Balanced-meal planning?

[whateverfloatsyourboat]

Following on from a thread in AIBU about balanced meals, where people were (rightly) saying that each meal should have protein, carbs, veg and grains, and that there should be a variety of ingredients - can you give me examples of a range of meals for a week that would provide the right nutrients as well as the necessary variety? Also - vegetable side dishes that dcs like? (Mine are 6 and 2, 2yo currently saying 'blegh' to everything that's not soup or pasta).

I permanently struggle with this. I do make sure the dcs get enough fruit and veg every day, and try to make sure they're always getting protein - but it all feels a bit haphazard and it's definitely not varied enough. And I'm at home with dcs every night in the week - 2yo still tends to hang round my legs a lot - so can't do huge amount of cooking in the evening. I tend to try and prepare things earlier while he's napping where possible. I cook from scratch, btw, but try to alternate time-consuming meals with easy ones (another challenge).

Sorry if this is a bit rambling, looking for some good tips really to make sure dcs get a balanced and varied diet!

My pediatrician says that children will automatically eat what they need, even if they are very picky. Indeed, my really picky 3-year-old will have phases of wolfing chicken or vegetables after many days of plain rice and pasta. So if you cook a variety of food and vegs for yourself and keep it available, children will get what they need.

A good resource is Whining and Dining by Emma Waverman and Eshun Mott. It has a good practical part about picky eating and then about 150 pages of recipes that are easy and varied. Just reading it made me feel so much better.