Meal Planning for the Whole Family

While cooking multiple dishes tonight…chicken cacciatore, gluten free pasta, eggs and 2 different salads, I realized that I’m probably not the only one that is cooking for a large family, these days and for a family that all subscribe to different nutritional plans. I myself have been eating a primarily carnivore diet, which seems simple enough to plan for but making a variety of meat for the family and ensuring there is enough to satisfy myself, can sometimes be tricky. Others in my household at the moment follow a variety of diets from keto to low carb and gluten free. All similar ways of eating but slightly different so below are some tips I’ve got to hopefully help you make meal planning a little easier.

Meat

• Plan the bulk of your low carb meal around your protein (if you have a vegetarian in the home, keep tofu, legumes, veggie patties, etc. handy)
• Roasts are great for families, you can use your crock pot to make beef or pork roasts or you can roast a couple of whole chickens or a turkey in the oven if you have time
• Leftover meat can be used for soups, stews, on salads or in casseroles
• eggs can be a great side dish (hard boiled, scrambled, fried, sunny side up for dipping meat in, devilled eggs or poached)
• A deli plate is also a good option as a side dish with a variety of cheeses and meats
• Use different spices/sauces to create fajitas, chile, butter chicken, chicken cacciatore, sausages cooked in tomatoes, swiss steak, meatloaf, burgers, etc.

Condiments

• Keeping a variety of items for toppings available can help keep everyone in your household happy as well
• Low carb options are mustard, hot sauce, mayo, sour cream, ranch dressing , soy sauce and horseradish, parmesan cheese
• Other options are Ketchup, relish, chile sauce and sweet and sour sauce

Vegetables

• Salads are an easy way to add variety to a meal (ceasar salad with cubed mozzarella instead of croutons, greek salad with feta and olives, coleslaw, broccoli salad with bacon, cheese and mayo)
• Sauerkraut, pickles, olives, hot banana peppers can all be put out to accompany any meal
• Sautéing a pan of mushrooms can be a quick side dish
• Keep bags of frozen veggies handy (beans, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli)
• Use large romaine or other lettuce leaves for wrapping burgers or making fajitas

Potatoes/Rice/Pasta/Grains (for those who are only gluten free or eating a standard diet)

• • it can be easy to throw a potato or two in with a roast or in the crock pot
  • leftover potatoes can be cut up and fried for breakfast or made into potato salad
  • sweet potatoes will store for a long time and can be cut up to make sweet potato fries in the oven while cooking other things
  • Rice is versatile and can be made as a side or used as a base for stews, chiles, stir fries and will keep in the fridge for days
  • Gluten Free pasta can also be used as a side dish and topped with veggies or sauces that meat has cooked in
  • Keep gluten free tortilla wraps or buns in your freezer for when you may need them
  • Or get the family to try zero carb noodles or rice made from shirataki which is a root vegetable

So, there you have it. Find a few regular things like I have, that you can make on a regular basis such as chicken thighs coated with parmesan cheese,  roasts in the crockpot, low carb chile, home-made burgers, broiled pork chops, green beans with butter, coleslaw, ceasar salad, and if you need a fast meal idea, you can never go wrong with bacon and eggs for dinner!