It's no surprise to learn that busy lives and family schedules impact our food choices. There is hope! Carving out a small amount of time weekly for meal planning and prep can help reduce stress, save you money, and can actually gift you more time during the week. Most importantly, it increases the likelihood of healthier food choices. This month we share creative ideas and strategies to meal plan for one, two, four, or more.

Important Education Takeaways

• Keep the Healthy Plate method in mind to ensure balanced nutrition and appropriate portions. Aim for a plate that is ½ of fruits and non-starchy veggies, ¼ plate as lean protein, and ¼ plate as whole grains/starchy vegetables (carbohydrates).

  • Focus on incorporating a variety of vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats into your weekly plan.

  • Learn more about portion size and ideas for those fruits and non-starchy veggies for a Healthy Plate in our Ask the RD blog.

  • Get ideas for adding lean proteins to your plate.

  • Gain knowledge around the differences between starchy and non-starchy vegetables.

• Set aside time each week to prep ingredients or cook meals in bulk. Prepping veggies, proteins, and snacks in advance can save time, reduce stress, and makes healthy choices easier during busy days.

  • Schedule a planning date with yourself — include others too — at the start of each week to help you set time for grocery shopping, meal prep, and cooking. The more this practice becomes part of your weekly routine, the easier it becomes.

  • In addition to the meal-prep friendly recipes shared below, try from our Recipe Collection: Healthy Overnight Oats and Rainbow Ready Lunches.  

• Meal planning shouldn't be rigid. Be mindful of your body’s needs and flexible with changes to your week.

  • Allow room for creativity and adjustments based on your schedule, family preferences, and energy levels.

  • Start by planning one or two dinners per week. Then work your way up to ultimately include healthy breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. This is a great time to get the whole family involved and make it a fun weekly activity to do together!

  • Picky eaters? We’ve shared some ideas to help with the veggies for all ages.

Recipes

• Recipe of the month: Sheet Pan “Fried” Rice

  • As always, this recipe is the showcase of our live taught, virtual cooking class. Our chef and registered dietitian bring the recipe to life as they walk you through food prep, swaps to meet dietary or taste preferences, plus tips and tools to support you being your own healthy chef at home.

• Bonus recipe: Homemade Pesto

  • From Jamie’s kitchen to yours, our monthly bonus recipes are published on our website and social media the 4th Wednesday of each month. We invite you to browse our recipe collection and come back often to find more flavorful and heart-healthy recipes.

We invite you to join us for the live taught, virtual nutrition classes each month to gather more information on our nutrition topics. This is also an opportunity to ask topic-related questions of our experts as well as connect socially with attendees for idea sharing. As a registered participant for our In the Kitchen program, you receive a few reminders ahead of each scheduled monthly classes, but here’s an easy to remember schedule: Nutrition Education (30-minutes, 2nd Wednesday, 12pm), Cooking Class (up to 60-minutes, 3rd Monday, 12pm).

Contributing authors: Kayla Guillory, MS, RD, CDCES, diabetes educator, Providence Community Teaching Kitchen; Jamie Libera, RD, LD, CCTD, registered dietitian, Providence.