One Idea to Help Plan Your Meals

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I hear from many women that they struggle with planning their meals. It is a chore that some enjoy while others dread. One of the biggest challenges to eating healthy is advanced planning.  Planning can take many forms. We will look at one idea to help plan your meals.

Meal Planning Continuum

Think about meal planning on a continuum.  On one end, there is no planning.  The family is starved, you go to the refrigerator, open the door and hope there is something to eat. Ordering pizza, eating cereal, or picking up fast food often is the outcome.   At the far other end of the continuum is detailed planning.  Time is spent planning the menu, shopping for groceries, and doing some meal prep for the week.

Make More Protein

There is a lot of opportunity in between these two extremes, and it does not require a complicated meal plan.  A great place to start is to make more of the protein.  While you are cooking chicken, make enough for more then one meal. As you are browning hamburger, cook enough for 2-3 meals.  You can do the same thing with any protein you select.  (Pork tenderloin, salmon, roast beef, etc.)

Now that you have extra chicken and ground beef prepared, there are many meals you can make using these proteins as a base.    

Chicken

Ground Beef

  • Tacos
  • Chili
  • Pizza
  • Beef stroganoff
  • Spaghetti
  • Soup
  • Sloppy joes

Quick proteins that you might have on hand would be another place to start.  These can include eggs or beans and can be used for any meal. 

Eggs

  • Scrambled or fried eggs
  • Quiche
  • Egg salad
  • Breakfast casserole

Beans

  • Ham and beans
  • Chili/soup
  • Beans and rice
  • Tacos, burritos, enchiladas

Having extra protein on hand works for me.  I can create a quick and easy healthy meal. What other meal ideas would you add to these lists?  I would love to know. I hope this one idea to help plan your meals works for you. For more meal ideas go to Healthy Meals. 

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