Healthy Eating for the Family Made Simple

Feeding our family healthy meals should be simple, right? But, who has time for home cooked meals? I'm not an expert, but I do know my way around the kitchen. Here's my simple approach to making quick meals and keeping my family healthy.

Meals

Bake chicken, turkey, and other lean meats on the weekend and freeze. Throughout the week you can defrost and flavor them in countless ways.

Buy pre-cut veggies and salad greens to save time.

While you're baking your lean meat, cook whole grain pasta and brown rice to have on hand. Buy whole wheat pita pockets, whole grain English muffins, Ezekiel bread and tortillas to have many choices to toss the meat and veggies into.

Find spices and condiments you love, like salsa, lemon pepper with garlic, and chipotle seasoning. With an array of spices, you’re able to satisfy different tastes and make a variety of meals quickly.


Snacks

Apple cinnamon rice cakes with 1 tbsp natural nut butter

Protein pancakes or oatmeal pancakes made with bananas or berries

Fruit and raw nuts

Make your own trail mix with whole grain cereal and raw nuts

Cottage cheese or Greek yogurt with fruit

Roll ups with tortillas and meat

Helpful Advice

Eat 5 or more mini meals or 3 meals and 2 snacks to keep your blood sugar steady. This really controls cravings and prevents overeating.

Eat your calories don’t drink them.

If you have certain trigger foods, avoid bringing them into the house. Find a healthy alternative.

Avoid foods that have multiple ingredients. Think of a pop tart versus an apple.

Allow for planned indulgences.

Make dinner time family time. Have the kids learn about their portion sizes and let them help in the kitchen. My daughter loves making a whole grain pizza muffin with veggies and scooping out the portion sizes of everything.

Avoid eating in front of the TV. Nothing makes food disappear quicker and you don’t even remember eating it.

Moms, sit down and eat! Enjoy your food, you deserve it.

Adopt healthy eating as a lifestyle versus a diet.

This approach make take an initial commitment, but in the long run it saves time, money, and it's very convenient. Try it for a couple weeks and let me know how it works for you.

With all the different information available, I have found these trusted resources helpful.

Clean Eating Magazine
The Eat Clean Diet & Cookbook
Pick it Kick it