Family Meal Planning

In a family meal plan, you should try to include as many nutrients as possible in every single serving. Proteins are very important for our bodies, as they are the building blocks. They are especially important in children's diet. Carbohydrates provide the body with efficient and accessible source of energy. Healthy fats are required by the body, they also help to keep the skin healthy looking. Two very important nutrients are vitamins and minerals, which you can get from various dry fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Water is also an important nutrient which the body requires. Hence, try to include lots of fruit juices, fresh fruits, raw salad veggies, soups, etc. in your meal so that the body keeps getting adequate fluid.

Family Meal Ideas
All the above nutrients should be present in the right amount. This can get very confusing when planning family meal menu. A simplest way to do this is to find out the best and healthy food sources for these nutrients and try to include them as much as possible in your meal. The amount of vitamins and minerals used for cooking should be stressed on. Hence, try to serve 4-5 servings of fruit and at least two servings of salad vegetables. Serve fruit salads or vegetable salad as much as you can, and make the plate as colorful as possible. This will ensure that there are various nutrients present in that serving and also plenty of antioxidants. Also, include more lean protein in the meal plan and less of carbs and even lesser of fats.

When laying out a family meal planning, you should keep in mind the individual conditions; such as, if somebody in your family is allergic to specific foods, or somebody is suffering from a condition and needs to follow a specific diet. You might think that considering all these things will only make cooking very difficult. Hence, even smarter family meal chart is required.

Given below, are various healthy lunch options, dinner options and breakfast and snacks ideas. You can use them to make a bi-weekly family meal. You can keep these meals in any combinations. Also, feel free to make modifications according to the needs of the family members. A standard meal plan for the day should go in this order:

1. Healthy breakfast
2. Light snack
3. Lunch
4. Medium-heavy snack
5. Light dinner

In between the meals, one can have healthy drinks like green tea, chamomile tea, lemongrass tea, etc. However, if somebody in the family needs to have coffee or tea, then go for the decaf variety. Also, it is recommended for an individual to drink 2-3 liters of water everyday. So, in between the meals, water can be consumed. Make sure you do not have water an hour before or after your lunch or dinner meal. This tends to dilute the stomach acids and makes digestion weak. So, here are some ideas on various meals and snacks.

Breakfast	Light Snacks	Lunch	Medium-Heavy Snacks	Light Dinner
Cereal with bananas and orange juice Oatmeal with strawberries and carrot juice Scrambled eggs with toast and lychee juice Beans on toast and mango juice Yogurt milkshake with veg sandwich Pancakes and mix fruit salad Poached eggs and mixed fruit juice	Fruit salad Fruit smoothie Bowl of fresh veggies Chicken salad with no dressing Green tea with oatmeal cookies	Mixed salad with Chicken sandwich Macaroni and cheese with grilled fish Sliced veggie salads with hummus Cucumber salad with mushroom omelet and toast Turkey salad with mix veg fried rice Pasta salad with grilled chicken Steamed rice with salad and grilled fish	Lean turkey sandwich and dry fruits Chicken sandwich and green tea Bowl of fresh fruits and dried nuts Yogurt smoothie with almonds Peanut butter sandwich & mix veg juice	Steamed fish with bok choy Fresh veggies salad & chicken soup with bread Root vegetables with lentil casserole Lemon rice with prawns salad Baked fish and potato salad Chicken noodle soup and garlic bread Mix veg salad with tuna casserole

These were the various ideas on family meals and how to go about it. So, create a weekly family meal plan and stick to it. Plan in advance and you will be able to provide a balanced die to everybody in the family. Also, with a family meal plan you don't have to repeat the question 'what do you want to have for dinner?'