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Meal Planning Tips for Easy and Healthy Meals
There are sixteen days until my kids start school! Along with school starting, my kids will also be starting football, dance, and piano so our schedule is going to get busy. One thing that helps me feel less stressed when life gets busy is meal planning. By spending 30 minutes on the weekend planning meals for the week, I spend less time worrying about what we will eat for supper each night. I know my family isn’t the only one looking ahead to a busy fall, so today I wanted to share three tips I use when meal planning that you might find helpful.
Update from Justine – What do I Grow?
In early June, I wrote about how I decide what to grow in our garden. When planning out our garden this year, I asked my children what they wanted to grow. My oldest son chose to grow four different pepper plants, my daughter chose to grow romaine lettuce, and my youngest son chose to grow zinnias. These choices did not take up a lot of space, so I added two tomato plants and two acorn squash plants.
You’re the Chip to my Dip
I love it when I can make a meal out of a bunch of snacks. The trend of creating party boards with a variety of crackers, veggies, cheeses and dips is right up my alley. If you like this style of eating as much as I do, consider making your own pita chips for a fun, homemade addition. They are simple to make and they hold up really well to hearty dips and spreads. Don’t you hate it when your chip or cracker breaks into a million pieces in the dip! Try them with this month’s recipe, Baba Ganoush. They also pair well with Tzatziki, or Cowboy Caviar.
Switching out Protein Sources in Recipes
In August, I wrote a blog on ‘Meal Planning Tips for Easy and Healthy Meals’. In the blog I mentioned that the ‘themes’ I use when meal planning are to include a different protein food each night. I use beef, pork, chicken, fish and then have one night that is vegetarian. By doing this I am helping my family vary the kinds of protein foods we eat.
Energy Bites
As the new dietetic intern for extension and outreach one of my jobs is recipe testing. It is a big perk of the job; I get to make and eat delicious food! This week I was able to recipe test the November recipe of the month – Energy Bites!
My Beloved Blender
When I think about the one item in my kitchen that gets the most use it would be my blender. I have a small kitchen and storing several larger appliances would not work well in my space. Luckily, I have found a variety of ways to use my blender which has cut down on the number of kitchen tools in my cabinets.
Favorite Kitchen Tool: A Student’s Perspective
This month we have each taken a turn writing about our favorite kitchen tool. My favorite is my frying pan, I use it most days of the week to make eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes, stir fry, beans and rice, or quesadillas. However, I thought it would be fun to ask our student staff member, Maggie, about her favorite kitchen tool because a favorite kitchen tool might change depending on our life stage. I know when I was a student my favorite kitchen tool was my toaster. Here is what Maggie shared:
Muffin Tin Mania
Today I get to wrap up our series on our favorite kitchen tools and share with you all the ways I use a muffin tin. I love to bake and the thing I love to bake the most is muffins. They are easy to make, they make a great breakfast or snack, and it’s fun to try to different flavors.
Pasta Fagioli Soup
Soup is one of my favorite foods and I especially love hot soup on a cold day. I often associate eating soup with family meals. For me, in the cold of winter, it is easier to slow down, make a big pot of soup and make more time for a family meal. This month, we are each going to share with you a favorite food memory. My favorite is not a single memory, but the combination of many memories throughout my life.
Christine’s Food Memories
This month we are kicking off a new Spend Smart. Eat Smart. series celebrating food memories. Food is so much more than fuel for our bodies. It has ties to our families, traditions and cultures and is a source of pleasure in our lives. This month you will hear from me, Katy and Jody on some of our strongest food memories.
It’s Monkey Bread Time of the Year
As far back as I can remember, food has been an integral part of my family’s holiday traditions. If you asked me what my mom would serve on a specific holiday, I could recite entire menus that I have carried into my own holiday traditions as an adult. There is something special about being able to make the same recipes that so vividly stick out to me from my childhood that made holidays extra special. A favorite dish at our house for Christmas is called ‘sticky buns’, commonly known as monkey bread.
White Chili
Happy New Year from the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. team!
