how to plan your basic meal

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

Meal planning also depends on several factors like the number of people eating, meal times, special dietary concerns, budget, obtainable foods, recipes on hand & likes & dislikes of everyone who will be eating. Start by choosing foods & recipes that you like & know how to prepare well & that fit in to everyone's dietary designs. If five or more people have special needs, like diabetics, plan ahead for substitutions either in the food preparation or food substitution for that individual or for those individuals.

Add variety, . Have other relatives members jump in & prepare meals some nights & on weekends. Children enjoy making macaroni & cheese, so host mac-n-cheese night on Wednesdays, for example. Then alternate different vegetable combinations, colors & textures to vary the menu on a weekly basis (no need to let boredom take over on Wednesdays with the same system!)

There's a few things to note when making meal choices & menu planning. First, some foods may be advertised a definite way, but that doesnÕt mean you can't experiment. For instance, eggs & sausage can be served for dinner, not breakfast. & waffles can be made from healthy wheat grains & eaten for lunch with fresh fruits in lieu of sugary syrup & heavy butter for breakfast.

Also note seasonal food selections for savings. Generate menus & meals based on what's on special that week or month. Hint: stock up & store or freeze special-priced items & relatives favorites when possible & storage room & the budget allows. But donÕt over do it. With convenience stores & supermarkets for food shopping in practically every neighborhood anymore, there is no need to hoard. An elderly saying, ''Haste makes waste'' might apply if you see a great buy, purchase multiple items, then let them become outdated & must toss them out.

To help with relatives food budget concerns, clip coupons from newspapers, weekend inserts, & any place you can find them. Downloaded coupons from the Net to save funds, , from places like CoolSavings.com & CouponCart.com. RefundingMakesCents offers an affordable subscription to a tidy print magazine for coupon deals, trades & lots more, with a secret code to their website for Net coupon-codes for plenty of online companies like Amazon.com (cookware) & Barnes & Noble (cookbooks).

Five fun way to save is by trading coupons & working out food deals with friends, relatives, neighbors, your church group & somebody else who'd like to join in. Food cooperatives & farm markets obtainable in your area may offer special pricing to groups or large purchases. So team up for better purchasing power & split everything up between group members. If you're not in to that much organization, go one-on-one with a neighbor, other mate or relative. Buy a large bag of potatoes, onions, oats, & / or other foods, then share.

Here is five special item to note with regards to dietary planning. Its unfortunate, but speedy foods, those that are high in fat content (fried, greasy foods), are often cheaper than nice, healthy food choices. For example, lean beef costs over high-fat beef; cereals high in nutritional value are often priced much higher than the low-cost, sugary brand names. & low income & homeless people are victims of this situation, plenty of times needing to turn to the less healthier food choices for survival. So whenever possible, your designs might need to include donating a portion to homeless shelters & churches who would probably be over willing to take extras off your hands.