Nutrition

Education: 4601C

Adult lesson Plan

Elizabeth Zak
Matthew Hopper

Lesson title: Healthy meals on a budget for the busy family

Target audience: Busy families with both parents working 40 hours a week and children in after school
activities. We have come to realize many families these days are two income households. How could
eating out which was originally designed to be an occasional enjoyable activity, turn into something so
lethal1. Time for cheap, healthy, and quick meals has become a real struggle. According to
www.familyfacts.org2 families who don't eat together more than 2 times per week or 14% more likely
to have children who use tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs under age. Families range widely in a
socioeconomic status, but we are trying to bring out all of the positives associated with family dining.
Eating healthy and cheap can be done several different ways. Reuse proteins and vegetables for
tomorrow night's dinner. Stop buying sugary sweet snacks. Learn new methods to cook along with food
preservation. Parents with children in afterschool activities need a schedule or book of say 15-20 quick
and nutritious dinners. The alternative is stopping through McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's you name
it. This food is poorly nutrient dense but time is of the essence to an unprepared family. Fast food in the
long run shows to be more expensive than home cooking.

Eating at home also gives the advantage of knowing what exactly is in your food along with a
well balanced budget. This brings us to the next step in briefly educating the group on the different fats
in food. Some are better than others. For example: that Burger king or Wendy's burger contains 1-2
grams of Trans fat and at least 10 grams of saturated fat. These are the types of fats we need to be
alarmed of. On the other hand, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are generalized as the
healthier types of fats and oils to cook with. This information can simply be seen on the back of a food
label. Food labels also show sodium, cholesterol, and calorie content. The average person does not
accurately know how to read a food label. The most important part is realizing how many servings you
get per each meal. Lastly, we need to brief on how to get the proper amount of food pertaining to each
food group throughout the day. It takes time to understand but www.choosemyplate.gov3 is a great
website for this section. Getting too much of one food group is just as bad as not receiving enough from
another. By creating a personal profile you will be able to calculate your caloric intake daily for as long as
you like.
General Health issue being addressed: Lack of nutrient dense foods being consumed
Specific learning Objectives and corresponding learning domain:
1. Families will be able to make nutrient dense meals in 30 minutes or less.
2. When the family leaves they will be able to plan out 5 different cheap healthy meals for each
day.
3. When the family leaves they will be able to find/ identify affordable nutrient dense foods that
touch on many food groups
Duration: 60 minutes
Procedure:

Nutrition Education: 4601C

Adult lesson Plan

Elizabeth Zak
Matthew Hopper

Introduction: Bold statement to get the attention of the group by giving statics on eating together
as a family and the importance of eating nutrient dense foods while spending more quality time
with the family (5 minutes)
Body:
A. Lecture with visual aid boards and products (10 min)
i.
Show the parents how to read the food labels, explain why seasonal is affordable,
explain how some foods can contribute to more than one food group by giving a few
examples, explain briefly how to use choosemyplate.gov, explain how cooking your own
food is healthier by controlling what goes into your meal, concluding the lecture with 5
different meals that are cheap, healthy, and nutrient dense.
B. Cooking overview/ instruction on the meal to be prepared ( 3 min)
i.
Showing the audience what tools they will be using, quick step by step overview, recipe
is at each cooking station
C. Families prepare and making the meal (20 min)
i.
Instructors will be walking round kitchen area to help those who need it, Making sure
that the whole family is participating in the meal preparation
ii.
Instructors will be explaining 4 different healthy meals that will be available in a
brochure at the end of lesson. This section demonstrates the use of seasonal cooking
giving food a more natural taste and benefiting the fixed budget.
D. Clean up/ Eating (10 min)
i.
Families will eat the meal they prepared, do all of the dishes, and clean up any other
messes they made
E. Open discussion/ closing remarks (5 min)
i.
Ask the audience what they have learned, did they enjoy making the meal as a family,
F. Conclusion (1 min)
i.
Thanking the audience for participating, hand out a brochure with the 5 meals we
mentioned during the lecture
Materials:
1) Tri-fold display board.
2) 5 of the following: cutting board, small bowls for mixing, chef knives, plastic wrap, broil pan,
marinating brush, skewer sticks, paper plates, napkins, plastic ware, brochure.
Food Materials:
1) Chicken or any protein desired, all color peppers, zucchini, onion, garlic clove, olive oil,
lemon juice, salt and pepper.
** The nutrition lesson plan will take place in a food lab**
References:
Obesity Action Coalition. Available at http://www.obesityaction.org/. 2014. Accessed September 29,
2014.

Nutrition Education: 4601C

Adult lesson Plan

Elizabeth Zak
Matthew Hopper

FamilyFacts.org. the Heritage Foundation. Available at http://www.familyfacts.org/. 2014. Accessed

September 29, 2014.
Choose My Plate.gov. United States Department of Agriculture. Available at http://choosemyplate.gov/.
2014. Accessed September 29, 2014.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor. Available at
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm.Updated September 9, 2014. Accessed September 29,
2014