Do you feel as if you are in a rut of making the same meals for your family each week? Are your kids eating the same things over and over? I sometimes feel this way. Someone once asked me, “Do you really follow all of the nutrition advice you give people?” And the answer is: yes! I would never tell someone to follow nutrition advice that I don’t agree with or have scientific evidence to support it. So, I thought it might be fun to share what a week’s worth of meals looks like for this dietitian mom and her toddler.
Breakfast is usually a similar rotation of a few things:
- Scrambled eggs and whole grain toast
- Oatmeal and fruit (my daughter’s favorite)
- Multi-grain pancakes with blueberries
- Barbara’s Multi-grain Shredded Wheat cereal or Gorilla Munch cereal and some fruit
- Yogurt-fruit-spinach smoothie with toast or cereal
When it comes to lunches, I often serve leftover dinner for lunch. Otherwise, we will have something such as:
- Sunflower seed butter and superfruit jelly sandwiches with fruits and vegetables, such as peas or carrots.
- Black beans or garbanzo beans, sautéed with onions and spices on soft corn tortillas with cheddar cheese and fruit.
- Rice cake and hummus with peas, cheese and fruit.
So that leaves dinner. This was our week:
- Day 1: Grass-fed, organic ground beef hamburgers on whole wheat buns with homemade kale chips and roasted potatoes.
- Day 2: Went to a relative’s house and packed dinner to take there. I ate falafel on whole wheat pita with cucumbers and tomatoes. My daughter had a 100% beef, nitrite-free hot dog on whole wheat bun with carrots and grapes.
- Day 3: Homemade chicken stew in the Crock pot (organic chicken, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, vegetable broth) with a side of dried cranberries.
- Day 4: Spaghetti made with grass-fed ground beef, whole grain noodles and organic tomato vodka sauce with green beans and mangoes.
- Day 5: Black beans sautéed with onions and spices on soft corn tortillas with cheddar cheese. We also added applesauce with cooked quinoa to the meal.
- Day 6: Baked organic drumsticks with Harvest Grains (Trader Joe’s product) and green beans.
- Day 7: “Picnic dinner”, which means we ate on a blanket on the floor. My daughter is thrilled by this aspect of dinner. I had a leftover drumstick, string cheese, steamed broccoli and tortilla chips and salsa. My daughter had a sunflower seed butter and superfruit jelly sandwich on whole grain bread with steamed broccoli.
In terms of what foods I buy and cooking methods required to prepare them, my goal is to keep things simple. I do cook almost every night. In fact, it’s actually rare when I don’t cook. I do not often make very elaborate recipes and I only cook using whole food ingredients. My daughter has been raised by being offered these kinds of foods for the past few years and this is what what she is used to eating. I hope you enjoyed a look into our week!
*If you are interested in meal planning for your family, please contact North Shore Pediatric Therapy to schedule an appointment with one of our registered dietitians. Stephanie can even come to the grocery store or visit your home to teach you how to make a week of healthy meals for your family. She will also get your kids involved, which helps to encourage them to enjoy new foods.
