Are you planning on a healthy new year? Menu planning boxes are here!

Do you feel overwhelmed when deemed with the task of meal planning? Many of my clients did and quite honestly so do I at times. That is the reason I created "Take Out Recipes". I wanted an easy system that would help me plan, shop and prepare quick and healthy meals for my family and  my clients families. 

Here is how it works:
1. Pick 7 dinner cards to display in the clip magnets. 
2. Post the magnets on a magnetic board or refrigerator. 
3. Take the cards with you when shopping. 
4. Use the recipe cards, front and back to help prepare the quick meals. 

                 

 


Encourage the family to help pick out new recipes. Some cards include: Eating out, steak night, pizza night and favorite family recipe night in order to make the cards more personalized. There are 7 breakfast ideas and 7 lunch box ideas to include in the system for a total for 30 cards!

Here is what you get: 7 clip magnets, 30 recipe cards, 1 display pocket magnet, a coupon for your next order and a Take Out Recipes, recipe box holder. 

Take Out Recipes have been around for over 10 years. This new design modernizes the recipe system as well as adds a colorful and easy display for the entire family to enjoy. 

Order yours today for only $35 + $5 shipping. More recipe cards will be out in February for an additional $20 per 30 cards. 

To order the extremely helpful Take Out Recipe box click here.

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Brandi@abcdeatright.com

Recipes: Tour guides or the Law what do you think?

 vs. 

Do you ever follow a recipe? My clients are often asking me what I eat and what I cook for my family. I go back and forth and usually end up somewhere between following a recipe and branching off to substitute ingredients I don't have or know that my family won't eat. 

In the book Cooked: A natural history of transformation, Michael Pollan writes " the recipe is never the recipe". He continues with "a recipe is merely a sketch or notes". 

Maybe you know that, maybe you never follow a recipe and live on the edge when it comes to dinner time and you are able to throw together a meal without any qualms. But to some, recipes are the law, whatever the small font says, its followed to the utmost detail.  

Why does it matter if you follow a recipe or make up your own? 

Well...it really doesn't if you are an experienced cook. If you know how to balance meals and have your protein, vegetable, starch and dairy then you are good to go. 
But for those of us that are hindered and confused about the balance and just the anxiety of "what am I going to make every night" recipes can be key. 

Here is what I recommend...

1. Make it easy. Meal planning can be as easy as 1 + 2 + 3

Pick a flavor desired + pick a protein + side of carbohydrate and vegetables and fruits. Top off with making sure there is water or low fat milk to drink. 

2. Make it a task that is not hard and can be easily replicated. 

3. Use My Plate as a guide. 

Why is it important? 
1. Because planning meals are one of the best things that a family can do to stay healthy. 
2. Pre-planned meals help a family avoid fast food restaurants
3. Pre-planned meals help families stay within a budget. 


So you have burned a few pieces of toast or boiled plastic in with the pasta...things happen and there is always a new day and with each day a new idea and fabulous recipe. If you don't think cooking is fun, change your perspective. It doesn't have to be a chore, it can actually be a lab for experiments, a classroom for teaching and an area to grow and nourish your children. 

Good luck and if you need recipe ideas click here. Or if you want to check out a box full of recipes for only $40 with a menu planning system click here. 

**Image of child chopping vegetables by Hanna Mayo Photography. 

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Brandi@ABCDEatright.com