How to Involve Others with Meal Planning and Preparation

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March is Nutrition Month. This year Canadian Dietitians are talking about how healthy eating is so much more than JUST food. Our Winnipeg Dietitian Madelaine Morrish was interviewed on Global TV Winnipeg news and explained the benefits of sharing meals with others… and how to enlist help with meal planning and preparation.

Watch her interview on The 3C’s for involving others with meal planning here!

Connect: Why sharing meals together is important?

Planning and preparing meals with others helps to nurture healthy eating habits and cooking skills that last a lifetime. Planning meals together provides an opportunity to share food and cooking traditions, spend quality time with loved ones, learn and share important food skills, and helps to explore new meals to make meal prep more fun and less work. I have a few tips to share on how you can start to involve others in meal planning and preparation.

Start the conversation

Think about who you would like to involve in your meal prep and planning. Who would you like to learn from, teach, or explore foods with? Perhaps you would like to involve your children in the family meal prep and planning. You could start the meal planning conversation by asking them to help select a meal for the week. Or ask them which part of the meal prep they would like to contribute to. Being involved in the meal prep could be as simple as helping to mix ingredients together for things like pancakes, muffins or sauces. And even setting the table.

Plan time to connect with others to prepare meals

Day-to-day life can be very go-go-go. This can lead us to put any meal planning or thought into sharing meals together on the back burner. In order to prioritize sharing meals together, pull out your calendar and schedule times you can connect with others. You can dedicate time to review your calendar once a month, once a week -whatever feels practical for you. Your calendar can be a great visual tool. You can use it to schedule a cooking date with a friend or organize a once-a-month cooking club. You can schedule once a week get-together, such as Sunday dinners with family. Plan a time to invite relatives over to share the history of a family food. Or recipe and teach you how to prepare it. When we give ourselves the time to plan ahead, we can truly gain the benefits of spending more time with loved ones. All the while learning and enjoying cooking skills and food.

Before we can succeed with fuelling our bodies with nutrient dense foods, we need to look at what factors impact how we put healthy eating into practice. Today I have steps you can take to help you put healthy eating recommendations into practice.

Be mindful of your eating habits

To become more aware of your eating habits, try keeping a food and thought journal. Keeping a record of what you are eating and how you are feeling, both mentally and physically, can help you become more aware of your eating habits and how these behaviours are affecting you. The goal of using this tool is to practice being curious without being critical. Journaling can help you identify what factors in your life influence your dietary habits and can help you start to think about what actions you would like to take.

Plan what you eat

Take the time to plan out and think about meals and/or snacks you would like to have. Consider what meals suit your lifestyle and your cooking skills, and keep enjoyment in mind. Try planning meals you can look forward to and involve friends and family in the meal planning process. Involving your children, as an example, provides the opportunity to share important food skills and pass on traditions.

Enjoy your food

Remember that culture and food traditions can be part of healthy eating. You do not need to sacrifice the enjoyment of food in order to have a healthy diet. Take the time to be fully present at a meal by enjoying the taste and texture it offers and also enjoying the company you may be sharing the meal with.

I hope you have enjoyed this article on how to involve others in meal planning and preparation. Also, check out our article on GROCERY SHOPPING TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW! for more helpful tips. If you have any questions about the topics we covered, please email us at admin@alittlenutrition.com!