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By LaShanté Williams, Dallas South News Contributor

With the Thanksgiving meal in our holiday rear view mirror and Christmas and New Year’s meals before us, this is truly and enjoyable time of year!  Food and family sprinkled with a generous amount of fun add just the right mix for a fabulous season.

I have fond memories as a child of my grandmothers’ planning meals to feed huge gatherings of children, grandchild, (and great- grandchildren), aunts, uncles, cousins, and many more.  The planning would take days and several trips to the store.  Now the next generation has divided the labor up and each family brings several dishes to make the grand feast.  The planning time for these meals still takes up to a week.  In the end what a meal it is to enjoy!

The holidays come but once a year, yet we often toil for weeks over what we’ll serve on each of those special days.  So it really begs the question; what measure of planning do we put into the daily meals that we have to eat week in and week out?  On average an adult spends at least an hour and a half to come up with a weekly meal plan.  That is 6 hours per month.  However, most people that I know are not average planners.

The idea of spending more than 30 minutes to plan out dinner for the week does not interest most of us.  While it is estimated that the average American spends nearly three hours a day watching television, we don’t spend twenty minutes to plan our meals.  We resort to fast food and dining out which may lead to a bulging waistline, high cholesterol and diabetes to name a few.  We have to do better for the sake of our health and that of our children.

So how do we plan our dinners efficiently and effectively?  First, determine how many meals a week you are willing to prepare at home. If your week is filled with chauffeuring children to and from dance and sports practice three out of seven nights then it would be wise to take that into consideration.  I typically plan to prepare five meals a week.

Next write out a list of meals for the number of days you will cook.  For ideas you can use your favorite dishes or use an ethnic theme.  For example at our Sunday family gatherings our meals have been planned around BBQ, Italian cuisine, and baked dishes.  If you are still stumped then search the internet or pull out a trusted cookbook.  Once you have the meals listed make sure that they include fresh vegetables and fruits.  The more color and variety there is in the meal, the better your health.

Lastly, make a shopping list of the necessary items you will need to purchase at the store.  Having a list and using it will save you time and money at the grocery store.  Also remember to have a snack before you go to the store to ensure that you do not purchase impulse items because you are hungry.  Once you have purchased the items place the meal listing on the refrigerator, so that you remember what is planned for the week.

In the final analysis, meal time should be a time to connect with family and food during the holidays as well as throughout the year.  By spending time planning meals you can remove the anxiety that often comes before meal time. Eat well and live well!

LaShanté Williams is the owner of A Fresh Approach Health and Wellness Consulting Services where she serves as a Nutritional Coach and Personal Cook and offers a Healthy Menu Design. Find out more how to receive menus, recipes, shopping lists and more by emailing her at lw@afreshapproachtowellness.com

Edited by Shawn P. Williams

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