Meal Planning

[Goodallmomma]

I'm trying to start meal planning on a rotating schedule for breakfast,lunch, and dinner. I haven't always been the biggest cook at breakfast and lunch meals. I was wondering if I could get a few ideas on some quick, healthy meals for both. My children are fairly picky eaters. If you have any suggestions on how to break them of that I'm all :bigear:. My 11 year old about died this morning because I made her eat two small orange wedges and I couldn't get the 2 year old to touch his. We are definitely on a budget so any low cost meals would be good too.

THANKS!:D

[King Alfred Academy]

I don't like cooking at all...especially in the morning after I just woke up. However, I want my kids to eat more than just cereal every morning. A couple things I do that has helped with that is I cook up about 2 pounds of bacon on Saturday morning. It is enough for all of us to heat up 2 pieces for breakfast and have some for sandwiches for lunch. Also, we microwave eggs. For each serving...In a bowl, crack two eggs and add a bit of milk. Whip it with a fork and cook on high for roughly 2 minutes. Eggs are cheap. :001_smile:

[Jen in PA]

On weekends I like to make up a double batch of pancakes. The dc like them with jam or a bit of butter/pb, so the price is not as high as if we ate them with maple syrup. That double batch can easily go for 3 mornings, reheating in the microwave. I'll also make a big pot of oatmeal and reheat a bit of that each day. I add in lots of fruit and then everyone can sweeten it (or not), and again I have enough for a few mornings. I usually fry or scramble eggs for myself and ds as well.

[Julie in MO]

made ahead and frozen until needed are good.

Blessings,

Julie

[Mrs Mungo]

I made up a meal plan in excel, let me see if I can copy and paste my breakfasts and lunches. Things with a star are things that can easily be made up ahead of time.

 

Breakfasts

French Toast w/ berries Breakfast Burritos * Caramel Apple Sticky Buns * Migas Pankcakes and sausage Baked Oatmeal * Sleepin' In Omelet * Grits Puffy Pancakes Sausage Rolls Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket Cinnamon Rolls Waffles and bacon Breakfast Sandwiches Eggs, Bacon and Toast Oatmeal Biscuits and Gravy Frozen waffles w/ PB Cereal, Fruit, Eggs Hard Boiled Eggs, Toast, Fruit * Ham Biscuits and Eggs Mini Bagels Breakfast Casserole Good Morning Muffins* Omelet Roll Cheese Muffins Toad in a Hole

 

 

Lunches grilled cheese, tomato soup bean burritos * frito chili pie PB & banana pinwheels black beans and rice baked potatoes mini quiches * mini pizzas egg salad sandwiches * mini burgers chicken nuggets mac and cheese cheese cubes, veggies, rice pigs in a blanket BLTs and soup Taco Salad mini corndogs frozen mini calzones * breakfast for lunch meatballs & rolls * lunch kabobs-ham, cheese, pineapple ramen noodle soup Cheese, crackers, ham, veggies quesadillas Ham and Biscuits * Chicken Salad*

[Jennifer in MI]

Our breakfast every morning consists of scrambled eggs, oatmeal, and toast. My 13 yo has decided that he's bored with it, so he adds cheese and a tomato and makes a sandwich with the eggs and cheese. It's really an easy meal and VERY filling and healthy. Dh or I make the eggs and oatmeal and the kids make their own toast.

[Goodallmomma]

I don't like cooking at all...especially in the morning after I just woke up. However, I want my kids to eat more than just cereal every morning. A couple things I do that has helped with that is I cook up about 2 pounds of bacon on Saturday morning. It is enough for all of us to heat up 2 pieces for breakfast and have some for sandwiches for lunch. Also, we microwave eggs. For each serving...In a bowl, crack two eggs and add a bit of milk. Whip it with a fork and cook on high for roughly 2 minutes. Eggs are cheap. :001_smile:

 

I have never even tried microwaving eggs. Do they turn out the same?

[mrs.m]

I have never even tried microwaving eggs. Do they turn out the same?

 

My DD9 makes these all the time. Especially when I don't feel like making lunch, she'll whip up some "egg bowls". We do the same except add half a pat of butter or a little bit of cheese.

 

They have a slightly different texture than if they were scrambled in a skillet but they are really good!!!

[fivetails]

I have never even tried microwaving eggs. Do they turn out the same?

 

I tried microwaving eggs - in a bowl, with milk, like I was making them scrambled on the stove - and when I took it out [about 2 min] and put the spoon in to stir, they went POW!! Seriously. Eggy airpocket? I dunno! Egg went everywhere. On the counter, on the wall, in my hair... :001_huh:

[Goodallmomma]

I tried microwaving eggs - in a bowl, with milk, like I was making them scrambled on the stove - and when I took it out [about 2 min] and put the spoon in to stir, they went POW!! Seriously. Eggy airpocket? I dunno! Egg went everywhere. On the counter, on the wall, in my hair... :001_huh:

 

LOL Oh goodness I bet that was a blast cleaning up!

[OnTheBrink]

I tried microwaving eggs - in a bowl, with milk, like I was making them scrambled on the stove - and when I took it out [about 2 min] and put the spoon in to stir, they went POW!! Seriously. Eggy airpocket? I dunno! Egg went everywhere. On the counter, on the wall, in my hair... :001_huh:

 

I bet you had egg on your face! :lol:

 

Anyway...

 

I like the idea of making pancakes ahead of time, and cooking the bacon all up at once.

 

And, we do smoothies, too. Those are fast and filling, but we tend to do them more in the warmer months. I blend 1 C nonfat vanilla yogurt, 1 C frozen fruit (like blueberries), a splash of milk and 1 T of wheat germ and it's very filling.

[fivetails]

I bet you had egg on your face! :lol:

 

 

 

GROAN

 

:smash: :smash: :smash: :smash:

[eight_gregorys]

Be careful microwaving eggs as I have had one explode right in my face as I opened the microwave door. It seriously burned my face although it didn't scar. So just make sure you stand back when you open the door.

[sparrow]

I tried microwaving eggs - in a bowl, with milk, like I was making them scrambled on the stove - and when I took it out [about 2 min] and put the spoon in to stir, they went POW!! Seriously. Eggy airpocket? I dunno! Egg went everywhere. On the counter, on the wall, in my hair... :001_huh:

 

This happened to me, too. I've never tried it again. Is there some step we're missing :confused:?

[Audrey]

You can microwave an egg without scrambling it up if you just break the yolk first. And, don't forget to cover it with plastic wrap (contains the errant mess just in case).

 

We do this in a small bowl and then it comes out just the same diameter as an English muffin. We make our own Egg mcmuffins that way. It's quick and kind of fun.

 

You can also make breakfast burritos quickly. I scramble eggs on the stovetop. It take less than 3 minutes to scramble up a bunch of eggs. Then roll in a tortilla like a burrito with some cheese or whatever you like.

 

My favourite breakfast though, is simply scrambled eggs and some fresh fruit.

 

For lunch, wraps are fast and easy, but just different enough from sandwiches to keep people interested in eating. We usually have soup for lunch, though. Make a big batch and freeze it in amounts to serve your family for a meal. I will just throw the frozen soup in the crockpot after breakfast, set it on high, and by lunch it's hot soup. Depending on the soup, you might have to add a bit of water, but other than that, it's no effort at all.

 

Also, I second the recommendation of pre-cooking bacon. You can also cook up a bunch of hamburger when you buy it and freeze in amounts to serve your family. This cuts down supper prep time for all kind of dishes -- chili, spaghetti, casseroles, anything where you'd use cooked scrambled hamburger.

 

Additionally, you can prep chicken when you buy it. I buy whole chickens and cut them up myself, but this works no matter how you buy chicken. When you go to freeze them, put a marinade in the bag with the chicken pieces. Freeze. When you thaw, that is the marinade time. It works very well and you get really good flavour.

[happyWImom]

I made up a meal plan in excel, let me see if I can copy and paste my breakfasts and lunches. Things with a star are things that can easily be made up ahead of time.

 

Breakfasts

French Toast w/ berries Breakfast Burritos * Caramel Apple Sticky Buns * Migas Pankcakes and sausage Baked Oatmeal * Sleepin' In Omelet * Grits Puffy Pancakes Sausage Rolls Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket Cinnamon Rolls Waffles and bacon Breakfast Sandwiches Eggs, Bacon and Toast Oatmeal Biscuits and Gravy Frozen waffles w/ PB Cereal, Fruit, Eggs Hard Boiled Eggs, Toast, Fruit * Ham Biscuits and Eggs Mini Bagels Breakfast Casserole Good Morning Muffins* Omelet Roll Cheese Muffins Toad in a Hole

 

 

Lunches grilled cheese, tomato soup bean burritos * frito chili pie PB & banana pinwheels black beans and rice baked potatoes mini quiches * mini pizzas egg salad sandwiches * mini burgers chicken nuggets mac and cheese cheese cubes, veggies, rice pigs in a blanket BLTs and soup Taco Salad mini corndogs frozen mini calzones * breakfast for lunch meatballs & rolls * lunch kabobs-ham, cheese, pineapple ramen noodle soup Cheese, crackers, ham, veggies quesadillas Ham and Biscuits * Chicken Salad*

 

Yum, yum, yum! You are making me very hungry! I wish you could just make up all of this and ship it to me.:001_smile:

[mrs.m]

And, don't forget to cover it with plastic wrap (contains the errant mess just in case).

 

 

 

That's what we do.

 

I've never had one explode after the plastic wrap is off after a decent amount of time for it to cool down.

[LibraryLover]

My kids mostly like dinner food for breakfast. So, our leftovers never get eaten much past noon.

 

My teen dd usually makes herself a bean burrito for breakfast. ;)

[2squared]

I try to rotate through pancakes, french toast, muffins, baked oatmeal, and eggs. I make big batches of pancakes and french toast and freeze them. Then, we cook them in the toaster so they aren't soggy. I would love to freeze muffins, but the kids usually snack on the extras so we don't have leftovers.

[Peela]

The way I meal plan is to write up what we already eat on a chart- breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then I use it to fall back on. If I feel like trying something new, I do- otherwise I just make what we were eating anyway and the chart just reminds me of the various options.

I add salad to everything nowadays. I keep lettuce, carrot, cucumber, red capsicum and other basic salad items in the fridge at all times and just add them to the plate. My kids prefer their vegetables raw anyway so its the best way. I also give them vegies to munch on while they are sitting watching TV.

I make smoothies a lot lately, also. Green smoothies with leafy greens and fruit and water, or chocolate smoothies with non dairy milk, banana, raw chocolate powder and some sort of sweetener. Definitely fills them up.

My kids like to snack a lot...I keep hardly anything junky in the house to snack on...just lots of fruit. It's not unusual for my son in particular to eat 10 pieces of fruit in a day.

[OrganicAnn]

We received a small kid's breakfast cookbook for Christmas and it has inspired me to cook in the morning. The Six O'Clock Breakfast Cookbook.

 

Scrambled eggs in a skillet takes only a few minutes more than in a microwave. I also do fried eggs. My DD likes them without the yoke. And if you use a non stick skillet and just a little olive oil, then even though they are called "fried" they are fairly healthy (not like old fashioned eggs fried in bacon fat).

 

On weekends, I usually make pancakes one day a week. The cookbooks suggestion is to use a pancake mix, but add an egg to get a little more protein into each pancake.

 

They had a lot more suggestions, but my DD was not up for them (fruit in the pancakes, etc).