Grains are the first food section. It is recommended that the average person eat about six ounces of grains each day, and at least half of those should be whole grains. Usually people have no trouble meeting their grain requirements for a healthy diet, but they don't eat enough whole grains. To help consume more whole grains, try having your sandwich on whole-grain bread at lunch, or add barley to your slow cooker vegetable beef soup cincyshopper.
Like chicken noodle soup, beef stew can be made ahead of time and frozen in lunch size portions. Use beef broth for a base, then add in veggies such as carrots, celery, and corn. If you're going to freeze it, don't use potatoes as their texture changes when frozen. Barley is a great whole grain add-in that is soft and small for toddlers to handle.
A huge way to save money is to cook your food from scratch. Many of us depend upon convenience foods on a regular basis. And while they may be, well, convenient, they are not cheap! By cutting back on expensive, and sometimes unhealthy, convenience foods, you can save a lot of money each week. Try replacing one meal a week that you would usually use convenience foods for with a home cooked meal and see how the savings add up. You can find simple, quick and delicious recipes online for many different foods. Try searching recipe databases for specific foods or ingredients to find recipes for foods you need to use up.
TIP: Pour cooled homemade stock or broth into ice cube trays. Freeze and then remove to zipper bags, returning to the freezer. Now you can drop in a stock or broth cube, or a few, when you decide at the last minute that you want to create a great hearty meal. You get all the flavor of slow-cooked homemade, but without having to make the stock or broth from scratch first, OR using the highly salted ready-made versions.
Shepard's pie is a one pan dish that can be prepared in advance and frozen. Defrost it in the fridge a day or two before you want to serve it, pop it in the oven before dinner, slow cooker beef and vegetable stew you can have this comfort food any night of the week.
Black bean soup can (19oz), rinsed and drained garbanzo beans can and kidney beans can (both 15 oz), baked beans can (16oz), can of tomato puree (141/2 oz), a can of drained whole kernel corn (15oz), one onion, one green bell pepper, 2 garlic cloves, 2 celery stalks all these should be chopped, one tablespoon each of dried parsley, basil, and oregano, and chilli powder.
Also Parents do not be afraid to get creative. Make a vegetable pizza or a vegetable stew where the kids help put the ingredients in or on the dish. Your kids will love it, eat their veggies and you won't have to yell at them to eat their peas.