Sitting down for dinner is a moment to pause in a busy day. There is all kinds of research that correlates eating a family dinner with personal health and your child’s development and success. Families that eat together, stay together.

This is the first post in a series related to family dinners.

Done for you meal planning – Meal Plan Services

You get that dinner is important. You’ve probably heard this. And you probably, at some level, agree. But lots of things in your life are important.

Most nights, you want to get a healthy dinner on the table, but it’s hectic, you didn’t get to the store, or you don’t know what to make.

Using a meal plan service can take some of the work off your plate. It’s a great way to begin to try new foods and to get organized. It can save you time and money, because everything is laid out for you. You don’t need to waste brainpower coming up with meals and you aren’t running to the store every day to pick up something quick.

You may find it a complete match for you and your lifestyle. There are many services available, try one and see if it helps you eat a healthier dinner with less stress.

Let the goal of dinner be nourishing yourself, not doing it all yourself. Using a meal plan service can be a big relief.

Sample Meal Plans with Grocery Lists

I’ve chosen 3 services I like. I’ve used others that I think are great, too. I’ll be posting some on the Mompreneur Wellness Community on Facebook all week, and if you have one to share I’d love to know about it.

I chose the following four sites because I liked their organization, simplicity of instruction and variety.

I’ve included a few points about each site. Visit the site and download their free sample menu and grocery lists. Pick one and try it out this week. Then pop back here or onto Facebook and let me know if you gave it a try.

Sample services:

1)    6 o’clock scramble – healthy, seasonal family dinner meal planning

This site is professional, established and family centered. It’s fully customizable and has tons of extra features. This site has a lot to offer in variety, organization and flare.

2)    The Nourished Kitchen – whole, real foods

This site offers more then menus and is focused on real foods and traditional meal preparations. It includes some details that may not be up your alley, but if you are interested in whole, real foods and like to cook, Jenny at the Nourished Kitchen is an amazing resource. And her recipes are fabulous.

3)   No Plan Meal Plan – healthy simple menus

Alissa is a new mom and a health coach. Her recipes are nutritious and offer a wide variety of nutritional value and taste. The feature I love is her “on-track planner’ which tells you what you can prep ahead in one shot on the weekend, creating ease during the week. She also gives you a calendar with plan ahead steps.

4)   Eating Well – healthy, build your own menus

The website for Eating Well Magazine. Their rolodex of recipes is fantastic. Users post tons of reviews. And you can build your own menu. It’s more labor intensive, but offers lots of variety and flexibility.

Now it’s your turn. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Is there a menu service you have used? Do you use a menu plan?

Post in the comments below.

Lunches and snacks for school.  They can be a hassle during a busy week.  Using leftovers and having a plan on the fridge allow me to think about this once, and spend 10-15 minutes packing them up daily.

Check. Healthy school week lunches – done. I know what my girls are being served, that they like it, and that it’s nutritious. My girls are 8 and 9, and they can be picky. They want some of the flashy packaged foods. I give in occasionally, providing the organic, non- high fructose corn syrup, preservative-free version. We call it upgraded junk food. I don’t want my girls to ever think these food products are healthy. I also am really clear that life doesn’t end with the ingestion of junk food, or cake. It’s a delicate balance with girls.

Anyway, I try to make lunches the night before, or quickly put it together in the morning, by not thinking (thinking in the morning can add on another 15 minutes to getting out the door) and following my menu plan. The use of leftovers is key.

I see lunch as a very important part of my kids day. It effects their blood sugar, their learning and focusing ability and their energy levels. Perhaps a more important meal then dinner.

I’d love to know what you do for lunch. Please post any tips, comments below. And feel free to contact me  via email cydney@mompreneurwellness.com, twitter or facebook.

This week I’m sharing the menu planning strategies that I use to make my life easier and to eat healthy real food. In the past, I’d make a menu for the week, I would look through cookbooks, pick out recipes that looked delicious, or plan to make something I new we all loved, or some other vision of what a great dinner looks like. I was often derailed from that plan in a day or so. I often spent a ton of money at the grocery store, buying all sorts of ingredients. At the end of the week we would be left with a bunch of food in the fridge. I’d come home most nights from after school stuff, totally overwhelmed and angry that I had to cook the *amazing* dinner I planned. Or I’d just say F*** it! And grab some take-out.

No more. I keep it simple. And I make yummy, soul enriching food. I share a peaceful(ish) dinner with my family. I only say F*** it once or twice a month. In essence, I don’t think about my dinners that much anymore. I definitely don’t fill myself with a bunch of negative thoughts about the hassle of dinner, with the “what am I going to cook” energy drainer, or the “why-can’t-I-be-like-all-the-other-moms-who-are-perfect”crap. Nope, been there, done that, owned it, moved on.

Here are the top 4 reasons my menu plans failed (and sometimes still do).

1) Ambitious, unrealistic and idealized meal selections – To many ingredients, to much time, to many components = to many dishes! The thought of making the “amazing” dinner and cleaning up was enough to yell “Uncle” before the kids could even moan, “I’m hungry! What’s for dinner?”.

2) I took my “perfect mom” syndrome to the table when writing the menu. I imagined a fantasy life of cooking gourmet meals every night - Speaks for its self. Now my mantra is: Simple. Simple. Simple. Cook once, eat twice. Everything needs to take 20 minutes or less for prep. Save the big cooking to one or two days a week, and only if you enjoy cooking!

3) I did not match up the reality of my schedule with my meal plan - This seems so obvious to me now. I used to forget to budget my time (and energy) for the meal preparation/eating/dishes. I was more interested in  what I thought, or wanted, dinner to look like. Total recipe for failure.

4) I’d make a plan, buy the groceries, and forget to look at it – I wouldn’t think about what I was cooking until it was time to cook. And often I’d realize, at that moment, the recipe was going to take to long. Or to much prep. Then I’d cry (JK, kinda).

Here is this weeks dinner menu, based on my afternoon/evening schedule. I post it on the fridge. I glance at it while I’m cooking or cleaning up the kitchen the night before, and plan ahead. Everything on it is prepared in 20 minutes or less (cooking time may be longer, but I plan for other things during those times). And the crock pot meals are ready when we get home and on the table in 10 minutes.

I’d love to know if you plan your meals. What works for you? What hasn’t worked? Share a strategy or comment below.

Cydney Smith, founder of Mompreneur Wellness, is a certified Holistic Health Coach offering private and group coaching to entrepreneur moms who want to leverage the power of healthy eating to fuel their success. She is the mother of 2 daughters and lives in southwestern New Hampshire. Connect with Cydney and her work through social media. Stop by the Mompreneur Wellness Community on Facebook and share your thoughts. Say hello on  twittter @Cydneysmith.

My 2 daughters, 8 and 9, start an 8 week session of activities at the YMCA today. Three nights a week we will be rolling in at dinnertime. They go to a Waldorf School, which cautions against overbooking the kids after a busy day at school. Generally, I love the girls to have lots of unstructured time after school, and to play outside as much as possible.

But right now, for the next 2 months, it’s a compromise. I need some exercise. I’ve been busy. Which is AWESOME. I’m launching a new group, writing more, coaching private clients and planning some big travel this spring. I need my child-free hours (and evenings) to work. So I exercise while they are in a class at the YMCA. The weather has been really wet for the northeast, and I worry that there will be many afternoons of indoor time. And frankly, I’m not in the space for it right now. Activities sound good.

The schedule may get crazy.  I hate the feeling that comes from rushing everyone around. I value dinnertime as a chance to eat nourishing meals, but also as a time for the kids to stop from the day’s activities and transition to a relaxed evening. I am busy. I will have things to work on later. Yet, it’s still important that I stop, connect with them at dinner and that I slow down. Eating in a relaxed environment is important for healthy digestion. And I want my kids to learn basic social skills and manners for the dinner table. And I know that comes from habit, from practice – not from me nagging. Not from us slopping some food onto a plate, swallowing it and moving on.

Dinner time is a chance, even with kids, even when its busy, to cultivate being present. To pause. I’m not saying it’s all quite and proper-like over here. We talk, we giggle, and kids get out of their seat. I remind, OK, I may nag. But I think we also create a protective bubble around ourselves, a place apart from school, work, dishes and laundry, from money and obligations. We are sharing a meal. We are pausing to nourish our core existence and our time as a family. Simple and profound for a Monday morning, I know.

Which brings me to the menu part of this post. Meal planning is KEY. It takes the dinner hour from causing me stress and occupying valuable (and at times unavailable) brain space to getting done. Without much thought. I post the meal plan on the fridge. I glance at it the night before or in the morning and see if there are any steps that can be done ahead of time. I keep it super simple. A few ingredients, quick and easy steps. I enjoy cooking when I have a chance to savor and be creative, when the outcome is a lovely meal and a glass of wine. Weeknights, it’s all about getting it done.

I won’t, and don’t grab fast food – ever. It’s a bottom line for me. I will grab take out some times from restaurants I know have some quality food. But that still takes time, and costs more, and you don’t always know what’s in the food (how much salt? What kind of oils? Where is the meat from?). I save that for days when it ‘has’ to happen, or I crave a favorite dish.

Satisfying my intention to nourish myself, and my family, with healthy food and the ritual of a family dinner takes some time, some planning, and some organization. But it doesn’t take complicated recipes, ingredients or a June Cleaver inspired domesticity.

What does dinner look like at your home this week? Share in the comments section below.

Monday: Slow Cooker Turkey Meatloaf w/Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli

(4:30-5:30 Gymnastics (girls)/Treadmill (me); home @ 6)

Dinner by 6:30. Prep in morning, roast potatoes while writing this blog.

Recipe for “More Please” Meatloaf from Living Without Magazine, Winter 2007.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Rice Pasta Marinara with Sausage; Salad.

(5-6:00 swimming; home w/Dad @ 6:45; I have yoga 5:15-6:45; home 7)

The kid’s favorite. I’ll join them, but will eat just as a salad, as this dish feels a little heavy to me. Prep after school– pre-cook pasta, and dump ingredients into slow cooker. Recipe from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker.

Wednesday: Homemade Nori Rolls w/avocado, cucumber, carrot or smoked salmon; Miso soup. (Home after school, 3:30)

Girls will help make these. Very easy, yummy (made w/sweetened brown rice). I make extra rolls for lunch. Slice in the morning so the avocado doesn’t brown, and rolls stay moist.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Curried Chicken w/Butternut Squash and Peas. Brown Rice.

(5-6:00 swimming/treadmill for me; home by 6:45)

I usually adjust the curry for the girls when cooking. The Brown Rice is from the night before. Reheat on stove top. Dinner by 7:00.

Recipe from Living Without Magazine, Winter 2007.

Friday: Homemade Oven Fried Gluten Free Chicken Fingers w/dip. Kale Chips. Dessert.

Friday’s dinner is often leftovers, or something that I can make another day. I leave it open in case an event comes up, or we decide to hang out in town and eat out. Recipes from Living Without Magazine, Fall 2006.

** If you have any question about this menu or the recipes leave a comment here or connect with me though the social media links below or to the right.

Cydney Smith is the founder of Mompreneur Wellness, and a certified holistic health and wellness coach. She works with entrepreneur moms to leverage the power of healthy eating to fuel their success in life and in business. Sign-up for her weekly newsletter or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or email. When not writing, traveling or coaching clients, Cydney can be found with her 2 girls and husband in southwestern NH.