Top five tips for preparing healthy meals for your Family!

Life is busy and if we don't stop and plan sometimes it feels totally overwhelming. I like to plan meals for the week on Sundays. From adding things to the grocery list, to pulling meat out of the freezer to quizzing the kids on what they want to eat that week. It helps me feel more organized and ready to take on the week! Here are our top five tips for keeping your family on track! 

​1. Stock your kitchen with healthy staples. Keep your refrigerator and pantry stocked with healthy ingredients like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains.

We like to keep meat in our freezer and a list on the freezer of what we have! In our pantry we always have rice, quinoa, beans, diced tomatoes & more! 

​2. Include everyone in meal planning. Ask your family for ideas for healthy meals and snacks. Involving everyone in the planning process can make healthy eating more fun.

My toddler always has hilarious ideas for dinner like steak, broccoli and ice cream. Ha ha! But very often she gives me some ideas we haven't made in a while like meatballs or lasagna. 

​3. Make healthy snacks readily available. Keep healthy snacks like nuts, yogurt, and fresh fruit on hand so that family members don't have to search for less healthy options when they're feeling peckish. 

I love to have cut up fruit and vegetables in the fridge for hungry kiddos. The trickiest part of meal prepping my week is the hour between pickup from daycare and dinner. The kids are famished, I'm tired and trying to cook dinner. Having something easy & healthy to grab out of the fridge keeps us all sane! 

​4. Get creative with leftovers. Instead of just reheating yesterday's meal, get creative and transform leftovers into something new. For example, leftover grilled chicken can be transformed into a delicious wrap with fresh veggies and hummus.

We love to add things to meals like Landman Mexican diced tomatoes to pulled chicken or Cranberry pear chutney to turkey sandwiches. 

​5. Prepare meals in advance. Meal prepping makes it easier to pull together healthy meals quickly, especially when you're short on time.

If we know we are going to have a busy week I love to make an extra meal on the weekends that just needs to be reheated/cooked during the week. We also love to make larger batches of things like pasta sauce, baked beans, lasagna and keep it in the freezer.