If you’ve been following my blog for awhile now you know that I talk about more than just the organizing aspect of meal planning. Why? Because it’s not just that simple. Picky eaters, busy schedules, special occasions, food allergies and more…those all require a little bit of extra planning to accommodate.
For me meal planning is more than just deciding on something to eat. It’s about being conscious of what we eat and put into our bodies. That’s where meal planning can help. Whether your desire is to start eating more fruits and vegetables, go organic or adopt a new method of meal preparation like vegetarian or gluten free, planning your meals helps you to think about what you want to eat and plan to purchase those items so that you can prepare and eat them. The benefits you’ll see may be beyond just those that are physiological–it may be good for your (peace of) mind too.
I’ve decided one goal I have this year is to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into our diet. This is always a big challenge for me because once I’ve taken the time and made the effort to find the main dish, I often don’t feel like taking the time to find a side to go with it. So this year I plan to choose more main meal dishes that already have the fruits or veggies with them or to kick up the sides a bit and make them more exciting. I was inspired by a children’s book called Eating the Alphabet, so next week we’ll be doing just that (of fruits and veggies that is) and you can too! Be sure to check back (or better yet, subscribe above to get all the updates)
So where do I come in helping YOU with your menu goals? This year I will be providing you with some of the tools and forms that I have found to be helpful in making meal planning a bit easier. So whether you’ve decided to make a change to eat differently or are happy with what you’ve got but just need to be a bit more organized about it, we can work together to get our families eating real food and together!
Wow! I’m always trying to find ways to meal plan. It’s almost a struggle for me. I’m going to start making bento for my husband and me beginning tomorrow! I’ve tried it a few times but it never worked. I’m looking for a nice meal plan I can print out and attach to my fridge so I have my meals planned out each week. I find meal planning extremely hard mainly because I’m AD military but also with this little baby on the way it makes it harder and harder to even think about food when all I want to do is NAP! Thanks so much for the link to the children’s book! I will have to check that out! It might invite more veggies in my kitchen. I hope if I can just find a good little meal planner template and stick to it each week I’ll start to be golden. Maybe…
Hi Dina,
Glad you are inspired! If you look in the Resources section here you will find a meal plan page you can print out to keep track of what you plan for the week. I’ve laminated mine so I can use a dry-erase marker and re-do each week. Good luck with your Bento efforts too–definitely not just for kids!