It is no secret that I am a fan of meal prepping and with having two young kids, running a couple of business’s, a house that needs to be picked up, mouths that need to be fed, and dinner that needs to be made…and well, all other parts of being a mom and wife most days a little crazy.
But I do try to keep the crazy at bay most of the time by preparing my food for the week ahead of time, that is just one thing that helps not only staying on track with my nutrition, so I’m eating nutritious food but also cuts down on cooking time so I can spend my evenings with the kiddos.
It can look like a lot of time to spend on preparing food for the week, but it is a worthwhile investment for me:
- It makes sure we eat well throughout the week.
- It saves me time putting together the lunches on the weekends.
- It saves me time with my own lunches.
- It means I have variety and flavor with the food I eat.
So here is what your meal prep day looked like:
You can help to train up your children now to have needed skills in the kitchen and spend quality time with them at the same time. I think getting them in the habit of anything it is to start them when they are very young. But, if your kids are young or old, anytime is the best time to start.
At our house, we have been having our oldest daughter start cutting up food, make protein bars and just in general anything that we put on our table. Since, having my little one it has been a little bit harder to get a full day of food prep in, but we make it work when she is napping or just is getting up from a nap and she is all smiles.
Here are some ways that we help our daughter how to meal prep and planning. This will only help her succeed in the future and also it is a family fun activity that she LOVES to do:
HAVING AN ASSISTANT IS NICE
The first way to help your child to learn about meal planning and prep is to have them help Mom and Dad in the kitchen. Choose age and skill appropriate tasks for them. Remember – a five year old who is experienced in the kitchen may be more successful than a nine year old who has never helped at all. So, be sensitive about the amount of practice they’ve had.
Because I learn best by seeing and doing, I tend to teach my kids kitchen tasks in a hands on way. When I ask them to do something for the first time, I may do it first, and then set everything back so they need to do it themselves. As skill levels grow, kids are able to do those same tasks independently.
1-on-1 TIME
Since things can sometimes get hectic during meal preparation times, I find that I am more successful at teaching skills when I don’t have the other child (baby Stella), when I am working with just Adrianna (my oldest) in the kitchen at a time. It is much better to teach cutting and measuring out food with just one, unless your child is at an age that is more independently. If I have both children (5 years and 7 months) while meal prepping, I have to constantly stop to help one or the other child.
HELP WITH MENU PLANNING AND PREP WITH A LITTLE GAME
At our house, menu planning time also means planning the grocery list. Have your child shadow you as you work through the process that you usually do at your house for menu planning, as well as for preparing a grocery list for that menu. It can be eye opening to children to see how much effort goes into getting food on the table each day.
When your children are very acquainted with finding things in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, you can even have them act as an assistant for you. This is like hide and seek for little kids, so you can make a game out of it. I call out ingredients that I’m not sure if we still have or not. My daughter will tell me if we have plenty or need more.
JOINING THE PARTY TO THE GROCERY STORE
This is another one of those tasks that, to me, is not an efficient teaching tool when I usually do my shopping on a weekend and bring both kids, so I have to be efficient and have my list so I don’t forget anything (which I’ve done from time to time). I have to admit bringing one child is WAY easier and can be more of an educational tool. Plus, it gives the child a chance to be one-on-one with the parent.
GIVE THEM THEIR INDEPENDACE
In this instance, I have in mind something along the lines a child preparing their own breakfast or lunch. It’s not necessarily something that is planned out in advance. Rather, it might involve the child making their own turkey and cheese sandwich along with some carrot sticks, a dip, and yogurt.
PLAN THEIR OWN MEAL (FOR THE FAMILY) FROM START TO FINISH
Once they have a grasp on the idea of planning a meal, shopping for it, and preparing it, have your child work through planning and preparing a meal from start to finish with assistance as needed (or independently, if they are ready for that).
Even if they have been shadowing and helping you, they may still be surprised at the work involved.
CLEAN UP
Yes, that is right. They can also (if age appreciate), they can help with clean up. They can help and understand the ending of this process…which is not the fun part!
It can take many times of having your child help you prepare and can get frustrating but by cooking balanced family meals now, you set the stage for your children to develop healthful habits in the future!
I hope I have answered most of the questions about my weekly prep session. If there is something you want to know that I haven’t covered, just leave a question on the post here and I will do my best to answer it.