Chapter 17 Planning Healthy Meals 427 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans provides a Mediterranean-style eat- ing pattern, a vegetarian eating pattern, and a healthy US-style eating pattern in the appendix. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan is found on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website along with other nutrition resources. The American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association websites offer many meal-planning resources for individuals with heart disease and diabetes. In addition, a registered dietitian nutritionist is a good resource to learn about meeting the special needs of individuals when planning meals. Technology resources make meal planning easier. Management and meal plan- ning apps are available for download on smartphones and computers. Computer programs facilitate menu planning, recipe collection, shopping lists creation, and maintenance of food inventories. Weekly Menu It is inefficient to plan meals each day. Instead, create a menu for the week that will serve as your guide for shopping and food preparation. When deciding which meals to serve each day, begin by making a list of food you already have in your kitchen. Next, create a menu worksheet with spaces for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for each day of the week (Figure 17.12). Consider making notes of any activities throughout the week that might affect meals. For example, if you have basketball practice after school on Tuesday and a club meeting that night, you will have less time to prepare and eat a meal. Therefore, plan to eat leftovers that night or to prepare a quick, simple recipe. Sample Weekly Menu Worksheet Sample Weekly Menu Worksheet Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 4:15 p.m. dentist appt. 6:30 p.m. choir practice Breakfast Scrambled eggs, toast, fresh berries, milk Oatmeal, banana, milk, walnuts Lunch Tuna salad sandwich, apple, carrot sticks Turkey/ spinach wrap, grapes, carrots sticks, yogurt Beef barley soup, banana, milk Dinner Roast chicken, sweet potato fries, broccoli, milk Chicken stir-fry, brown rice, pineapple, milk Chili with beans, avocado, corn bread, milk Leftovers Salmon burgers, arugula corn salad, grapes, milk Tortilla turkey meatball soup, fruit salad, milk Vegetable quesadilla Snacks Grapes, cheese cubes Almonds, string cheese Hummus, cucumber slices Almonds, string cheese Hummus, whole-grain pita chips Peanut butter, apple slices Popcorn, orange segments Figure 17.12 Using a menu worksheet will save time and money.