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Family meal planner

If you’re cooking for a family of four, it can be tricky to please everyone and eat healthily.

We’ve developed this simple family meal plan to make it much easier for you and your family to eat a healthy, balanced diet. It's both calorie and carb counted for your convenience, and contains at least five portions of fruit and veg per day.

We’ve included the values for fibre and protein too to help you make sure you are meeting your nutritional requirements. We know lots of people in the UK aren’t eating enough fibre, so it’s important to try and include good sources in your diet every day. 

Before you begin this meal plan

Before starting any healthy eating programme, please read how to choose your meal plan to make sure you follow the plan that's right for you. 

Please speak to your diabetes health care team before making significant changes to your diet. 

This is especially important if you treat your diabetes with insulin or other diabetes medications that increase the risk of hypos. Reducing your carbohydrate intake and changes to your body weight may mean your medication needs to be adjusted.

Important points about this meal plan

  1. This meal plan has taken nutritional information from our recipes and the sixth edition of Carbs and Cals, unless otherwise stated.
  2. A mix of whole milk and semi skimmed has been used, but please use whichever you prefer. Any dairy alternative should be unsweetened and fortified with calcium. 
  3. These meal plans meet your recommended amount of fibre across the week. It's important to note that children under 16 years of age need less fibre than adults.
  4. These meal plans outline daily food intake for four people, but it’s still important to remember to drink regular fluids. This includes plain water, plain milk, and tea or coffee without added sugar.

Disclaimer: every effort has been taken to make these meal plans as accurate as possible, but there will be some variation in nutritional values. Speak to a dietitian or your diabetes healthcare team if you have questions about your individual dietary needs. 

Your weekly family meal plan

Please note that the full nutritional information and exact specifications for all meals and snacks is available in the Family of four meal plan (PDF, 84KB) only, and not listed below.

Monday

Breakfast: Very berry porridge

Lunch: Scrambled eggs – two eggs and milk on two slices of wholemeal toast with vegetable oil-based spread and sliced tomato 

Dinner: Chicken and lentil curry

Pudding: Apple strudel

Snacks: Greek yogurt, two satsumas (weigh these with the skin on), one slice of malt loaf with vegetable oil-based spread, wholemeal fruit bar

Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk

Tuesday

Breakfast: Two wheat biscuits with 150ml semi-skimmed milk and one tablespoon of pumpkin seeds

Lunch: Stuffed pitta with houmous, cherry tomatoes, rocket and coleslaw  

Dinner: Speedy salmon pasta served with mangetout

Pudding: Tinned pears in juice

Snacks: Two oatcakes with peanut butter, cherry tomatoes, one slice of toast with peanut butter, one orange

Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk

Wednesday

Breakfast: Two Shredded wheat pillows with 200ml semi-skimmed milk, Greek yogurt and blueberries

Lunch: Tortillas stuffed with chicken and salad

Dinner: Beef chop suey

Pudding: Honeydew melon

Snacks: One apple, one pear, 30g portion of plain almonds, wholemeal fruit bar

Milk: 225ml whole milk

Thursday

Breakfast: Summerberry smoothie

Lunch: Chickpea and tuna salad

Dinner: Jollof rice and chicken

Pudding: Tinned peaches in juice

Snacks: Greek yogurt, two satsumas (weight these with the skin on), one orange, a portion of almonds, two oatcakes topped with peanut butter

Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk

Friday

Breakfast: Almond, apricot and pumpkin seed granola

Lunch: Two slices of wholemeal bread with grated cheddar cheese, vegetable oil-based spread, tomato and cucumber

Dinner: Chicken and spinach burritos

Pudding: Vermicelli pudding

Snacks: One pear, one apple, wholemeal fruit bar, portion of almonds

Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk

Saturday

Breakfast: Welsh leek rarebit

Lunch: Two slices of wholemeal bread with half a can of salmon, paired with sweetcorn and light mayo

Dinner: Vegan stack burger

Pudding: Small pear

Snacks: One apple, one small pear, Greek yogurt, portion of almonds, one slice of malt loaf with vegetable oil-based spread

Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk

Sunday 

Breakfast: Omelette made with two eggs and milk, along with 80g spinach, 25g cheddar and 80g mushrooms, cooked with 1tsp vegetable oil. Pair with a slice of rye bread and margarine

Lunch: Cauliflower and leek soup

Dinner: Grilled chicken with baked sweet potato, paired with boiled cabbage and broccoli

Pudding: Chocolate orange soufflé topped with crème fraiche

Snacks: Greek yogurt and almonds, one apple, spicy roasted chickpeas

Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk

Adapting this meal plan to suit you

Unless stated otherwise, each meal included in this plan is given per person. We have purposefully selected meals and snacks which are easy to scale up to four people.

Our family of four meal plan should be adjusted according to your needs. Remember, we don't all need to eat the same number of calories. 

Men, who are generally heavier and have more muscle compared to women, need more calories. 

Young children also need fewer calories than adults. But children’s nutritional requirements change as they get older. Boys older than 11 and girls aged 15 and above are likely to need more calories. So, adjust portion sizes accordingly to meet your needs.

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