In Good Health

Kathy Nichols
Do you ever get home from work exhausted and starving, and then
look in the refrigerator to see what there is to eat? Do you end up
eating what is fast and convenient, and then feel guilty because
you had really intended to eat a healthy dinner? It doesn’t have to
be that way.
Even if your meal decisions aren’t quite that dramatic, it can
still be a scramble to decide what to eat at the last minute.
Change that by planning your dinners for the week. Menu planning is
one of those counter-intuitive things. It sounds boring and like a
lot of work; but there are easy ways to do it and it makes life
better. It removes the stress of mealtime, makes cooking and eating
more enjoyable, and it’s usually much healthier than the last
minute alternatives. It’s definitely worth a try!
Keep it simple by starting with a loose structure. Identify
which days you will be home late; those are good times to plan
left-overs or something fast. Are there days that you will you be
eating out but still need to have something available for other
family members? Are there family favorites that you have regularly?
Once you plug in any repeating meals, meals away and left-overs,
there may be only a few dinners left to plan for the week.
We used to have two repeating meals every week. Until we
eventually got tired of it, we had salmon, brown rice and broccoli
every Sunday. I suspect that if I’d varied the side dishes more,
we’d still be doing it. We continue to have bean burritos every
Thursday. I make them with canned refried beans (low fat, reduced
sodium) and corn tortillas. Served with chopped vegetables and our
favorite bottled salsa, I think of it as a healthy form of
fast-food and perfect for a day that I’m not home from yoga until 7
p.m.
Another way to create a loose structure for your weekly menu is
to think of core ingredients. I do a lot of my meal planning around
seasonal vegetables. Soups and stews are wonderful in winter, and
most weeks I make one that will last for two dinners and a couple
lunches. I like to choose hearty soups with vegetables and either
beans or grains (and sometimes both). You can add small amounts of
ham or turkey sausage for flavor, or add smoky flavor to vegetarian
versions with smoked onions or tomatoes, chipotles or smoked
paprika.
If you base your meals around meats and poultry, here is another
example of a loose structure: Monday – vegetarian, maybe beans and
rice; Tuesday – some sort of chicken dish, with extra for
leftovers; Wednesday – a whole grain pasta dish; Thursday –
leftovers from Tuesday; Friday – homemade burger, pizza or
spaghetti; Saturday – fish of some sort, and Sunday – a meat of
some kind (or a new recipe). Then each week, you can decide which
chicken dish, which pasta dish, etc. The burgers could vary between
grass-fed beef or lamb, turkey or veggie. You may start with just a
few familiar dishes, but over time you can experiment and grow your
repertoire.
Having a loose structure makes weekly planning easy. I call it a
loose structure because you can mix it up as much as you wish – it
is only a starting place so that you don’t have to start from
scratch every week. When your schedule changes and you no longer
have time to cook one night, no problem! Just swap it with another
evening or reschedule that meal for next week.
Another trick for easy menu planning is to keep some sort of
record. I like to use a small spiral notebook. When I sit down to
plan my weekly menu, I can flip back to see what I’ve made in the
past. In a pinch I can even reuse a previous week’s menu.
Set aside a time of the week for menu planning and grocery
shopping. Look to the season for ideas. I’ve already mentioned
soups and stews. Hearty casseroles also are good this time of year,
especially those with greens, whole grains, beans or legumes, and
root vegetables. If you are not sure what is in season, make a trip
to a farmers market or farm stand.
There is a mental ease that comes with knowing ahead what you
are having for dinner. It avoids worry and last minute scrambling
to come up with something. Knowing ahead means you can often start
meal preparation ahead of time and do it in stages. It is easier to
choose an appropriate lunch when you know what and when you are
having dinner. Planning ahead gives you healthier options, and it
is just plain easier.
Kathy Nichols is a Registered Dietitian and owns a nutrition
consulting business called the Healthy Habits Coach. She is author
of the CD: The Healthy Habits Approach to Mindful Eating. Check
Kathy’s blog for seasonal recipes: www.HealthyHabitsCoach.wordpress.com.