Family Menu Planning And Meal Planning Tips

By Author: James Anderson
Total Articles: 56
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Planning a menu in advance helps in various ways; you can shop in a systematic manner, get things you need so there is less waste, make home-cooked meals and enjoy the family coming together. All it takes is a little time and effort but it is totally worth it, as it will bring down your grocery shopping expenditure and initiate healthy meals for your family. There will be less random shopping and eating out, less convenience foods and more healthy meals and your family would eat better and feel better.

Nutrition Needs
The Food Pyramid released by the FDA in 2005 lays stress on fruits, vegetables and whole grains that should be eaten on a daily basis. The earlier method gave greater importance to meat, which is now more of a flavoring rather than a main meal and diets are now more focused on pastas, breads, rice and cereals. Your family’s nutrition needs based on their activity and age is very important when you plan your meals.

How to Plan Your Menu
1.Sales at the grocery store: You can find out the sale items at your local store and build your menu around these, provided these are ...
... healthy options.

2.The Pantry Stock: Your pantry is usually stocked with your family favorites, so all you need to do is find some new recipes to use these items to give your family some new healthy treats.

3.Changing food habits: Planning menus helps in changing unhealthy and impulsive food cravings and incorporate food that is better and more nutritious. You can gently add more fruits and vegetables into the meals by introducing salads, rice pilaf and other tasty recipes.

4.Buy and eat seasonal: There are two aspects to buying fresh produce: buy local and seasonal. Local produce is always fresher and more nutritious, as they are not stored and transported over long distances. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are again fresher and taste much better. Both local and seasonal produce also come cheaper, thereby saving your money and ensuring better health.

5.More color, the better: More colors green, yellow, red and others, the better balanced your food intake is. So heap your plate with all the colors you can find and make mealtimes a treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds!

6.Variety is the Key: The key to a well-balanced diet is to include a variety of different foods from the Food Pyramid. You must include fruit, vegetables, grains and dairy products to provide a nutritious diet. This will help to minimize the risk of pesticide and other harmful residues in food besides giving you the best possible nutrition.

Conclusion
Meal planning is therefore a vital aspect in ensuring the good health of your family, besides the obvious advantages of buying what you need and reducing unnecessary expenditure. It brings in a systematic way of dealing with the nutritional needs of everyone around, while ensuring tasty, attractive and healthy meals.

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