Get Natured

My approach to meal planning and a simple template for you

My house is really quiet right now and there is a light rain falling outside. I'll be honest, it doesn't suck! Over the past few months life seems to have gotten busier. Not overtly but more in a things-are-leaking-in-from-all-sides sort of way. The little blocks of time I have for myself seem to have shrunken or, rather, are filled with things that feel more consuming than enriching. Bouncing from dry cleaning stops to meetings to homework to email checking, time has to be well-scheduled and tasks prioritized. I crave big blocks of time for writing and reading and projects and little blocks of time for coffee with friends and quiet dinners with my husband. This phase of life is messy and busy and squeezy but it is beautiful too. My boys still believe in magical things like Santa and still have so many first-times that light up their faces and make them say, "oh guacamole!" (a phrase coined by my youngest). We have done a lot of exploring (my word for 2012) this year and I am very thankful for that. My life is full of "too-good-to-be-trues" and realness too. We hike and laugh and play but we work and complain and run late and mess up the house too.

To keep healthy meals on the table amidst the "getting real" of life, I have to plan ahead. I have tried all kinds of meal planning- from walking the aisles of the grocery store to find things that look good, to planning a full month of meals ahead of time. I don't like to grocery shop for huge lists of things or go to the store every other day for just a few items. I've found that planning for about a week works well for me. I can pull a plan together fairly quickly and I don't need to shop for hours and hours to pull it off.

For my meal plan, I use a simple printable page (paper, despite my 12 years of IT experience!) that also helps me to build my grocery list. For the groceries, my husband and I share a common list using the Any List iPhone app. That works well for us!

Because I know you're busy too, I am sharing my meal planning template (with instructions), here.

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You'll see that each dinner has two lines- one blank and one labeled "kids". I try to give my kids what we are eating most of the time but they are simple eaters and don't care much for sauces and such. While my goal is to cook only one family meal (and to help my kids learn to love a wider variety of foods), I also give them at least one thing that I know they will eat along with the new stuff.

I'll be back soon with a recipe for vegan tempeh wellington!

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, by Allison

Breakfast

My favorite fall muffins + protein for school lunches and snacks

Yesterday morning, just before the sun came up, we had a mini storm. It was just a little rain. Just a little thunder and lightening. Just enough to make everything smell fresh for just a little while. I knew it wouldn't last and I knew that it would still be 90+ degrees later on, but I was still tempted to put on a fuzzy sweater.

For now, the forecast remains steady at 90-something degrees for days. As always, though, I am a little sad to see summer go. Not the heat so much as the feeling of freedom and the way that the open agenda urges us to spend more time playing instead of have-to-ing. Fall, though, is cozy and spiced, roasted and stewed, served in a bowl. I am ready to indulge in that (and wear my new, perfectly navy blue, wrappy sweater) too!

This was my first grader's third week of school and packing his lunch has been a little bit of a challenge, though not in the way that I expected. I know there are tons of resources out there to show me how to create virtual habitats with animals made from veggies or little love notes that can be slipped in between containers. My issue is simpler than that. My son has 15 minutes or less to eat his entire lunch before his class is sent out to play. He is more likely to dawdle and daydream than to focus and eat quickly.

Muffins are one of my favorite vehicles for all kinds of nutritious things. I make them low in sugar and add protein to make them extra filling (and to get more calories into a small package for my kids). I also add fruits or even veggies and use whole grain flours in the mix. Here are my favorite muffins for fall with some notes on adding protein to help make them a good choice for lunch boxes and snacks!

1. Kid-tested pumpkin muffins (click through for recipe)

2. Cranberry tangerine muffins (click through for recipe)

3. Pumpkin cranberry "scuffins" (click through for recipe)

4. Spiced maple muffins (click through for recipe)

Notes on protein: Two of these recipes call for protein powder. You can replace 1/4 cup of flour in the other recipes with protein powder, if you wish. I like Sun Warrior "natural" flavor but you can use your powder of choice. If you prefer not to use protein powders, you can increase the protein content of these muffins by placing the wet ingredients in a blender and adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup of raw almonds and blending until smooth before adding to the dry ingredients. If you choose not to use protein powder in the recipes that call for it, replace the powder with flour in the same amount.

Check out the Get Natured recipes page for more muffins!

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, by Allison