Do you feed well your family? featuring weekly menu sample, recipes & simple organisation
As I was working a few weekss ago on my weekly menu and grocery shopping something strucks me. Something that almost horrified me : I was not feeding my family the best I could or the way I was supposed too. This was very hard to swallow ( no input meant).
During my pregnancy ( with twins) I was eating the best organic, natural, super healthy whole diet. Every single day Joel would make me a super healthy smoothie with kiwi, yogurt, strawberry..and smoothies were not trendy at this time. We had grass fed meat and veggies and organic whole milk and yogurt and cheese. Then when my babies starting eating solid food it was the same thing we were feeding them the best organic whole diet available. But it was an easy time. When kids are small you can feed them what you want them to eat and usually they are really good at it.
I guess until they started school their diet was good, but I soon as they were invited to play-dates, birthday parties, sleepovers and of course they started having once in a while lunches at school we took the wrong way, the easy way.
My kids are twins unfortunately they do not like and eat the same type of food. My daughter Zoe likes mayonnaise, toasted sandwich bread, pbj sandwich, butter, whipped cream, bananas, eggs Benedict, everything in sauces- my son Tommy likes ketchup a lot, baguette, all fruits you can think of, potatoes, pastas, rice . So you can guess that their lunchboxes is very different and since I also making Joel’s lunch I am preparing actually 3 different lunches, almost everyday . So my morning are little bit hectic and crazy. My meal planning includes 3 different lunches 2 for my kids and one for my husband.
For the last years, I managed to keep it easy and pack ham sandwiches with some twist for each of my kid:with mayonnaise on toasted sandwich bread for Zoe and plain on baguette for my Tommy, plus a fresh fruit a yogurt or smoothie or cookies for both of them. Sometimes if I have leftover from the previous night that I packed in lunches box. My kids lunch break at school is ONLY for 35 minutes so they need something super fast to eat, nothing fancy so sandwiches was a great option.
But since lately by kids got braces and ( sigh) palate expander a ham sandwich with baguette for my son is out of question . So I had to reevaluate and rethink my kids lunchboxes and this was not that easy. Our routine daily lunch was indeed easy but not that healthy. Because in the end their lunches was borderline to unhealthy food. I am an advocate for healthy food and living.
So for the last weeks my leftovers have been my morning savers. But in order to please everybody taste I had to be sure that the dinner was a crowd pleaser.
How do I do that?
- I consult kids and husband for their favorite dishes and I suggest some.
- I elaborate a weekly dinner menu that will be next day lunch, so I double batches and cook bigger quantities.
- I leave leftover in glass container overnight.
- I reheat the food the next morning and place it in a food thermos
- done!
So overall it has been a good move since now everybody eats one unique dish for lunch.
How to plan and organize your weekly planning:
- Wright down your menu
- Wright down the grocery shopping list and the name of the store you will buy ingredients – also food market
- Clean your fridge to have space available for new fresh ingredients and up coming cooked dishes
- Check your pantry and freezer to see if you have already some ingredient or if you need to buy some
- place ice pack in your bag that keep food cold (in case you will visit more than one store)
- at the grocery store buy pasta, quinoa, rice, tuna, – Visit deli for fresh ham and cheese and your butcher for meat and fish ( some store fish and meat are next to each other)
- visit your local farmers market for fresh veggies, fruit, herbs and eggs, garlic, onions …
Here are some menu ideas that works well for my family and may be yours, this is also a great way to save money, everything is also from scratch and using local, natural and organic ingredients when available:
Sunday Lunch : 2 whole organic roasted chickens cooked with garlic onion and fresh herbs -s uper tasty
Monday Lunch : I chop small pieces of chicken and potatoes, reheat —> into the thermos – DONE!
Monday Diner : I use the leftover chicken meat and bone to make a soup , place in a pot + carrots+ spinach and add raw rice or pasta to be cooked 10 minutes before I serve the soup.
Monday lunch : Leftover soup, reheat——> into the thermos- DONE!
Tuesday Diner : Brandade de morue ( cod fish cooked with potato and garlic) and mashed with butter and milk. A big hit with the whole family.
Tuesday Lunch : Reheat leftover brandade —–> thermos- DONE!
Wednesday Diner : beef carrot cooked in crock pot so the meat is super tender, to be served with pasta or quinoa
Wednesday Lunch : leftover beef carrot with pasta or quinoa, reheat —-> DONE!
Thursday Diner : fried rice with tofu- double batched – a skillet with coconut add oil, garlic, ginger, stir then add frozen vegetables cook until soft then add the cooked rice served with green onions on the top. In the same skillet add coconut oil, drain well the organic tofu cook until brown add soy sauc and add to the cooked rice. Delish!
Thursday Lunch: leftover rice with tofu, reaheat —–> into the thermos- DONE!
Friday diner : Quiche – Tuna or spinach or ham cheese quiche with carrot/ or sweet potato ginger soup- a Basic quiche eggs, cream, puff pastry then spinach or tuna or ham + cheese baked for 35 minutes until firm.
Carrot soup peel and chop carrot or sweet potato place in a pot with chicken or vegetable broth, add ginger cook until carrots tender, blend and add coconut milk.
Friday lunch: leftover quiche at room temperature- DONE!
Tip of the week:
The trick for food in thermos is to keep the food pretty warm so using a large mouth thermos (available at Walmart or Target) is really great. First I put boiling water into the empty thermos and close it tight with the lid, this is in order to keep the thermos hot while receiving the food also hot. I then reheat the leftover food super hot, I trow away the hot water and add the hot food inside the thermos.
Analyse of this weekly menu:
During the week we eat 5-7 different proteins: chicken ( poultry), fish, tofu, eggs, tuna ( if using) and ham if using and beef
5-6 different Veggies: potato, carrots, sweet potato spinach, peas, green beans
4 Grains/ carb : pasta, rice, quinoa or couscous
So this has been my new cooking routine, I am working outside and also at home so some dishes can be made in advance. You do not need to be home when you cook in a crock pot. I am planning to buy an Instant pot soon. Stay tuned for more recipes!
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!
