HELE

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Basic Meal Planning
• Good meal planning involves using resources
wisely to meet the following goals:
Provide good nutrition that meets the
needs of each family member.
Plan meals that fit into the family
food budget and lifestyle.
Prepare satisfying meals that
look and taste appealing.
Use time, resources, and
energy efficiently.
Use kitchen tools and
equipment safely.

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Consider Your Lifestyle
• Your health & nutrition needs, meal
patterns, menu planning, and even
preparation are unique to your family and
lifestyle.
• Use this planning information to help you
make the best use of your time and
resources.
• Some families plan and prepare
meals together, while others
take turns doing different tasks.
• Do what works best for your
family and lifestyle.

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Meal Choices
• What influences our food choices?
Family & Culture
Friends
Religious Beliefs
Emotions
Geographical Area
Advertising
Lifestyle & Values

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Meal Patterns
• Most people follow meal patterns, or habits that
determine when and what food they eat.
• A meal pattern for one day might be:
Breakfast: Cereal, milk & juice.
Lunch: Sandwich, fruit & milk.
Dinner: Hamburger, baked potato,
green beans & milk.
Snack: Fruit or popcorn.

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Meal Patterns
• Goal: Get the nutrition you need to
keep your body fit and energetic!
 Meal patterns can be adapted to fit
different lifestyles and preferences.
 Each meal can be light or full,
depending family needs.
 Achieve a balance of the food
groups and nutrition
throughout the week.

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Meal Patterns
• There is no one way to eat smart and
stay healthy.
Americans organize their meals to eat
three meals a day.
Europeans organize their meals to eat
3-5 times a day.
“Grazing” means you eat several
mini-meals throughout the day,
snacking with healthy foods.
• Skipping meals is not healthy.
May cause mental and
physical fatigue, and
poor concentration.

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Meal Patterns: Breakfast
• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!
 Eating breakfast “jump starts” your metabolism and
provides your body with the energy it needs to be
both mentally and physically active.
 If time is a problem, a cereal bar or apple is
better than a cup of coffee or soft drink.
• A healthy breakfast should include:
 Protein
 Calcium
 Vitamin C
 Carbohydrates

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Meal Patterns: Lunch
• In many countries such as
France, Spain, and Italy, lunch
is the largest, most important
meal of the day.
• For many in the United States ,
lunch is the noontime meal to
grab & go.

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Meal Patterns: Dinner
• Dinner is often a leisurely meal that
can be shared with family members
and friends.
Depending on where you live your evening
meal may be called dinner or supper.
Dinner may be light or full.
Sometimes traditional
breakfast foods are served
for the evening meal.

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Meal Patterns: Snacks
• Snacks are foods eaten between meals
to satisfy nutritional needs as well as
hunger.
• Healthy snacks:
Fruit - fresh, frozen, dried, canned or juices.
Raw vegetables - like carrots & celery.
Muffins, or toast with peanut butter.
Raisins or pretzels.
Crackers and cheese.

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Eating Together
• Studies show that structured family time
together increases the strength and
resilience of families.
• Families have their own styles for meals.
It often depends on:
The menu.
Number of people.
Space available.
Schedules.
• What are some of your
experiences with family
holidays and meals?

13. ©Learning ZoneXpress
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Health & Nutrition
USDA The Food Guide Pyramid
A Guide to Daily Food Choices for Meal Planning
By eating the
recommended servings,
you get the “50+”
nutrients you need
everyday to stay healthy.
Balance physical
activity with
food.
Eat a variety of
foods from the
Food Guide
Pyramid.

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Health & Nutrition
• Consider the nutrition needs of the family:
Younger children need more, small meals.
Athletes need more fluids and calories.
Teens need foods high in calcium.
-They are at peak bone mass formation.
Medical conditions, like
diabetes and allergies.
Vegetarians eat plant foods
rich in fiber and complex
carbohydrates.

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Health & Nutrition
• Drink plenty of water throughout the day!
Nearly half your body weight is water, this
needs to be replenished daily!
Drink water before and after exercising.
Do not drink soft drinks in place
of water, soft drinks contain
sugar and caffeine.
Drinking low-fat milk is a good
way to get water and nutrients.

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Plan Your Menu
• A menu should be appealing and appetizing.
• Include foods that compliment one another in
taste, appearance, and nutrition.
• To create variety in a meal consider:
Color
Texture
Temperature
Size & Shape
Flavor
• We eat with our eyes!

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Plan Your Menu
• What’s wrong with these meals?
Meal 1 Meal 2
Cauliflower Meatballs
Mashed Potatoes Peas
Baked Cod Raspberries
Vanilla Ice Cream Biscuits
White Bread

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Plan Your Menu
• Plan your meals to match:
Skills with kitchen equipment.
Food experience & knowledge.
Familiarity with ingredients.
Budget
Time
• Step 1: Create a menu for a week
with these in mind.

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Budgeting Resources
• Plan Ahead/Shop Wisely:
Step 2: Make a list of ingredients needed
for the recipes in your meal plan.
• Cost/Budget
Consider your food budget
Consider your Time/Energy
-Food preparation takes time.
-Who will help?

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Grocery Shopping
• Where to Shop:
Grocery Stores & Supermarkets:
- Have a wide variety of food items.
Specialty Stores:
- Gourmet, bakery, organic, farmers
market, convenience stores, or ethnic.
Warehouse Stores:
- Endless choices of grocery items.
Food Co-ops:
- Owned by the employees.
Online Shopping:
- Delivered to your door.

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Grocery Shopping
• Staples:
Basic ingredients in a kitchen.
-Flour, salt, sugar, milk, eggs, bread, etc.
• Perishables:
Ingredients that last a short time,
and often need refrigeration.
-Eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables, etc.
• Paper Goods:
Plastic wrap, napkins, foil, etc.

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Advertising
• Food store advertising encourages
impulse buying.
Popular food items are placed at
eye level, so you see and buy.
Slow relaxing music encourages
people to buy more.
Name other techniques used.
-Food sampling?
• Stick to your grocery list!

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Read the Label
• Comparison Shop:
Compare the advantages and disadvantages
of quality, nutrition, price, and convenience
of food stores and products.
Compare brands.
Check unit pricing.
• Proper Storage
Put frozen foods away first.
Then refrigerate perishables.
Store canned and
boxed foods last.

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Meal Preparation
Who is cooking? What is their ability level?
Ask for help when needed.
Review equipment you need. Do you know
how to use it?
-Electric mixer & small appliances.
-Knives & special tools.
-Cooking tools & utensils.
-Cooking appliances,
range, & microwave.

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Kitchen Safety
• Safety Considerations:
Always wash your hands before handling food.
Always use potholders on hot items.
-Oven doors, stove tops & items from the
microwave can be very hot.
Use only microwave-safe dishes
in the microwave.
Always use caution with knives
and cutting.
Keep work area organized and
work within your time and
energy limits.

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Time Management
• Step 3: Make a time management plan
• What time will your meal be served?
• How much time will it take to:
Shop?
Prepare each menu item?
Cook each menu item?
Set the table?
Clean up?

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Schedule Preparation Time
•Set up a time schedule, it might look like this:
(Always allow a little extra time for unexpected delays.)
3–4:00 pm Shop for ingredients.
(or before)
4-5:00 pm Prepare lasagna, and bake.
5:00 pm Set table.
5:10 pm Prepare salad, and wash and
chill grapes (multi-tasking).
5:40 pm Cook green beans.
5:50 pm Cut and warm French bread.
6:10 pm Dinner is ready.
6:40 pm Serve chilled grapes.
7-8:00 pm Clean up!

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Saving Time: Multi-Tasking
• “Personal Chefs” specialize in creating an entire
week of delicious foods in a few short hours by
using multi-tasking techniques.
• Multi-tasking while preparing meals can reduce
the amount of time and energy involved.
 Multi-tasking is doing two or more tasks at
one time to make the best use of time.
 For example, washing lettuce for the
salad while the lasagna is baking.
 Give other examples.
• Step 4: Look for ways to multi-task.
• Step 5: Clean as you go!

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Saving Time: One-Dish Meals
• Nutritious one-dish meals have the
advantage of combining many food
groups.
• Can you add to this list of
one-dish meals?
Chef Salad
Stir-fry
___________
___________
___________

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Review: Step for Meal Planning
• Step 1: Create a menu before you shop.
• Step 2: Make a shopping list from your
menu of ingredients you need.
• Step 3: Make a time management plan.
Assign meal tasks (teamwork) and
schedule preparation time.
• Step 4: Look for ways to Multi-task (i.e.
wash/peel potatoes while chicken is
baking).
• Step 5: Clean up as you go to minimize
work after the meal.
• Step 6: Try to set aside time every
day to have your meals together
with family or friends.

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Evaluate Your Meal
• Meal planning is a process. Even the best cooks
and chefs evaluate their meals for improvements
and see what they could do differently.
How did your meal turn out?
Did your guests enjoy the meal?
Were you happy with the results?
What did you like about your meal?
What would you do differently
next time?
What was the most difficult
part of planning and
preparing your meal?

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Summary
• Good nutrition and menu planning adds quality
to both our health and our well being.
• Eating healthy foods nourishes our bodies
while enjoying a meal with family and
friends lowers stress and increases our
enjoyment of life.
• Menu planning can minimize the
time and energy involved in
shopping and meal preparation.
• Multi-tasking and teamwork
can result in more
enjoyment for all.

33. The End! Now it’s your turn.
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Plan a Dinner Menu
• Consider your budget.
Some food items are more expensive than others.
If you are not familiar with food prices go to the
store to price different food items.
A menu that includes steaks and fresh
asparagus is going to be more costly
than spaghetti and a tossed salad.
• Organize your work plan.
Read through the recipes in your
menu and make sure you have
all the necessary ingredients.
Make a shopping list
of items you need.

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Plan a Dinner Menu
• Make a time schedule.
Decide what time you will serve your meal.
Include time for shopping, preparing and
cooking/baking all items in you menu.
Consider the food that takes the
longest to prepare.
Give yourself plenty of time to
prepare all the items in your menu.

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Meal Planning Quiz
1. Name three “influences” on
our meal choices.
2. List the Food Guide Pyramid food
groups, and recommended
daily servings of each.
3. What are five things to consider
when planning an appetizing
and appealing menu?

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Meal Planning Quiz
4. What is “Comparison Shopping”?
5. List three things you can do to help
insure safety in the kitchen.
6. Give an example of multi-tasking
during meal preparation.
7. What is the final step in
meal planning?