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The daily grind often makes it difficult to balance every aspect of life. When your daily chores include rushing your kids to school, hopping into the cab to work, and dealing with meetings, where do you find the time to prepare a nutritious and delicious meal? Meal planning is a great way to include healthy meals in your busy life. Read on to know more about how you can easily incorporate meal planning into your daily schedule.
Healthy Meal Prep Tips for Your Busy Family
Whether you are into cooking meals every day or not, learning a few things about meal planning is always helpful to ensure a healthy balance in your busy life. Take a look at these tips to make a healthy meal plan for busy family:
1. Keep Your Pantry Stocked
While hoarding groceries is not the way to go, you must ensure your pantry is stocked with ingredients needed for your meals throughout the month. To get the most out of your next grocery shopping trip, prepare a list of items you need, stick to it, choose quality over quantity, and shop what you can finish in time. Also, prepare an ingredient list featuring healthy items and avoid bringing unhealthy packaged food home.
2. Plan Your Meals on Off Days
A reliable, busy family meal plan becomes tedious when you do not wisely use your off days. Use your Sundays to prepare a list of meals you want to make throughout the week. You can include your family members in this for a wholesome experience. This allows you to aptly prepare meals focusing on protein, nutrients, and vitamin ingredients.
3. Keep a Recipe Book Handy
Whether you are a pro or a beginner at cooking, a recipe book ensures quick and healthy meal planning. You can get your hands on recipe books featuring healthy meal options to keep ingredients ready a night before to avoid last-minute hassle and unwanted order-ins. Add personalised touches to the recipe book by including ingredients that suit your health needs to make your meal planning even more efficient.
4. Focus on Batch Preparations
Use cold storage/refrigerator to enhance your meal planning. There are multiple meal ideas that you can prepare in batch and store to be eaten over the week. Focus on making healthy sauces, meat and veggies that you can heat and eat.
5. Opt for Grocery Services
With advancements in online services, healthy meal planning has become more accessible. Opt for a grocery service that delivers your weekly/monthly groceries to your doorstep to avoid relying on packaged meals. Additionally, some grocery services offer recipe suggestions, deliver pre-portioned grocery boxes, and provide personalised recommendations to keep your everyday meals healthy.
6. Smart Kitchen Appliances
Use technological advancements to your benefit. Invest in smart kitchen appliances designed to reduce your cooking time without damaging the natural nutrients of the meal. For instance- An instant pot and a microwave are must-haves in your kitchen to quickly heat and get your meal ready. If you wish to go a step ahead, get your hands on cooking robot appliances that follow a recipe and require you only to provide ingredients.
7. Focus on Breakfast Items
Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day if you want to keep your eating habits healthy. However, with the morning rush to work, breakfast often becomes the most skipped meal. This is where you can buckle up by keeping breakfast items handy like cereals, seeds, fruits, healthy fats and protein. Stock up your pantry with oatmeal jars and eggs to create a balanced and quick breakfast every morning.
8. Efficient Ingredient Planning
Focus on ingredient planning to make every meal healthier. Get organisers to store all your cooking ingredients aptly, invest in doubling up ingredients that last longer to avoid running out at the last moment, and create a plan to bring home ingredients that match your weekly family meal plan.
9. Keep it Simple
Healthy meal planning does not mean you have to get into complicated cooking. You can create healthy bowls without complex recipes, saving time to focus on your other chores. Mix and match healthy base items with seasoning of your choice for breakfast and lunch. You can add a twist to leftover dinner to prepare family meals on a budget menu without standing for long hours in the kitchen.
Healthy Meal Planning- How to Choose the Right Meal?
A large part of healthy meal planning for family is to understand what ingredients you need in your pantry. We have prepared a list of easy-to-cook, affordable and healthy items that you must stock up your pantry with-
1. Dried Nuts
Dried nuts like cashews, walnuts, almonds, and figs have health benefits. They make a great snack and can be used as a gravy base for healthy meals.
2. Protein Source
If you are a non-vegetarian, adding frozen meat and egg crates to your grocery shopping list is always a good choice. These are easy to cook, add great value to your meal, and ease your healthy meal planning.
3. Fruits
Fruits contain abundant vitamins and minerals that must be part of your diet. Stock up your refrigerator with fresh, juicy fruits to make quick fruit bowls for breakfast or evening snacks.
4. Fresh Vegetables
Remember, fibre is key to good metabolism. You can prepare sauteed bowls or a quick veggie wrap for lunch boxes with fresh veggies in your fridge.
>> Also Read: Making Healthy Eating Fun Tips for Parents
Wrapping Up!
Healthy meal planning in your busy life appears daunting, but you can make small changes to ease your way through it. The ideal way to make the best family meal plans is to keep your pantry stocked with healthy ingredients that are easy to cook, find a recipe that serves your taste and health, and plan meals on holidays.
The post Covid-19 world has risen to take steps towards a healthier lifestyle, and healthy meal planning is the first step forward. Additionally, owning a reliable family health insurance plan from Care Health Insurance promises to provide a safety net to meet your medical needs.
Disclaimers: All plan features, benefits, coverage, and claims underwriting are subject to policy terms and conditions. Kindly refer to the brochure, sales prospectus, and policy documents carefully.
