In a previous post, Menu Planning And Grocery Shopping, I explained how I plan a month of menus based on my family’s favorite dinners. That system has been a HUGE time saver for me. It works! As time goes on, however, your family’s circumstances might change and your month of menus will need to be updated. I recommend that you do that at least once a year. I like to do this in September and January.
I decided it was time to update my family’s month of menus. Why? My husband and I are getting older, of course, and my adult kids are trying to eat healthier. So, the health of our families really depends on the food we buy and the meals we cook. It’s up to us to make dinners that are healthy. So, today, I revised our month of menus with more emphasis on the healthiness of them. I still need easy, inexpensive dinners, but I’d like to make sure they’re as healthy as possible.
I’m going to walk you through my method of planning a month of menus and planning healthier meals. Of course, we all have different health needs, so plan your meals according to your own health needs. I am not a dietician or health expert. This is just to help you to go through the process of planning easy, inexpensive, and healthy meals.
1) PRINT OUT MY PRINTABLE MONTH OF MENUS HERE.
2) PUT IN YOUR NEW HEALTHIER DINNERS.
Here’s how:
- Think about your current typical meals. If you love them, try to make healthier versions. That usually just means how you cook and the ingredients you use.
- Make your weekly meals balanced. For example, have fish twice a week, have chicken or turkey three times a week, and have red meat no more than twice a week. Also, consider a meatless meal once a week.
- Plan healthier side items, such as potatoes (depending on how they’re cooked), sweet potatoes, brown rice, and veggies (fresh is best, but frozen is ok, too).
- Have healthier desserts, such as fresh fruit (canned is ok, if it’s in it’s own juice with no added sugar), and pudding made with low fat milk.
3) OTHER MEAL PLANNING TIPS
- Make quick dinners on busy weeknights. They can still be healthy.
- Try new healthy recipes on the weekends.
- On the weekend, plan your dinners for the following week and write your grocery list.
- When writing your grocery list, remember to not buy junk. If it’s not in the house, it won’t be a temptation. Well, it would be more of an effort to run to the store every time a craving hits, so it might not be worth it.
- Prep some healthy foods for the week. That could be simple things like cutting up fresh vegetables or getting a colorful bowl and putting healthy snacks and fruits in it. Set it out on the counter for the kids (and you) to grab during the week.
- Do a separate month of menus for lunches, especially for school lunches. You could also do this for yourself if you’re trying to lose weight or just eat healthier.
If you have healthier lunches and dinners planned out ahead of time and they’re meals that you actually enjoy, you’ll be more likely to eat the healthier meals. There’s tons of healthy options that don’t taste bland. You can still enjoy eating.
I hope this gives you some new ideas for adding healthier meals into your week. Now that you’ve got a healthy menu, check out 10 Ways To Save Money On Groceries for eating healthy on a budget.
Have a wonderful, healthy day!