• Home
  • Start Here!
    • Subscribe
    • Topics
    • Top Tips!
  • About
    • Services
    • Contact Us!
    • Media
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • Popular Posts
    • Recipe Index
  • Books
    • RD Book Coaching Services
  • Podcast
  • Privacy Policy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feed

Maryann Jacobsen

Independent Author & Family Nutrition Expert

  • Home
  • Start Here!
    • Subscribe
    • Topics
    • Top Tips!
  • About
    • Services
    • Contact Us!
    • Media
    • Disclaimer
  • Blog
    • Popular Posts
    • Recipe Index
  • Books
    • RD Book Coaching Services
  • Podcast
  • Privacy Policy

Weekly Meal Plan: Monday February 2nd

February 3, 2014

Tweet
Pin
Share6
Yum
Email
Share
6 Shares

I hope you are all doing well.  We are starting this week with fish tacos, a meal I just recently mastered.  I have tried and failed many times at this dish.  Last time I made it my husband said. “These are really good.”  The secret for me is to bread and bake the fish instead of pan fry. I don’t know why but I always seem to mess up pan-frying.

Next on the master list?  Greek salad. I don’t know about you but I get in salad ruts. What’s on your menu this week?

Like always, visit Org Junkie for more meal planning inspiration.

What’s Cooking This Week

Monday: Baked fish tacos with a side of black beans

Tuesday: Chicken and pasta with roasted veggies and a Greek Salad

Wednesday: Kids’ choice

Thursday: Slow cooker lentil soup with ham and a side of fruit and cheesy bread

Friday: Make your own pita pizzas with various toppings and a green salad

More from Cooking Light…

100 Healthy Breakfast Ideas

22 Healthy Lunch Ideas

Quick Vegetarian Dinners

Monthly Meal Planning?

It’s the beginning of February and I’m trying something new.  I’m planning dinner meals a month at a time. I’m basically setting up a rotation of meals. What I have listed above is what I have planned for this week but I also have placeholder dinner meals planned for the whole month. Each week I will check those meals and make adjustments.

The reason for this is threefold.  First, if I can look at the whole month I can double-check variety and make sure I’m rotating different items.  I find that I tend to make certain meals over and over again without repeating others enough.  Kids need lots of exposure so I’m trying to capitalize on that (and Big A is really expanding her tastes at the moment. Little D not so much).  Also, some weekends are really busy and I end up doing a poor job meal planning.  This way, I already have a head start.

And third, I can shop for items ahead of time, especially nonperishable ones in one big monthly shopping trip.  I have been trying to keep my kitchen stocked with items I use frequently but I like the idea of doing as much of it as I can at the beginning of the month.

Oh, and I forgot the fourth thing.  I can look at which meals I want to double for lunches or freeze for future meals.

How is your meal planning going?  Any challenges that keep coming up?

Links

Sometimes the choice to buy organic weighs on people, especially when budgets are tight.  I recently went through the pros and cons of buying organic milk in this WebMD post. Another parent does the same thing with organic produce in this article in Slate.

February is a time when goals for the New Year’s can lose their luster.  In this post, I discuss how to keep the motivation going by asking 3 important questions.

In this Bundoo article, Jill Castle does a good job of explaining why, in some cases, spoon-feeding increases the risk babies will be over-fed.  As she says it’s not always the spoon but the person behind the spoon.

Kia Robertson reviews Fearless Feeding on Today I Ate a Rainbow.

This NPR article goes into the perks of serving meals family-style.

An insightful post from Katja Rowell at the HAES site: Health, Not Weight Focus. What a Relief! In this article, she discusses how restricting children can result in food obsession and problems with weight.

Well, that’s it for now.  Have a great week!

Related Posts

  • weekly meal plan 2011
    Weekly Meal Plan: Monday February 14th

    Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm kind of bummed it's on the most unromantic day of the…

  • Weekly Meal Plan: Monday February 4th

    I've been getting organized in my kitchen, including gathering and printing all my recipes in…

  • weekly meal plan
    Weekly Meal Plan: Monday July 19th

    It finally feels like summer here in San Diego. Why? The weather has turned warm.…

Tweet
Pin
Share6
Yum
Email
Share
6 Shares

Categories: Example Dinner Rotation & Meal Plans, Family Meal Planning & Recipes 3 Comments

« Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cups [Recipe]
15 of the All-Time Best Strategies for Raising Healthy Eaters »

Comments

  1. Hilary says

    February 3, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    I agree with you about kids needing a lot of ‘exposure’ but I am struggling with this with my nearly-four-year-old. We only get the chance to eat family meals at the weekend; during the week, it’s just her, sometimes me and her eating. It seems disrespectful (and wasteful!) to keep trying dishes on her that she says she hates but how do I get out of the pasta rut?! Any advice?
    I try serving new/less popular items along with things I know she likes but she just eats the stuff she knows and likes.

    Reply
    • Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, MS, RD says

      February 5, 2014 at 8:11 am

      Hilary,

      I’m not sure how long you’v been reading my blog but I can steer you to some articles that might help. First off, you are in the most resistant phase of eating. To give you some ideas on why your son is like that you can check out my picky eating series, especially these two posts: http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2010/06/things-picky-eaters-wish-their-parents-knew/
      http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2013/07/the-most-overlooked-reason-kids-stay-picky-eaters-part-1/

      Understanding helps you know this won’t last together. I really encourage you to set up family meals during the week when you can. Kids learn to eat by watching and this way you won’t feel the food is wasteful. You can eat with your son and then save a hot plate for whoever is late. Try serving meals family style and having him serve himself with help from you. If he doesn’t want to take the food, make a separate learning plate and encourage him to touch or even kiss the food. And lastly, give him some jobs in the kitchen so he gets more exposure to food instead of seeing it the first time on his plate. Another post about exposure http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2013/11/the-10-golden-rules-for-exposing-kids-to-food-part-5/

      And lastly, make sure you’re not pressuring your child which is known to backfire http://www.maryannjacobsen.com/2013/09/what-children-secretly-wish-their-parents-would-stop-doing-at-mealtime-part-3/

      Let me know if you have any questions. I have a 4 and 7 year old and my 4 year old is pretty resistant but my 7 year old is really expanding her tastes. Fear of new food peaks between 2 and 6 years of age so hang in there!

      Reply
  2. Hilary says

    February 6, 2014 at 4:03 pm

    Thank you Maryann, the ‘most overlooked reasons’ post was particularly helpful. I could have written the email as I too feel we have been so ‘textbook’ in our approach.
    I think I could, however, reorganise our meals from time to time so I’m eating with my daugher some nights and with my husband on others. I know I just have to sit this phase out – I just don’t want to make any more mistakes in the meantime. One thing that gives me cheer is I know that my daughter enjoys mealtimes and she gets a lot of pleasure from food. Serving food family-style certainly helps and perhaps I could reformat some of my mainstay dishes to serve them in that style. Thanks for the advice!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi, I’m Maryann…

Hi, I’m a registered dietitian who focuses on developmental stages. Here, you won’t get one-size-fits-all advice. Instead, you’ll get information based on your (and your family’s) age and stage. Make your choice between family and midlife-focused newsletters below and subscribe. Find out more!

Recent Posts

  • Yes, Every Midlife Women Should Take a Multivitamin (And Here’s Why)
  • 10 Signs Intermittent Fasting Doesn’t Live Up to the Hype
  • What do the Latest Vitamin D Studies Really Tell Us?
  • 3 Breathing Exercises That Will Change Your Life with Nick Heath [Podcast]
  • 6 Dietary Supplements Most Teenagers Need

Random Posts

  • Pulled Pork Primavera [Recipe]Pulled Pork Primavera [Recipe]
  • Parmesan Crusted Asparagus [Recipe]Parmesan Crusted Asparagus [Recipe]

Categories

Get the books!

The Alliance of Independent Authors - Author Member

Join the Newsletter

Sign up for Maryann’s E-mail Newsletter and get her ebook The Landmines of a Healthy Relationship with Food for FREE. Subscribe now!

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list. You're not done. Check your email to confirm your address. After you do that, you'll receive a link for the free e-book.

.

Copyright © 2023 — Maryann Jacobsen • All rights reserved • Powered by Femme Flora. Designed & Developed by BinaryTurf Privacy Policy

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.OK Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT