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As a menu planning and basis for meals, to make sure you have the basic food requirements met for all family members, refer to the pyramid information mentioned earlier. Then plan by looking over and cross check basic food categories to target healthy foods to fit the health and lifestyles of everyone. For instance, add some foods mentioned above if someone has depression, to his or her dietary plans that aid in the prevention and healing of depression.

Meal planning depends on some factors like meal times, the number of people eating, budget, special dietary concerns, recipes on hand, available foods, and likes and dislikes of everyone who will be eating. Begin by choosing recipes and foods that you like and know how that fit and to prepare well into everyone’s dietary plans. Plan ahead for substitutions either in the food preparation if one or more people have special needs, like diabetics or food substitution for those individuals.

When making menu planning and meal choices, there are a few things to note. First, some foods may be advertised a certain way, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment. For example, sausage and eggs not just breakfast, it can be served for dinner. And waffles can eaten for lunch with fresh fruits instead of sugary syrup and can be made from healthy wheat grains and heavy butter for breakfast.

Add variety, too. Have other family members prepare meals and jump in on weekends and some nights. Kids enjoy making cheese and macaroni, so host mac-n-cheese night on Wednesdays, for instance. On a weekly basis, alternate different vegetable colors, combinations and textures to vary the menu.

Clip coupons from newspapers, weekend inserts, and any place you can find them to help with family food budget concerns. To save money, downloaded coupons from the Internet, too, from places like CouponCart and CoolSavings. To a neat print magazine for coupon deals, trades and lots more, RefundingMakesCents offers an affordable subscription with a secret code to their website for Internet coupon-codes for lots of online companies like Barnes and Noble (cookbooks) and Amazon.com (cookware).

Also for savings, note seasonal food selections. Create meals and menus based upon what’s on special that month or week. Hint: store and stock up or freeze family favorites and special-priced items when possible and storage room if the budget allows. But don’t over do it. There is no need to hoard with convenience supermarkets and stores for food shopping in practically every neighborhood anymore. An old saying, if you see a great buy, purchase multiple items, then let them become outdated and have to toss them out.

Trading coupons is one fun way to save, and working out food deals with family, friends, your church group, neighbors and anyone else who’d like to join in. Farm markets and food cooperatives available in your area may offer special pricing to large purchases or groups. So team up for better purchasing split and power everything up between group members. Go one-on-one with a neighbor, other friend or relative if you’re not into that much organization. Buy a huge bag of onions, potatoes, oats, and other foods, then share.

To dietary planning, here is one special item to note with regards. It’s unfortunate, but fast foods, especially those that are high in fat content (fried, greasy foods), are often cheaper than good, healthy food choices. For instance, lean beef costs more than high-fat beef; cereals high in nutritional value are often priced much higher than the low-cost, sugary brand names. And homeless people and low income are particularly victims of this situation, many times needing to turn to the less healthier food choices for survival. So your plans might want to include donating a portion to homeless shelters whenever possible, and churches who would probably be more than willing to take extras off your hands.

Tags: basic, meal, menu, planning

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