Kids

Do you need a meal plan?

~ SL

You might be wondering if you really NEED a meal plan. There are a few questions you can ask yourself (see the image below) to see if you might need a meal plan, but it really boils down to whether you WANT a meal plan or not.

We are often our own worst enemy when it comes to meal planning and feeding our families. That is why I created the Feeding Busy Families Masterclass, a four-week group accountability program to help busy families like mine, tune in to their current habits and make them work for their family. If you’re wondering if this masterclass is a good fit for you, I’m breaking it down for you in this post.

Are you busy?

The word “busy” can have different meanings for everyone, so in your opinion, do you feel busy? Do you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish the things you want? If you answered yes, then you are busy.

In week 1 of the masterclass we talk about your meal planning goals and how your busyness hinders you from feeding your family on your terms. Are you working late? Is your spouse working out of town? Do your kids have a lot of after-school activities? Most of these events have a huge impact on feeding our families, but can’t be adjusted. You CAN adjust your meal plan to work with your schedule, and that’s what we cover in weeks 1 and 2 of the Feeding Busy Families Masterclass.

Are you scrambling to make dinner?

This question plays into your busyness but can also be affected by kitchen organization and general time management skills. In week 2, we discuss how to organize your kitchen for efficiency so that you can get meals on the table quickly on busy nights. In week 4, we create a routine that works for YOUR family and YOUR schedule and explore strategies to make changes to it as your family’s needs change.

Do you have a hard time deciding what to make?

In week 1 of the masterclass we talk about family favorites, likes and dislikes so that in week 2, you can create a Meal Planning Bank to eliminate decision-fatigue and have ideas ready at your fingertips, every time you sit down to make your meal plan. We also talk about how to strategically choose meals to work with your family’s schedule. The 100 page workbook also comes with over 50 meal ideas to help you if you feel uninspired.

Often, having a hard time deciding what to make boils down to trying to please everyone in the family. In week 2, we look at creating a meal plan that works for your family and that includes planning with picky eaters in mind. My Feeding Picky Eaters E-Book is included in the resource package you will receive for this masterclass.

Do you want more time to yourself?

My goal as a parent is always to squeeze in as much time for myself as I possibly can. If you have this goal too, we cover time-management strategies in weeks 3 and 4, to ensure that you are maximizing your time in the kitchen, to get that much needed rest and relaxation when your kids go to sleep. In week 3, we focus on meal prep strategies and techniques that will save you time while prepping and cooking. In week 4, we look at time-management as a whole, and focus on ways to carve out time to do the activities you love.

Do you want to save money?

For two years, we were living on one income with four kids because we couldn’t find daycare for four kids under four. This made us get creative with our spending and find ways to save money. It’s actually very easy to save money in the kitchen, and in week 3 we talk about grocery budgeting and foods that you can make at home that will reduce your grocery spending.

Do you waste food?

Wasting food can be frustrating. Preparing too much, buying the wrong ingredients for the week, not having a plan and feeding picky eaters can all play into this. In week 2, we discuss how to plan and prep for meals to avoid food waste, as well as what to do with ingredients that tend to spoil quickly or tend to be wasted often.

Do you want to eat healthy?

This is often one of the reasons why people want to create a meal plan and have prep strategies to help them achieve this goal. “Eating healthy” can look different for all families. It’s important to consider food availability, accessibility and budget when making a meal plan that works for your family. In the week 1 one-on-one call, we discuss your meal planning goals, which could include eating healthy. In week 2, we take it one step further and look at ways to create your meal plan with your goals and priorities in mind.

Focus on your goals

Whether you answered yes to all of these questions, or just one, the Feeding Busy Families Masterclass focuses on all of these topics. The small group (5 people) encourages interaction with other parents who are in the same boat and allows for individualized meal planning strategies. The initial one-on-one call in week 1 helps me learn more about your family’s needs and goals so that I can highlight strategies that will work specifically for YOU during our group sessions.

What else is included?

The Feeding Busy Families Masterclass includes the following:

  • One 1:1 Zoom call
  • Three one-hour group Zoom calls
  • Access to the Facebook accountability group with past and present masterclass students
  • Detailed 100-page printable workbook

Register before September 30th and receive the following additional bonuses:

  • Extra one-on-one follow up call one month after the masterclass to check on your progress and fine-tune your routine
  • 52-page planner with a detachable grocery list to write out your meal plans and save them for the future.

Still have questions?

Send me an email if you have any questions about this masterclass or other ways that I can help you achieve your meal planning goals.

Crispy Parmesan Chicken Strips – Cooking with kids

~ SL ~ 2 Comments

This is part two of a two-part series and a paid partnership with Manitoba Chicken Producers. As always, all opinions are my own and I only promote products that I use and love.

If you caught part one of last month’s Cooking with Kids post, we made Bruschetta chicken from the new Now You’re Cooking with Manitoba Chicken Youth Education Booklet.  Although my daughter had fun making that recipe, her request when we were done was to “just make chicken strips next time.” So that’s exactly what we did.

We made the Crispy Parmesan Chicken Strips, also from the Now You’re Cooking with Manitoba Chicken Youth Education Booklet.  The recipe comes together quickly (even quicker if you apply some meal prep strategies that I will fill you in on.) and is super simple for the kids to help with.

If you’re interested in receiving your own copy of this brand-new resource, contact Manitoba Chicken Producers at: consumerrelations@chicken.mb.ca Please provide your name and mailing address and they will be happy to send you one.

I knew that convincing my little helper to eat the chicken strips wasn’t going to be a challenge, so we focused on working together, learning and having fun.  I did however run into a few obstacles when she realized that we weren’t making “the ones we usually have.”

Tip 1: Use cooking with your kids as an opportunity to learn and develop skills

We started by reading the recipe.  What better way to develop reading skills than with an authentic situation where they can apply their reading strategies?  It went something like this:

“Preheat oven to 425 F…What’s F?” Cue an additional learning opportunity that we applied later when we checked the temperature of the cooked chicken strips using our meat thermometer.

Food safety tip: The internal temperature of cooked chicken should read 165°F.

“1/2 cup mayo…Ewww I hate mayo!”  But guess what? The mayo is the best part of this recipe, because it does two things: 1) Allows the breading to stick to the chicken, 2) Crisps up the chicken strips without any additional oil or butter.  I took the opportunity to explain that mayo is made with eggs, and since we usually use eggs for chicken fingers, this time we are going to try eggs in a different way. She was sold and we moved on.

Tip 2: Teach about food safety

Before we got started, we washed our hands and talked about why that is important.  We also talked about how poultry and other meat can make you sick if it isn’t cooked so that we shouldn’t, for example, sample the breading while we’re making the chicken fingers. (This was important to mention because it almost happened!)  When we were finished, we made sure to put everything that came in contact with chicken in the dishwasher and used soap, water and antibacterial spray to clean out the sink and all surfaces, and of course, we washed our hands again.

Tip 3: Make it fun! Let them use all of the tools.

I’m pretty sure what my daughter liked most about making these chicken strips, was using all of the tools.  Whisks, tongs and spatulas are fun for kids so bring them all out, even if it means having a few extra dishes to do afterward. You can save time in other ways, with these meal prep tips.

Meal prep tips for this recipe

Slice, portion and freeze your chicken

When I did last month’s post, I bought a club pack of chicken, used four breasts for the Bruschetta Chicken and sliced the four remaining breasts for the chicken strips and froze them. That is one strategy that will save you at least ten minutes, because you won’t have to slice the chicken or have extra dishes to do.  If you were making this recipe with a new package of chicken, you could also consider cooking the remaining breasts in your slow cooker, shredding them and freezing them for other meals like I did in this Back-to-School Meal Prep post.

Reduce the number of steps in the breading process for the chicken strips

Another time-saver we discovered while making this recipe was to coat all the chicken in the mayo parm mixture, instead of dipping each strip individually.  Combine the ingredients, then pour over the chicken and toss with tongs until all the chicken pieces are coated.  That makes breading a one-step process.  (This is also great for when cooking with kids, because everything seems to take longer.)

Improvise and use what you have on hand

This recipe called for basil, but when I reached for it, I realized that the grocery clerk who assembled my order, had given me mint instead.  We swapped it out and used dill.  You can add any seasonings or spices to these chicken fingers.  Don’t have mayo? Use eggs, or mustard, or milk. Anything that will allow the breading to stick to the chicken. If you choose to use a liquid other than mayo, be sure to brush the breaded strips with butter or spray with canola oil to crisp them up.  No panko? Try corn flakes, breadcrumbs, potato chips or pretzels.  Anything to get that crispy texture.

There are so many great recipes on manitobachicken.ca that you can try with your kids and you can search them by cut or by preparation technique. There are a lot of basic recipes that call for ingredients you most-likely already have on hand under the Kid Friendly section of their recipe page.  You can also check out the chicken section of my recipe index for other great recipes using Manitoba chicken.  

What is your family’s favorite way to enjoy Manitoba chicken? Comment below and let us know!

Stay Home Bingo

~ SL

We’ve been managing to find ways to stay entertained while social distancing and staying home lately. Here are some of the activities we’ve done, if you’re looking for ideas. I’ll link some ideas to try at the end of this post and a link so you can print out the card.

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