KITTY FINKLEA: 6 tips for planning back-to-school meals – SCNow

With COVID-19 in play, it’s an odd and new transition, but whether at home, in the classroom or a mixture of both, children need a structured routine and regular meals and snacks.

Instead of the burnout factor of eating the same thing over and over, taking time to strategize a game plan this month will make it easier to slide into the school days with healthy and fun meals.

Start with a master list of meals. Aim to start with six to seven breakfast ideas, 10 lunch ideas and 15 supper ideas. First, add the tried-and-true meals you already make. Next, add in some new meals. Yet, don’t go it alone. Ask friends, get the children involved and check out websites and cookbooks for new ideas. You can also use different colored index cards — yellow for breakfast, green for lunch and red for supper — or create a spreadsheet and keep adding new recipes to the master list over time. Make sure to add healthy eating-out meals to the list as well for those overly crazy weeks. Give children freedom to make suggestions and let them help with shopping, prep and clean up as their age allows.

Keep balance in mind. When thinking about meals, a  rule of thumb is the more whole foods the better as opposed to processed foods, and aim for balance by including:

• Lean proteins such as poultry, meat, seafood, eggs, cheese, beans, nut butters

• Whole grains such as whole wheat breads, wraps, tortillas, crackers, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, quinoa, etc.

• Fruits and veggies — add fruit to breakfast and lunch include veggies which can be raw, roasted, grilled, stir fried, etc.

• Healthy fats at each meal.

Make up your meal plan for the week. Look over what is already in the fridge and pantry, what’s on the schedule and make sure to have quick options for busy nights such as a crockpot or one-pot meals and plan to warm up leftovers for an extra busy night. Think about cooking some foods ahead such as lasagna or soups that freeze well.

Shop and prep. Make a grocery list from the weekly plan, shop and schedule one to two hours of prep time to bake meats, cut up veggies and fruits, roast vegetables or marinate meats making foods ready to go. Think and cook ahead such as browning meat for spaghetti and making extra for tacos, baking extra chicken to shred for wraps for lunch, or cooking extra brown rice as a side for lunch or supper.

Make healthy snacking easy. Children are usually hungry after school or maybe all the time — keep healthier items such as applesauce, cheese sticks, boiled eggs, sandwich fixings, cut up veggies and fruit, dips like hummus, yogurt and soup easily available.

Keep experimenting! Try out new recipes over the weekend before adding the good ones to the master list. Since children like routines, consider adding in theme nights such as Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Pasta Wednesday, Crockpot Thursday and Fun Friday which could be wings, pizza, burgers with movie night, picnics or other activities to transition to the weekend.

Find some time to sit down as a family. Eating at least three meals a week as a family helps children feel important. It doesn’t matter what meal — simply focus on interesting conversation without screens. Make it fun and enjoyable. For more ideas, check out: https://thefamilydinnerproject.org/