I LOVE eating healthy and challenging myself to feed my family right. My main motivation in writing this blog this morning is to help make natural & healthy living easier for other families. Certainly, this job is easier said than done, and getting kids to actually eat the healthy foods we prepare can be difficult.
I’ve also found that having kids help with acquiring the food (through gardening and shopping) and preparing the food with kid-appropriate tasks like chopping with a crinkle cutter, stirring food or helping serve goes a long way toward helping my kids want to eat the food I prepare.
I’ve been meal planning for quite a while now because it helps me save time and money in the kitchen. I have seasonal meal plans for Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter that I rotate with the seasons, but I try to let my children get involved in the meal planning each season so they have a vested interest in eating the food.
Here is a kid-friendly meal plan that is sure to please all kids.
Monday: Beef and Broccoli Chinese Stir Fry
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yield 4 -6
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of thinly sliced strip or sirloin steak
- 2 lbs of broccoli, cauliflower or mixed
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion, very thinly sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 3 tsp Cicinut Aminos (similar to soy sauce)
- 3 Tbsp oyster or fishsauce
- 1/4 cup beef broth
- arrowroot to thicken
- Sesame seeds (optional-topping)
Instructions
- Marinate beef in coconut aminos at least 10 minutes or as long as overnight
- Cook broccoli in lightly salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes until slightly tender, pour into strainer to remove any excess liquid
- While cooking broccoli, combine coconut aminos, fish sauce and broth in bowl or shake in canning jar until well-mixed, set aside.
- Drain any liquid off beef and put into pre-heated skillet or wok with butter
- Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so
- Add sliced onion and garlic, cook 2 minutes
- Add broccoli, cook one additional minute
- Pour sauce over until just heated.
- Top with sesame seeds if desired.
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cuisine chinese
Tuesday: Healthy Gluten Free Homemade Pizza-Meatza! (sounds weird, but you will like it!) with Salad
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yield 6 +
Upside down pizza with a meat crust is a more filling and gluten and grain free way to make pizza.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 eggs
- Seasonings of choice (I suggest basil, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper and other herbs)
- Meat topping of choice (optional- I’ve used scrambled sausage, bacon, ham, leftover chicken, etc.)
- ½ lb Mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
- Jar or Pasta/Pizza sauce
- Chopped veggies of choice (onion, bell pepper, spinach, olives, mushrooms, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- In medium bowl, mix 2 lbs ground beef with eggs and 2 T Parmesan cheese and any desired spices
- Mix well by hand until incorporated
- Spread onto greased cookie sheet (must have a lip on the sides)
- Roll or press the meat onto the bottom of the cookie sheet by hand. Once oven has preheated, put meat on cookie sheet into oven and cook about ten minutes until browned and most moisture has cooked off. It will reduce in size quite a bit! Just make sure it is cooked enough, you want it pretty solid.
- Remove from oven and put oven on broil
- Spread pasta/pizza sauce over “crust” then top with veggies, meat then mozzarella. I recommend putting some very thinly sliced onions on the top (uncooked) which brown nicely and add a nice crunch.
- Put back into oven under broiler and watch closely. It will only need to cook 4-5 minutes. Cook until cheese is lightly brown and bubbly.
- Remove, let cool 3 minutes, slice and serve. This is also really good cold for lunch the next day (or breakfast!) It has a similar texture to real pizza and tastes better, in my opinion.
- Serve with Salad
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Wednesday: Grilled Citrus Chicken Salad with Egg, Cucumber and Apple
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yield 2 +
A delicious salad with grilled chicken, cucumbers, extra protein from eggs and a hint of citrus.
Ingredients
- 2 (or more for leftovers) large chicken breasts (or 4 thighs)
- 1 orange, lime or lemon
- Spices
- 1 Chopped cucumber
- 1 apple, peeled, sliced and chopped
- 1/2 cup slice strawberries (optional)
- 2 or more hardboiled eggs
- lettuce or spinach for salad
- homemade dressing of choice
Instructions
- Bake Chicken in oven for approx 1 hour (or slice and pan fry) with sliced orange, lemon or lime and spices on top (salt, pepper, cilantro, garlic, etc) or just sprinkle some lemon juice on for flavor
- Hard boil 2 (or more for leftovers) eggs and let cool
- Prepare lettuce or spinach in bowls
- Chop cucumber, apple and other veggies if desired and put on lettuce
- Prepare homemade dressing of choice (last week’s meal plan has these)
- When chicken is done, slice or cube and put on top of salad
- Top with dressing
Thursday: Crockpot Barbecue Ribs with Sweet Potato fries and homemade coleslaw or salad
(Note: this meal is best made in the morning for eating in the evening so they can be slow cooked)
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yield 4 +
These delicious slow cooker ribs are simple to prepare and a great meal to come home to on a busy day.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds of beef or pork ribs, cut every 3-4 ribs to fit in crock pot
- 1 teaspoon of chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 15-ounce can of tomato sauce
- 1 6 ounce can of tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce (make sure it’s grain free. I think Lea and Perrins is)
- 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (or more, to taste)
- 1/4 cup honey or molasses (optional)- can also use a dash of stevia
Instructions
- Dice the onion and place at the bottom of a crock pot (at least 6 quarts!).
- Sprinkle the garlic and chili powders, salt and pepper on the ribs an put them in the crock pot also.
- Mix the tomato sauce, tomato paste, vinegar, worcestershire, liquid smoke and sweetener if using and then pour evenly over the ribs.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until tender.
- Toss in sauce before serving.
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cuisine bbq
Friday: Curried Shrimp and Vegetables
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yield 4 +
This curried shrimp and vegetable stir fry is a quick and simple meal idea for a busy night and it goes from frozen to finished in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp (frozen or fresh, tails removed)
- 1 onion
- 3 T butter or coconut oil
- 1-3 tsp of curry powder (if you don’t like this, just sauté the shrimp in butter and add spices you do like)
- 1 cup coconut milk (can or carton)
- 1 bag frozen cauliflower or other frozen veggies of choice
Instructions
- Melt butter or oil in skillet and add sliced onion
- Cook until slightly soft and add coconut milk, curry seasoning and other spices if desired
- Cook a couple minutes to incorporate flavors
- Add shrimp (thaw if frozen) and cook approximately 5 minutes until shrimp are cooked
- Serve with steamed veggies of choice topped with butter and salad with homemade dressing
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Saturday: Stuffed Peppers with Guacamole and Salad
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yield 4 +
Simple and delicious stuffed peppers with ground meat, onions, garlic, tomato, zucchini and eggs are a protein-packed meal idea.
Ingredients
- At least 2 Bell peppers (any color)- I suggest making 4 for leftovers
- 1 lb ground beef or turkey
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped, or garlic powder
- 1 can diced tomatoes (or 1 fresh diced) (and any other veggies you would like to “hide”
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 2 raw eggs
- Spices of choice (I used cumin, chili, garlic, salt, pepper, cilantro, etc)
- Avocado or pre-made guacamole
- Salad or veggie of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Brown meat in large skillet, add onion and garlic and cook 4 minutes, add zucchini and cook another 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat, add tomatoes, spices and eggs and mix well
- Cut tops off peppers but keep them. Scoop out seeds and spoon meat mixture into peppers (if you are only making 2, you will have extra meat, just make into meat type balls and cook with it)
- Bake in oven 30-40 minutes in glass baking dish until well heated and peppers are slightly browned. Keep an eye on them, this can happen fast.
- Top with guacamole and serve with salad.
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Sunday: Healthy Shepherd/Cottage Pie
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yield 6 +
Shepherds pie with a cauliflower topping instead of the traditional potato topping to sneak in some extra vegetables.
Ingredients
- 2 (or more) pounds of ground beef, turkey or other meat
- 2-3 heads of cauliflower or 3-4 bags of frozen cauliflower
- 1 bag of frozen mixed veggies (no corn! It’s not a veggie!)
- 1-2 onions
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon each of basil, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and a little cayenne
- 3-4 Tablespoons of butter
- 4 ounces of cream cheese (optional)
- Cheese to top (optional)
Instructions
- Brown meat in large skillet and season to taste when cooked. Set aside.
- Saute diced onion in skillet until somewhat soft. Set aside with meat.
- Pour mixed veggies in the skillet to heat on low heat and in the meantime…
- In large pot, boil several cups of water. Add cauliflower, cover, and cook until soft enough to mash.
- Remove the pot from the heat, pour off the water, and add butter and cream cheese to the pot.
- Add spices and mash. (I use a hand blender to make it really smooth).
- Mixed veggies should be cooked by now.
- Mix the meat, onions mixed veggies, raw egg and any additional seasonings and put in bottom of 9×13 baking dish.
- Spread mashed cauliflower mixture over it until smooth.
- Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes.
- Add cheese and bake 5 additional minutes (optional).
- Serve warm (or reheat later).
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Healthy Meal Plan Shopping List
This shopping list contains all the ingredients for the above recipes for 2-3 people for a week. Double or triple for a bigger family. I usually double dinner recipes to have leftovers for lunch, and buy a lot of lettuce and spinach to make salads with lunch. Make sure you have enough eggs, and you have easy leftover omelets for breakfast each day.
Meat
- 3-4 lbs beef ribs (or roast or stew meat)
- 4 (or more) lbs ground beef
- 1 lb ground sausage
- 2 (or more) large chicken breasts
- 1 lb flank steak (or more)
- 1 lb fresh or frozen shrimp (no tails)
- 1 package bacon
Produce
- 4 or more large bell peppers
- bag of onions
- 2 (or more) medium sweet potatoes
- 1 cabbage or shredded coleslaw bag mix
- bag of grapes
- 2 heads fresh broccoli (must be fresh)-for snack salad
- bag of apples
- mushrooms (optional)
- 1 orange, lemon or lime (optional)
- 1 (or more) cucumber
- 1 medium zucchini
- avocado or pre-made guacamole (check ingredients!)
- strawberries (optional)
Frozen
- 2 bags frozen broccoli
- 3 bags frozen cauliflower
- 1 bag mixed veggies, no corn
Dairy
- 1 pound butter (organic is best)-or more
- mozzarella cheese (optional)-but for Pizza
- 3 dozen eggs (not dairy, I know, but in the same area)
- 8 ounces or more plain, full fat unsweetened yogurt
- carton of unsweetened coconut milk (or can get in can)
Other
- snack foods of choice
- olive oil for salad dressings if desired
- 1 can or jar diced tomatoes
- curry seasoning (optional)
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- big jar of tomato sauce (or can) no seasonings added
- jar of pasta/pizza sauce (check ingredients)
- honey or molasses (optional-for barbecue sauce)
- can of coconut milk (or fresh)
- lemon juice
Snack options: nuts of choice, more eggs for deviled eggs, avocado or guacamole (highly recommend), tuna, canned wild caught salmon, almond butter, celery, apples, cream cheese, cucumbers, etc.
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