Archive for the ‘Meal Planning’ Category

Quick and Easy Breakfast Ideas for Kids

For “Thrifty Thursday” I thought I would offer you some ideas to create some quick and easy breakfast meals.

With cereal costing  mega bucks per pound, I think it’s time we ban the cereal isle and make our own breakfast! (And please feel free to share some of your own ideas with the readers here.)

Breakfast is a very important meal.  Studies have shown that children who eat a balanced breakfast are more alert in school, perform better and in many cases are less prone to bad behavior than children who skip breakfast.

Here are some quick and easy breakfast ideas for kids:

Eggs – Eggs are versatile and nutritious, plus most kids like them. Scrambled eggs are quick to make;  you can add a little chopped turkey ham, cheese, chopped tomatoes or mushrooms.  Simple boiled eggs with slices of toast will make an excellent breakfast too.

Bake Ahead Muffins – Muffins aren’t always the most nutritious meal, but if you bake your own muffins you can use mashed banana, chopped walnuts and a little honey for a naturally sweet breakfast muffin.

*You can also replace half of the amount of white flour for healthier whole wheat flour.  And you don’t have to stick to just sweet muffins; try a savory turkey bacon and chive muffin or cheese and turkey ham muffin. Bake them the night before for a quick and healthy breakfast.

Fruit – Try a fresh fruit salad with a yogurt and cheerio dip. Using a rolling pin, mash a handful or two of whole grain Cheerios in a plastic bag and transfer to a bowl. Fill another bowl with yogurt and let your kids dip the fruit pieces in yogurt then in the cheerio mixture. Whole grain Cheerios have a lower sugar content then many of the cereals on the supermarket shelves.

Pancakes – Prepare a basic pancake batter the night before, cover and refrigerate in the morning. In the morning all you need to do is heat the grill and your entire family can enjoy delicious homemade pancakes. Serve with a little maple syrup or jam and some fresh fruit on the side.  *Peanut butter can also be spread on pancakes for a different flavor.

Pizza for Breakfast – Split a couple of bagels in half, top with a little pizza sauce, grated cheese and some chopped turkey ham. Place under the grill for a few minutes and you have a nutritious breakfast pizza. You can also use English muffins or pita bread.

Breakfast Burrito – Wraps are a great alternative to toast and cereal. You can make a scrambled egg breakfast wrap with a little bit of  turkey ham or cheese added to it or you can add a little cream cheese and turkey or even make a breakfast pizza burrito.

Oatmeal -  You can use your crock pot to make delicious oatmeal that will be ready in the morning.  I also found a nifty recipe earlier this week for “Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal” that I intend to try really soon.  (It looks yummy!)

Remember breakfast doesn’t always have to consist of the traditional toast, cereal and eggs.  You can experiment a little to keep things interesting.

As a final note, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to always make the perfect family breakfast. If your kids really aren’t hungry at breakfast time a simple banana (or peanut butter spread on a banana) and a glass of orange juice will give them an instant boost.

How to Feed Your Family Healthy Meals on a Tight Budget - Video

Thought you might enjoy this video today on “Thrifty Thursday”

Step 1: Start with hot cereal

Start the day with a hot cereal; they’re much cheaper than cold cereals. Oatmeal is a nutritional winner and very inexpensive if you buy a container of plain, old-fashioned oatmeal.

Step 2: Stretch your milk

Stretch your milk dollars by diluting a can of evaporated milk or some powdered milk with water to create whole milk.

Step 3: Stock up on frozen veggies

Stock up on frozen vegetables when they go on sale. Unless your produce was just picked, it’s just as healthy — or even more so — to eat the frozen stuff, which locks in the nutrients.

Canned vegetables are another cheap alternative to fresh, but rinse them before eating because many are loaded with salt.

Step 4: Eat fruits in season

Limit your fruit purchases to whatever is in season, the exception being bananas and apples. The former are relatively inexpensive year-round, and the latter are low in calories, high in fiber, and may reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer.

Step 5: Snack happy

Enjoy healthy snacks without spending a fortune by air popping corn kernels and buying nutritious nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans, and peanuts. Buy in bulk.

Step 6: Limit meat consumption

Only eat meat two or three times a week, and make cheap meats as tender and tasty as pricier cuts by marinating them overnight or slow-cooking them in a Crock-Pot.

Step 7: Eat alternative proteins

Make the most of alternative sources of protein, like peanut butter, eggs, chunk light tuna (which is not only the cheapest kind of tuna, but also contains the least mercury), and beans.

Buy bagged beans in bulk — the kind you soak overnight. They’re cheaper and healthier than canned beans, which are high in sodium.

Step 8: Eat brown rice

Eat brown rice. It’s a bit pricier than white, but much better for you and still a nutritional bargain.

Step 9: Indulge in dessert

Indulge in desserts by making them from scratch using nutritious ingredients that you have on hand. Bake your own oatmeal and peanut butter cookies; mash and freeze overripe bananas for “ice cream”; bake bruised apples with a little honey.

Fun Snack Ideas for Kids

It’s no secret that kids love to snack.  While kids are young they use a lot of energy that requires constant refueling of their hungry tummies, but as you know, buying pre-made snacks can be quite costly.   It only requires a little planning to keep snacks fun, exciting and affordable.

Here’s a few healthy and fun snack ideas for kids:

Fruit on a Stick – Cut up a bunch of different fruits such as apples, bananas, kiwis, mango and add a few grapes. Thread them onto a skewer for a delicious summer time treat. To make it a little more special add a few pieces of marshmallows between the fruit.

Pickle on a Stick – If your kids love pickles, put a big sweet or dill pickle on a stick.  They’ll think it’s extra special.

Quick Banana Ice – Take a few bananas and mash them in a bowl. Cover and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, fluff up with fork for a healthy, ice cream like treat.

Pitta Pizza – Spread a little tomato sauce on a pitta bread and cut into small triangular pieces. Top with a little grated cheese and place in a moderately heated oven for about 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese melts and starts to bubble.

Sweet Tortilla Shapes – Using small fun shaped cookie cutters cut fun shapes out of a tortilla (wrap). Place on non stick cookie sheet and lightly brush with a little butter. Lightly sprinkle (you only need a little) with a mixture of 1 part cinnamon and 3 parts brown sugar and bake in a moderately hot oven for 10 minutes for a sweet and crispy treat.

Frozen Mandarin Wedges – Peel a few mandarin slices and cover in plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for about an hour for a thirst quenching treat.

Banana Wheels – Place a cup or so of cheerios in a plastic bag and using the back of your hand or a rolling pin flatten until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Slice a banana into rounds and place a few at a time in the plastic bag. Shake lightly to cover the banana pieces (banana wheels) with the cheerios mixture.

Mini Wraps – Lightly spread a tortilla with a little cream cheese and place one or two slices of thin ham or turkey over the cream cheese. Roll tightly and cut into small rounds.

Jiggly Fruit – Make a portion of strawberry flavored jello per package instructions and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Open and drain a can of fruit cocktail and add to the jello and mix. Place back in the fridge until jello is fully set.

Ants on Boats – Cut a few apple wedges and spread thinly with peanut butter. Add a few raisins over the peanut butter and enjoy. You can also use cream cheese instead of peanut butter.

Pick and Mix – Kids seem to really enjoy the variety of finger foods rather than eating a lot of one thing. A great snack is to place a selection of finger foods on a serving plate and let the kids choose. You can serve a combination of foods like carrot sticks, cucumber rounds, cherry tomatoes, pretzels or pretzel sticks, small savory crackers, bread sticks, little cubes or slices of cheese, small slices of ham or turkey, grapes and other pieces of cut up fruit, mini muffins, and dried fruit such as raisins or apricots.

*Please share some of your own fun snack ideas for kids by commenting below.

Kitchen & Meal Time Organizing Tips

In many households the kitchen is really the heart of the home. You definitely want to make this room a relaxing family space but also practical to make family meal times and cooking as stress free as possible.

Here’s a few kitchen organizing tips to help get you started:

Organize Your Work Stations: To make cooking easier you want to make sure you have everything you need close at hand.  Designate an area for preparing the meals. It’s good to keep your spices and seasonings close to this area. You’ll also want to have chopping boards, knives and mixing spoons close at hand. Have another area planned for serving and keeping all your dishes, serving spoons, place mats and utensils.

By incorporating work stations into your kitchen and keeping everything you need near each work station, you’ll save a lot of time.

Organize Your Fridge: Clean out your fridge and organize things in categories to make finding them easier when you’re in a rush. It’s a good idea to keep all your dairy products together. Place cold cuts in tightly sealed plastic containers and label them. This will keep them fresh and also make it easier to find. You can do the same thing with cheese and left over foods.

Separate your fruit and salad items from your other vegetables so that you can find them easier. Often times you’ll forget you have those tomatoes in the back drawer and end up buying more. By keeping things organized you’ll waste and spend less.

*Read my post: What’s in the Back of Your Fridge?

Organize Your Pantry: Arrange your pantry or cupboards according to foods. For example: keep all your canned goods in one place and cereal in another. Keep items you use the most within easy reach and put away those appliances you never seem to use. They’re just taking up your counter space!

Plan Your Meals: This is by far the easiest way to organize your meal times. Take a few minutes and write out a meal plan and shopping list for the upcoming week. Buy everything in advance and stock up on items you use regularly and have a long shelf life. Then stick your menu on your fridge, glance at it each morning and plan ahead. Thaw any meat that needs thawing or chop and add your items to your crock pot.

Click here to Get Organized Now -  More Ideas, Tips, Tools And More To Help You Organize Your Home, Your Office And Your Life!

What’s in the Back of Your Fridge?

If you’re clueless about what’s lurking in the back of your refrigerator, it’s time to clean it out!  I realize that most people dread cleaning out the refrigerator.  (I think they’re even a little frightened by what they might find in there.)

One of the best reasons to keep your refrigerator cleaned is to help you stay organized.  In simple terms, it saves you money by allowing you to adequately use up your leftovers and keep you from buying an extra bottle of ketchup when you realized that you already had two in the fridge.

The best day to clean out the refrigerator is when you’re planning to do your major grocery shopping. For thrifty-minded moms, this helps you double check on what extra items need to be added to your list.  You may also plan on using some items in your freezer area for that coming week.  It truly is a great time to do some cleanup because it’s so easy to forget what you have on hand.

Over the years, I have found that weekly upkeep works wonders and eliminates most of the dreadful task.  If you haven’t cleaned your refrigerator for quite awhile, plan to do a thorough job as soon as possible.  Once you’ve done a thorough cleaning, you should make plans for a weekly upkeep.

How to do a weekly upkeep:

Divide your refrigerator into four equal parts.  The freezer area should be considered as one part; the refrigerator area should be divided into the other three parts.  Each week do a through cleanup (washing the shelves) in one of the areas.  Then, simply tidy up the other three areas quickly.   Every four weeks your refrigerator will have one whole thorough cleaning.  You’ll also find that by continual maintenance, you won’t have much scrubbing to do at all, especially if you learn to wipe spills while they’re still fresh.

As always, please feel free to share your tips with all our women readers!

Here’s a short video on how to clean a refrigerator:

7 Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas

It’s 6:00 p.m. the kids are hungry, homework needs to be done, you’re stressed and then they ask that famous question, “Mom, what’s for dinner?”

Here’s 7 quick and easy dinner ideas that might help take the stress out of family meal times.

Dinner Action Plans:

1.  Create a Menu Plan -  Find a few minutes during the weekend to plan your meals for the upcoming week.

Write a quick menu, do your shopping and stick the menu on your fridge. Every morning (or the night before) quickly glance at it and take out the foods that need thawing and plan ahead how much time you need to prepare the meal.

*Another idea is to have days already set for specific meals such as Mondays for soup & salad; Tuesdays for fish and fries, etc.

2. The Crockpot Plan – Okay, this little invention may not be the coolest kitchen gadget around but it can definitely be a real lifesaver. With a little planning in advance, you can throw something in the crockpot in the morning and have a nutritious dinner ready before the kids can even say, “Mom“.

*Just an idea – wrap some potatoes in foil to put in the crockpot and have a hot potato bar.  You could also have a little salad bar right beside it.

3.  The Casserole Backup Plan – Similar to the crockpot but great for days when you forget to plan ahead. Casseroles work great with leftovers or just about any items you can find in your pantry.

Throw together some pasta, tuna, corn kernels, peas and cream for a quick meal. Casseroles made with rice or potatoes are just as easy. Keep a few easy recipes on hand and add or omit ingredients according to what you have in your pantry.

4. The Easy &Versatile Pasta Plan -  Pasta is a super easy way to quickly throw together a healthy family dinner. To avoid boredom try to avoid the usual jar of sauce and pasta dinner…

Try something like this, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over very low heat and add one crushed garlic bulb, stir for about a minute and add a can of drained crab meat, the juice of one lemon and a little salt and pepper to taste, and finally add a little chopped cilantro or parsley. Serve over your pasta with some garlic bread on the side for a delicious meal in minutes.

5.  The Breakfast Plan – Eggs aren’t only for breakfast, they’re also great for quick dinners. Make an omelet and fill with a little turkey ham and cheese, you can also add some chopped tomato, onions or mushrooms. Serve along with a salad and some bread.

Or make a Spanish tortilla. Scrub, peel and thinly slice a couple of new or small potatoes. Add to a sauce pan with a little water and boil until soft, about 8 minutes. Add a little oil to a nonstick frying pan, add the potatoes, scramble eggs and a little chopped onion (optional) cook on low until the bottom starts to set. Then stick the frying pan under a hot grill until the top of the tortilla sets. Serve with a side salad.

*A couple of other ideas for dinner are biscuits & gravy or even pancakes and sausage.

6.  The Sandwich Bar Plan – Some days you just don’t have the time or energy to cook a hot meal, but you can still feed your family a nutritious meal in the way of sandwiches (you could call it “subway night at home”).

Put out some bread rolls (whole wheat is best), add a platter of cheese, chicken, turkey, tuna or any other favorite fillings.  Add another platter of chopped lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and any other favorite veggies. Now let your kids put together their own sandwiches. Serve with some pretzels, a salad or cut up veggies and dip, a little hopeful but worth a try.

7.  The Wrap It Up Plan -  Wraps are great for quick dinners. You fill them with just about anything. For a Mexican wrap cook a little ground beef, drain and fill wrap. Add some chopped tomatoes, grated cheese, sour cream or guacamole. You can also fill it with a little heated tuna with some corn kernels and a little mayonnaise or try scrambled eggs, chopped turkey ham and tomatoes. Leftover chicken with cheese and lettuce works great too.