National Nutrition Month: Family Menu Planning

Source Stuart Miles, freedigitalphotos.com

In honor of National Nutrition month, I am sharing our one-week menu as well as my thoughts on the importance of teaching your child how to develop healthy habits that will contribute to living a healthy lifestyle. One of my favorite quotes is by William Londen ,“To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.”

My goal this month is to shed some light on nutrition when it comes to our lives and our families. According to NVCC.edu Nutrition is “the science of food, the nutrients in foods and how the body uses those nutrients. It includes the process of ingestion, digestion, absorption, metabolism, transport, storage and excretion of those nutrients.” As a mother, I want my children to learn how to eat and live healthy from my husband and me. One of the best ways for me to set this example is to model it daily. As a busy, working mom life can get really hectic, so to combat the stress of the day and maintain a healthy lifestyle I plan a weekly menu. Below is a sample of what we eat to stay healthy.

I try as much as possible not to eat processed foods, and sweets and desserts are only luxury during the holidays. I believe that eating food in its most natural state helps the body breakdown the food we eat faster

Additional Resource:
Idaho nutrition guide for families – This is one of my favorite food resource guides

MARCH – 1 Week Menu

(My kids really like milk, and I prefer herbal tea; but these are just preferences in my home.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
BREAKFAST Soy/Rice Milk & Multi-Grain CheeriosFresh Pears	Soy/Rice Milk & Whole Wheat WafflesFresh Blueberries	Soy/Rice Milk & Whole Wheat WafflesSliced Apples	Soy/Rice Milk & Oatmeal with dried fruit, & a Banana	Soy/Rice Milk & Multi-Grain CheeriosFresh Pears	Soy/Rice Milk & Oatmeal with dried fruit grapes	Soy/Rice Milk & Blue-Berry Pancakes kiwis slices
LUNCHJuice/herbal teaTofu wrap sandwiches (inside cooked tofu with onions, baby spinach leaves, & tomatoesSliced Apples	Juice/herbal teaHomemade PIZZA with spinach pizzaOranges slices	Juice/herbal teaBurritos (bean & cheese) Cucumber slices	Juice/herbal teaSpinach salad (mix of carrots, cucumbers, avocados, grapes etc)	Juice/herbal teaTVP (veggie protein made to taste like ground beef) whole wheat wrapsSliced carrots	Juice/herbal teaTofu & Stir-frySweet peppers, chives, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, & carrotsSliced plums	Juice/herbal teaQuinoa & mixed vegetablesSliced mango
DINNERSoy/Rice MilkSlow-cooked soup. Wide variety of vegetables & tofu that I cooked earlier.Pears	Soy/Rice Milk Kale greens, seasoned potatoes, and a veggie loaf Sweet potatoes	Soy/Rice MilkSteamed Broccoli and Whole Wheat SpaghettiGarden Salad	Soy/Rice MilkBrussel-sprouts, Cabbage & CarrotsSweet Corn	Soy/Rice MilkRatatouille/ egglplant StewGarden Salad	Soy/Rice MilkSquash, grilled asparagus, and black bean and brown rice/quinoa with red pepper and beansmandarin oranges	Soy/Rice MilkVegetarian taco-salad.Cucumber slices