1 most effective goal you can make to save money and eat better is to:

Meal plan

Kinda boring huh?

If you.....

Plan 5-7 days worth of meals (using some tips from a dietitian)

Only buy the foods you need to make those meals

Cook the meals you planned (don't go out to eat)

You will eat healthy and save money.

But if you......

Plan meals

buy ice cream and soda in addition to what you need at the store

go out to eat instead of cooking what's on your meal plan

You won't save money or eat well

The trick is to have self control at the following 2 points in time:

#1 at the store (when you don't waste money on food you don't need)

and

#2 at home (when you actually cook what you planned to cook, and prepare lunches/snacks to take to work so you aren't tempted to eat out)

Easier said than done right?

The key to successful meal planning is to have a Registered Dietitian help you.

If you are interested in meal planning ask your Family Advocate to schedule a free visit with the DDI Vantage Registered Dietitian.

You can also Subscribe to this blog (hover on the word "blog" at the top of the page) to get an email every time I post a blog about meal planning. I plan to post about meal planning every Tuesday for the next 4 weeks in January 2024.

Happy New Year!

PS

Here's my meal plan for the week.

Saturday: taco soup for lunch, early new years party snacks for dinner

Sunday: Big green salad with apples, pecans, sweet potatoes and homemade croutons

Monday: cheese fondue with apple, mushroom, broccoli and whole wheat bread dippers

Tuesday: elk stew + homemade whole wheat cornbread + orange slices

Wednesday: spaghetti squash topped with ground elk goulash + orange slices

Thursday: broccoli + walnut stir fry over brown rice + pineapple

Friday: meal plan grocery shop

I'll go through it piece by piece over the next 4 weeks to show you everything I think about when planning a menu so that I'll actually cook what's on it.

5 Easy ways to limit your sugar intake this holiday

When the weather turns chilly, I crave a hot cup of coco and warm oatmeal cookies.

And my career as a dietitian kind of ruins the fun of having coco and cookies.

Because I'm a dietitian, I know that a cup of coco has 23 grams of sugar.

Because I'm a dietitian, I also know my family's sugar limits:

25 grams per day for kids over 2

25 grams for women

36 grams for men

I think these numbers are especially important for kids.

So do I still have coco and cookies?

Yes of course!

But in the day to day, I tend to look for healthier options.

Extra sugar causes cavities, weight gain and puts stress on your body.

This is especially true around the holidays when it seems that candy and treats are EVERYWHERE!

Here are 5 low sugar swaps I make around the holidays:

#1 Vanilla Milk instead of hot coco

Vanilla milk has 0 grams of added sugar

Coco has 23 grams of added sugar

I've been serving my kids Vanilla milk instead of hot coco since they were toddlers. So it's the norm at our house. If you've got little ones, get them hooked on vanilla milk instead of hot coco.

Recipe: https://www.ddinutrition.com/recipes-2/vanilla-milk

#2 Banana oat cookies instead of little debbie oatmeal cookies

Banana Oatmeal Cookies = 7 grams added sugar for 3 cookies

Little debbie oatmeal cream pie = 27grams sugar

I've been making these cookies since my kids were toddlers. Becuase I've made them regularly since they were very young, they love them. Usually they will eat a whole batch in one day.

If you give these to an older kid who's only had regular cookies, she probably won't like them. But if you are reading this blog, you have kids younger than 3! So get your kids hooked on these healthy cookies today!

Recipe: https://www.ddinutrition.com/recipes-2/peanut-butter-banana-cookies

#3 Apple Sauce instead of Maple Syrup

1 Tabelspoon Maple Syrup = 13 grams added sugar! (this is 1/2 of your day's limit)

1/2 cup unsweetened Applesauce = 0 grams added sugar

Image from wix.com

I love to make a good hot breakfast on cold winter mornings. When my kids were younger, I never bought syrup. Maple syrup is essentially like pouring sugar onto your pancakes.

Instead, I always had my kids put unsweetened applesauce on their pancakes. I would warm it up in a pot with cinnamon and nutmeg for added flavor.

Now that they are older and have been exposed to maple syrup, I will buy it. But we still usually have low sugar fruit preserves, apple butter or frozen berries on pancakes.

If you are reading this blog, you have kids younger than 3! Get them hooked on applesauce on top of their pancakes instead of sugar syrup!

#4 Reduce the sugar in your baked goods

image from recipes.net

Everytime you reduce sugar in a recipe, you reduce the number of grams you will eat! Most recipes can be reduced by 1/4 cup. If you start to eat sugar less often, you will not need as much to feel satisfied.

I often reduce the amount of sugar called for by 1/2 and still end up with a good cookie.

If a recipe for a dozen cookies calls for 1 cup of sugar, each cookie will have 8 grams of sugar. If you only use 1/2 cup of sugar, each cookie will have 4 grams of sugar.

That really adds up if you eat more than one cookie!

Experiment with your cookie recipes. Start by reducing the sugar by 1/4, then slowly work your way up.

#5 Avoid Sugar Sweetened Beverages

water = 0 grams added sugar (plus it's free)

1 cup egg nog = 20 grams added sugar

1 can sprite = 33 grams added sugar

image from https://www.licious.in/blog/recipe/non-alcoholic-eggnog-recipe

The #1 easiest way to avoid extra sugar is to avoid sugar sweetened drinks. Things like egg nog and cranberry holiday 7up are fun, but they should be saved for the occasional treat.

Make a habit of drinking water throughout the day and help your kids get in this habit as well.

If you love egg nog or other holiday drinks, save them for a special occasion, and limit your intake to 1 cup!