Meal Planning

At my son's six month check up his pedi told us he can now eat what we eat. She said it is really important for us all to sit down to meals together to establish good eating habits for our son. Well, I am not a three meals a day kind of girl. I eat small meals through out the day, an egg white omelet here, Greek yogurt and fruit there and by the time I get home I don't really want to sit down to a typical dinner (usually at that point I want dessert).

In order to start my son off on the right path I knew I would need to make a change, and with only 30 minutes after we get home to prepare dinner to keep our night time schedule on track I knew I would need to do some planning.

I started by making a chart of what foods I had introduced to my son and have figured out he is not allergic to them. It serves as an easy reference point to be sure I offer him a nice variety during the week.

Then I plot out the week writing new foods in red so they stand out in case we end up with any allergic reactions. I use this form. I also plan out the meals for my hubby and I (with only 30 minutes to make them it helps to look at the plan and put anything that needs to defrost in the fridge the night before.) Some examples from this week for my husband and I include taco soup, pecan crusted tilapia with roasted Parmesan potato, and Skinny Chicken Parm. (I'll post the recipes below) Some examples for my son include carrots and rice, pumpkin with greek yogurt and apple and oatmeal (before we know it he'll be eating chicken parm right along with us).

For baby food prep I steam or roast his fruits/veggies and then blend them, depending on the size of the batch using either a blender (I am super lucky to have gotten a vitamix as a gift) an immersion blender or the magic bullet (I really want the baby bullet but can't justify it since I have the other equipment). Then the purees get popped in ice cube trays (either handy ones with lids pictured below) or a regular ice cube tray wrapped with saran wrap (do not use foil it sticks to the food). As you can see below the cubes are easy to store (though they are starting to get some frost in the Tupperware, I may need to rethink that) and I just put the next day's cubes in the fridge at night and they are ready to go for the day!

Recipes: I am the type of cook who just throws in a little of this and a little of that so forgive me if I am not specific on measurements


Taco Soup:
Chicken Breast, Corn, Black Beans, Tomato, Chicken Stock and Taco Seasoning
Put it all in a crock pot and let it cook all day. The chicken will fall apart when it is done.


Pecan Crusted Tilapia and Parmesan Roasted Potato:
Pecans
Tilapia
Potatoes
Parmesan Cheese
Olive Oil
Other Spices

Simply roll the Tilapia in finely ground Pecans and any other spices you may want to add (rosemary is always nice with pecans) Thinly slice the potato and place it in a bag with a little olive oil some Parmesan cheese and any other spices you want to add. Place both on baking sheets and bake it all for 25 minutes at 350. (Don't forget to use cooking spray under the potatoes or they may stick because of the cheese)


Skinny Chicken Parm:
Chicken Breast
Quinoa Flakes
Tomato Sauce
Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Roll the chicken breasts in the quinoa flakes and give them a quick searing in a frying pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Then place them in a pan with Tomato Sauce on the bottom and add a little more on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 350. I served mine on top of brown rice pasta.