Five Mealtime Survival Tips for Harried Parents

You know that you and your kids need to eat right. But with your busy schedule, it seems tough some days to make sure everyone has nutritious meals and snacks.

Fast food is tempting, but the key is to incorporate healthy eating into your lifestyle. Here are some timesaving tips for preparing nutritious meals for the whole family:

1. Plan ahead

Create a weekly meal plan and post it on the refrigerator. This will help you plan trips to the grocery store and make shopping lists in advance so you'll have the ingredients you need. Rachel Brandeis, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association (ADA), suggests planning for at least three food groups per meal. "Think about how many food groups you can put on a plate," she says.

2. Double up

Make twice the amount of each recipe, and freeze some for later. This can be as easy as making two batches of vegetable lasagna, soup or chili or grilling double the number of chicken breasts and saving them for salads or sandwiches. New microwave-proof, stackable plastic containers with lids that seal make storage quick and retain nutritive values and taste.

3. Think convenience

"The key is to use frozen vegetables," Ms. Brandeis says. They're almost as nutritious as fresh vegetables, but not as perishable. Buy prepackaged salad greens, prebaked whole-wheat pizza crusts and prepared tomato sauce. For snacks, look for prewashed baby carrots, boxes of raisins and low-fat yogurt. For lunch, cut up fresh fruits and vegetables, and prepare tuna or chicken salad at the start of the week (taking care to prepare them with food safety in mind and refrigerate them properly).

4. Get a good start

"Breakfast is truly critical" for kids, according to Sue Moores, R.D., another ADA spokeswoman. Make sure to have healthy cereals, yogurt and fruit on hand so that they don't skip breakfast or eat doughnuts or other sugary snacks at school.

5. Involve the kids

Take your children to the grocery store with you on the way back from school or soccer practice. Teach them about healthy ingredients as you cruise the aisles, and ask them to help design menus for dinner. Ms. Moores says this will get them more invested in eating healthy. "And it's a great teaching opportunity."