Friday, January 23, 2015

Return to Menu Planning

Last year, I hit a nice stride of menu planning. I even kept track of my menues and recipes on Pinterest!

It was helpful for the budget, for the commitment to eating at home, and for having a good grasp on the week ahead.

Life is very different this year than last year.  Our family has an activity every night of the week. This makes us sound insanely busy. But these are activities we are doing as a fmaily, together.

Most evenings of the week, we are taking tae kwon do together.

The kids get home from school at 4. We have 30 minutes of down time. Usually watching TV. At 4:30, TV goes off and Jeff gets them going on school work, reading, chores, etc. I am home around 4:30 or 5. We are heading out for class anywhere from 5:30 - 6:00.

Which means there isn't really time for eating dinner. There also isn't a strong desire to eat a big meal before going to do exercise.

This means we basically just make sure we get something good in our stomachs before we go to class and we might eat something healthy after class.

But I'm running out of ideas of healthy stuff that my kids will eat that we can easily have around the house.

Instead of menu planning, I need a better grocery list. A list of things to keep on hand that can be great items for breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, etc.

Our current list includes:
granola bars
cheese
yogurt
cereal
PB&J sandwich
applesauce (GoGo Squeez)
apples
bananas
nut thins (nut based crackers)

I need your input. I need foods to offer to my kids that won't be heavy in the stomach, that grown ups like to eat, and that don't require a lot of prep.  We need healthy grab and go.

Things I'm also considering include overnight oats, hard boiled eggs, hummus...

What do you do for your busy family?

sig jan 2014 photo owlsig.jpg

1 comment:

Unknown said...

In my efforts to get up and out the door early, I have developed a dependable, nutritious breakfast meal. I make a thick mix of eggs, oats, protein powder, chocolate chips, a little milk, and flour. The quantities aren't critical. I bake them into cupcakes. They are dense and bland but pack and keep in the fridge well.