Health Tip: Plan Ahead for Healthy Dinners

It can be difficult to find the time, energy and motivation to put together a healthy family dinner every night of the week.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics offers these suggestions:

• Create a menu of five-to-seven family-approved meals. Strive for easy, crowd-pleasing dishes, and be sure to include fruit, vegetables and a grain.
• Pack your pantry with non-perishable staples such as beans, pasta, rice and canned no-sodium vegetables. Supplement with fresh produce that's in season.
• When cooking a main ingredient, such as ground beef, pork or chicken, cook extra and freeze the rest to save for another meal.
• Assign every member of the family, even little ones, small tasks to help with planning, preparing and cleaning up from dinner. Young children can help set the table, mix veggies or choose fruit for dessert.