Part 3 of a 3-Part Series on Essential Nutrition by Katy Gillis, Certified Natural Health Professional, Amen University Brain Health Licensed Trainer, and Certified Biblical Coach.
Menu Planning & Grocery Shopping Strategy
In the bible's account of a wife of noble character in Proverbs chapter 31, she prepares food for her household. One of the greatest gifts we can give our loved ones is the gift of healthy food that nourishes the body, food that opens the body's detoxification pathways, food that doesn't add any barriers to but supports the body's God-given blueprint of self-healing and healthy cell turnover.
*Be sure to see part 1 and 2 of this Nutrition Essentials video series for more information on this but for today's lesson, let's get to the application: meal planning and grocery shopping!
Here's the video on my menu planning and grocery shopping strategy:
How to Menu Plan:
Each week, use your favorite cookbooks or recipe databases to plan for 5-6 healthy dinners, 3 breakfasts on rotation, and 3 lunches on rotation.
Breakfasts might be scrambled eggs with sauteed red pepper and fresh basil, a side of fresh berries, and a slice of freshly baked bread, or homemade granola with high-protein yogurt and berries, or a pot of sprouted oatmeal with fresh apples, cinnamon, and walnuts.
Lunch ideas are either a salad, smoothie, or leftovers from the night before. Plan for each member of your family. I explain a little more about my process in the video :)
Add healthy snacks to your weekly menu. The snacks I stock in my kitchen are fresh fruit (usually 7-8 choices at a time), raw vegetables (carrots and red and green peppers) hardboiled eggs, high-protein yogurt, cultured cottage cheese, smoothie essentials like protein powder and frozen fruits, dried fruit such as unsweetened mango, coconut, apricots, and dates, and nuts...lots of nuts such as pistachios and unsalted raw almonds, pecans, walnuts, and brazil nuts. All in glass containers on the counter for easy access by hungry kids anytime.
On rare occasions, I'll purchase some all-natural or organic chips, granola bars, or other packaged snack items but this is not the usual.
Menu planning tips:
Use cookbooks or websites and create your menu. Some of my favorites are the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and the One Pot Cookbook. I check new cookbooks out from the library monthly to keep things interesting in the kitchen.
Play with flavors. "She brings her food from afar" might mean bringing plenty of fresh foods and cultural flavors to her table. My family enjoys Italian, Mexican, French, and Taiwanese cuisines, so recipes with these flavors are usually on the menu.
You can batch-cook soups or pasta dishes to have the same thing for dinner two nights in a row. Spaghetti and chicken soup are usually my go-to batch-cooked items. - Have something in the freezer for the nights when you get tired before cooking time. - Have a few “default dinners” like spaghetti, chicken noodle soup, or a simple salad and a protein for the evenings when you don’t feel like being creative.
Grocery Shopping:
1. Create your grocery shopping list for the things you will need for your weekly menu. 2. Shop only for the things you need. This keeps you on track and budget.
3. Try to go to the grocery store 1 or maybe 2 times a week, but no more.
Kitchen items you will need:
A large soup/pasta pot with lid, a large and medium-sized Dutch oven with lid, a large cast-iron frying pan, a sheet pan, and glass containers for storing nuts, dried fruit, and leftovers.
Baking, cooking, etc:
It has been such fun to replace the items my husband or children enjoy eating with healthier, freshly baked versions of the same thing. Bread, muffins, cinnamon rolls, granola, crackers, granola bars, etc.
I hope that this 3-part Nutrition Essentials series has encouraged you and given you some new ideas and even a renewed passion for the wonderful blessings of life and health that can come from a well-managed kitchen! In love - Katy
Watch the other videos in this series:
Part 2: What to eat and what NOT to eat
As promised, here are my websites with some extra resources:
1. Renew Christian Coaching for our personal coaching programs
2. The blog section contains healthy recipes and other resources for beauty from a biblical perspective
3. Instagram @renewchristiancoaching