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Four Tips To Make Nutritious And Satisfying Meals

You know meal planning can help you create an excellent grocery list and can keep you from veering off your healthy eating plan. However, family meal planning is not the easiest thing to do, especially if you’re working around food allergies, picky eaters or a stringent budget.


If you need help to create nutritious and satisfying meals for your family, consider these four tips before you plan next week’s menu.

Add Legumes

You don’t have to eat a plate full of plain black beans to implement this suggestion. Instead, there are many great ways you can get even picky eaters to enjoy legumes and to start asking for them for multiple weekly meals.

For example, consider serving hummus made from chickpeas as a dip, making a hearty split pea soup or mixing together wonderfully smoky flavors with kidney beans to create baked beans as a side dish.

Include Whole Grains

Whole grains are proven to be incredibly healthy, especially for your heart. There are many whole grains available at your local grocery store, including quinoa, oats, bulgur and brown rice.

One of the easiest ways to increase whole grain consumption by your children is to serve them organic wheat bread made from 100 percent whole grains. Whole grains take longer to digest than enriched grains do, keeping your family satisfied longer.

Anchor with Protein

Every meal should be anchored with a protein source. This can be easy to do if you eat meat, but even meat-free meals can have hearty sources of protein. Try to include eggs, legumes, green peas, nuts, seeds, tofu, tempeh, or edamame at every meal including breakfast.

These will help give you the power to get through the day as well as sleep well at night.  Everyone needs protein, and it tastes so good at the same time. 

Therefore, make sure to always eat some protein.

Never Forget Fiber

Fiber can be found in wonderful quantities in many of the whole grains mentioned earlier. There are many other places where you can find excellent amounts of fiber.

Fiber that will help you round out your plate and add in delicious flavors to create an unforgettable meal. Many fruits and vegetables have hearty levels of soluble and insoluble fiber.

Fiber can make you feel full and can also be healthy for your digestive tract and heart.

Eating nutritiously doesn’t mean you have to rely on bland foods every day of the week. Many healthy foods are plenty satisfying and come with delicious flavors and textures that can inspire every member of your family.

Additionally, you can rely heavily on spices to amp up the flavors of your family meals. Many spices even come with great health benefits.

By following these four tips, you can get every member of your family on board with healthy eating and can keep their stomachs pleasantly filled at the same time.

About the author

About the author

Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. Rachelle tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing. When she isn’t on her porch writing in the sun, you can find her shopping, at the beach or the gym. Follow her on Twitter @RachelleWilber and Facebook.

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