WIC Recipe Book

Menu Planning Made Simple

You'll save time and provide more nutritious meals for your family when you plan meals a week in advance. Use this guide to help plan for your weekly shopping and menus.

A healthy daily diet for an adult includes:

Breakfast:

• One serving of Vitamin C fruit (oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe)
• High-fiber cereal
• Whole-grain toast
• Skim milk

Lunch:

• 3 ounces of meat or legumes
• Two servings of starch (bread)
• One serving of vegetable or fruit
• Skim milk

Dinner:

• 3 ounces of meat or legumes
• Two servings of starch (potato, pasta, bread, etc.)
• One serving of vegetable
• Fruit or light dessert
• Skim milk

Dinner in Advance:

These freezable dinners will meet adult daily requirements for protein. Cook double quantities to allow for lunchtime leftovers:

• Spaghetti
• Chili
• Vegetarian casseroles
• Stew without potatoes (Potatoes don't freeze well unless they're mashed or blended with other ingredients.
• Hamburger dishes
• Legumes

Salads With a Shelf Life:

Serve salads to meet your family's daily needs for vegetables. Lettuce may wilt, but these salads can last in your refrigerator for up to four days:

• Tomato, cooked green beans and onions in dressing
• Cooked corn, peas with onion, celery and dressing
• Macaroni salad
• Potato salad
• Raw zucchini, onion, cooked pasta, red cabbage and dressing
• Cooked chicken, celery pineapple chunks, nuts and sour cream.

A Week of Sandwiches:

Sandwiches satisfy your dietary requirement for starch. Depending on the filling, they can also add to your daily protein intake. You can save time by fixing and freezing sandwiches for an entire week. Remove the sandwiches from the freezer each morning, and they'll be defrosted by lunch time. You'll need a variety of bread, including pita bread, onion or french rolls and hamburger buns, and freezable fillings, such as:

• Peanut butter
• Lunch meats (low-fat ham, chicken and turkey breast, bologna and lean roast beef).
• Leftover chicken or turkey.
• Tuna made with low-fat or nonfat sour cram or salad dressing.

Freezing Tips:

• Store Each sandwich in its own plastic bag.
• Label and date each sandwich.
• Put all of the wrapped sandwiches in one large airtight bag to preserve them longer.

Try These Condiments For Variety:

• Jam
• Relish
• Barbecue sauce
• Chutney
• Sweet and sour sauce
• Mustard
• Ketchup
• Honey
• Sour cream
• Horseradish sauce
• Salad dressing
• Cranberry sauce
• Teriyaki sauce

  Note: Mayonnaise doesn't freeze well.

Ten Time-Saving Tips

1. Delegate household chores to your spouse and children. Pick chores that are appropriate for each child's age and ability. Ask children which chores they prefer.

2. Plan ahead. Do things the night before. Encourage children to prepare their backpacks for school before they go to bed. Collect everything you need for the next day and put it in the car or by the door before going to bed.

3. Freeze meals ahead of time. Make double portions of your favorite dishes. Use leftover turkey for casseroles, soups and stir-fries. Make and freeze a week's worth of sandwiches at a time. Take them out of the freezer at breakfast and they'll be defrosted by noon.

4. Enlist outside help for yard work. If your kids are too young to rake leaves or water the lawn, hire an older neighborhood child to do the job. Be sure to clearly explain what's expected.

5. Buy birthday, anniversary and special events cards in advance. Pre-address and sign them. Mark dates in a calendar so you'll remember when to send them.

6. Ask a teenager or older family member to plan and prepare the evening meal one night a week. Encourage them to use imaginative menus to make the job more fun and add variety to your diet.

7. Use work breaks to review your daily to-do list. Crossing off completed or unnecessary items will help you feel more relaxed.

8. Plan ahead for at-home emergencies. Keep an extra key with the neighbors. Post a list of essential phone numbers, such as those for relatives, doctors and neighbors, next to the phone. Compile phone numbers of backup baby sitters and child care providers.

9. Create a neighborhood car pool for carting kids to games, school events and lessons.

10. Consolidate bill paying. Stash bills in one place when they arrive. Pick a time once a month to pay bills that are due.

Curbing Your Sweet Tooth
Few of us can resist the temptations of sweet food. Sweets go hand in hand with parties, celebrations and rewards for good behavior. One way to curb a sweet tooth is to find nutritious alternative to high-calorie sweets.

Low-Sugar Alternatives
Here are some snacks that cater to the craving for sweets without adding too much sugar and fat:

• favorite fresh fruits kept handy in a fruit basket;
• a cup of low fat yogurt flavored with two tablespoons of low-calorie strawberry jam, a dash of cinnamon and grated lemon rind;
• chunks of frozen fruit, such as bananas, cherries and berries;
• instant "ice cream": blend one cup low fat milk, two cups frozen fruit and two tablespoons sugar, if desire. Eat it immediately or freeze it in plastic cups;
• fruit juice or a combination of fruit juice and soda water on the rocks.

If you find yourself simply unable to resist a traditional dessert, try limiting the serving size so as not to give yourself an excuse to binge later on.

Non-Food Responses
Another way to respond to a sweet tooth is to reward it--but not with food. Everyone has a list of favorite "feel good" activities. These could include:

• listening to a favorite piece of music,
• calling a good friend for a chat,
• stretching out for 10 minutes in a hammock,
• getting a quick facial or other beauty treatment,
• renting a movie,
• or taking a walk or other pleasant exercise.

You can probably think of other activities that are perfect for you. Pick one of these activities the next time your sweet tooth starts to get out of control. To make your job easier, rid your house and desk at work of high-calorie sweets. Stay away from activities and places that tempt you to eat sweets--or fill up first on a healthy sugar-free or low-sugar snack.

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