Detailed weekly menu planning for kids‘ meals is not always a priority for today’s busy moms. A trip to their favorite fast food restaurant before and after school a few times a week become the solution all to often for moms feeding kids on the go. However, with a little bit of quick planning and preparation, you can create a healthier menu for your children.
If time is at a premium, I recommend trying Menu in a Box, a membership site where all the work of menu planning is taken care of for you. If it saves you from eating out just once in a month, it will pay for itself. You can also do the menu planning on your own — here are some tips:
Make it Fun
Use a variety of cookie cutters to cut out small sandwiches for lunch. Rename the food items to make new, more pleasant associations for your children. Be more fun and creative and they will join in. Think “Porcupine Spikes” instead of asparagus, “trees” instead of broccoli. Check out a cookbook for kids from the library, and let your children come up with a meal during the weekly menu planning session. Use whipped yogurt and minced fruit pieces to make fun faces on their favorite pancakes for a special, yet nutritious, treat.
Make Healthy Snacks
Put some carrots in a few zipped bags and keep them in the fridge. Cheese sticks, yogurt, grapes, and raisins can also be snacks when you are in a hurry. Dried banana slices or fruit trail mix also make quick, healthy snacks. Stay away from dried fruit covered in sugar, like dried mangoes. They taste good, but the healthy component is lost in snacks like these. Grab the snacks on the way out the door to soccer practice.
Make Contingency Plans
As you plan your meals for the week, decide on a meal or two that you can make in a hurry when you do not have much time to cook. These back up meals can save you some time and frustration when you do not have an hour or two to make dinner. Frozen tortellini can be a lifesaver when you are in a hurry as it goes from freezer to done in about five minutes. Add some cheese and your favorite pasta sauce, some lettuce on the side, and dinner is served. Turkey wraps are another quick option. Sliced turkey, provolone or cheddar cheese, tortillas, romaine lettuce, and a ranch dressing and dill weed spread are the ingredients for a quick and easy main
dinner dish.
Have some fun with your kids’ meals, plan for a few easy dinners each week, and create grab-and-go healthy snacks to keep your kids healthy when they are on the move. A few minutes of prep work each week means a less stressed mom when it comes to dinnertime.
Sample Weekly Menu for Kids
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snack |
| Monday | Yogurt and toast | Animal-shaped sandwiches and apples | Spaghetti and meatballs | Carrots |
| Tuesday | Cheerios and fruit | Cheese sandwich on wheat bread and banana | Turkey wraps and pita chips | Cucumbers and hummus |
| Wednesday | Wheat bagel and banana | Crackers, turkey, cheese and orange | Chicken noodle casserole | Raisins and Cheerios trail mix |
| Thursday | Oatmeal and apple | Chicken salad sandwich and baked chips | Chicken salad | Dried banana chips |
| Friday | Scrambled eggs and toast | Tuna, wheat crackers, grapes | Bean and vegetable chili and bread | Strawberries |
| Saturday | Whole grain cereal with berries | Pita pocket stuffed with veggies | Turkey burgers and baked chips | Fruit salad |
| Sunday | Apple slices, granola, and vanilla yogurt | Pasta salad and bread | Honey glazed chicken and mixed vegetables | Wheat crackers and cheese |
How do you balance menu planning for kids, and where do you get fun ideas to try? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
Recommended Reading & Resources:
- Weekly Menu Planning Made Easy: Blog post on how to navigate the challenges of menu planning to make it work for your family.
- Menu in a Box: Online meal planning that is done for you. What could be easier?
- Family Menu Planning: Tips on meal planning, with sample dinner entrees menu.
