Menu planning/grocery list apps

yes. I could use this help too. Seems like I'm always thinking of making something and I have to run to the store to get one ingredient. It would be nice if this app could detangle recipes into shopping lists as well..

 

https://www.eatthismuch.com/

 

Try going to sparkpeople.com and checking out their mobile apps. They have several apps listed and Apple is pictured, though it's only showing me Android app options on both my Android devices.

They have "healthy recipes" and "perfect produce" that have both been recommended to me, though I've not tried either. What I have used their website for is creating my own recipes to obtain the nutritional facts to input into my Fitbit app tracker.

I don't think it would help budget wise, but if you are sticking to your meal plans, and not wasting food, I imagine that will help the budget. "Perfect Produce" was suggested to me by a lifestyle coach through my work, when I mentioned a challenge for me was not knowing of different ways I could use vegetables before they go bad. Supposedly, you can type in a type of produce,and it wigive you ideas of what to do with it... if you use it to help make your meal plan by looking up ideas for what's on sale, perhaps that would be helpful to you.

 

I use Evernote for grocery lists if I'm using an app, because it syncs to all devices. I can menu plan on my tablet, then take my phone to the store and still have it on my mobile data. However , mostly my husband does grocery shopping and he prefers paper than using Evernote. In the past, I've heard about "remember the milk" as a grocery list app. And I know there were others when I looked in to it before, but now I can't remember. My current process is to list out the meals we're going to have for the designated time frame (whether that's a week or two or whatever), then create my grocery list from the actual menu. I don't typically specify which dates will be which meals, but instead I post the list of options and we cross them off as we have them. When I am feeling really sick of what we normally have, I go to Pinterest and find one or two new things, and pin them to "what we're trying this week" board. If we liked them, I move them to other boards by type of recipes... this process is new for me. Before, I'd just throw things on my boards Willy nilly, bit I liked the idea of knowing each of those recipes was something we've actually tried and liked, rather than a bunch of ideas that are unrealistic for us to try for whatever reason.

I'm not sure if any of this helps you? Sorry for rambling. lol

 

I would suggest learning the art of "slow cooker" and if you'll have freezer space, learning which foods freeze well so that your Uni days you'll have something quick and easy!

If you are open to trying new flavors or textures, and the prices are reasonable where you shop, I like to experiment randomly. and I like to watch Alton Brown's "Good Eats" show, because he explains why things work the way they do in a recipe. We deal with food allergies, so knowing the science behind which parts of a recipe or specific ingredient do which part helps us to know which substitutions would be best.

Easy things I'm loving right now are eggs... putting two eggs on one piece of toast with just a pinch of shredded cheese, a tiny bit of salsa, and sometimes an avocado. I like my eggs over easy.

 

I don't have an app to suggest, but I have an easy healthy meal suggestion. Just take any meat, beans, and/or veggies you have on hand (and cheese if you like) and wrap it up in a flour tortilla. It's different every time. I think I could live on this. I actually do this with scrambled eggs and veggies nearly every morning!

 

I need this simplicity for crock pots... lol.
Liquid, meat, veggies? I want to post an info graphic in my kitchen.

 

I pay for my meal planner site because it saves me more than I pay for it in a year! I don't make those $20 trips to the store for milk, or mushrooms anymore. I use a site called "Plan To Eat". It's $39/year, with a sale at Black Friday, and a free no card needed 30 day trial anytime. I love that their trial is no strings attached, and you don't have to remember to cancel, it cancels automatically.

How it works: I add my own recipes, either by typing them in or I can save them from websites that I use. I add them to the meal planner for the week, and it will add all the groceries into a list. It will combine ingredients as long as they are the same - so 3 C of flour for this and 2 C of flour for that becomes 5 C of flour on my shopping list with a notation of which recipes. I can divide my shopping list into different stores. I can fill in the nutrition information, and it will show me the calories, etc. I have planned for the day.

There's also a friend feature where you can add other people who use the site to your 'friend' group. Then if you are looking for something you can search your friends recipes rather than the web. You don't interact with your friends, so it's not like social media. It's just a way to share recipes.

There is no app for it. There is a mobile site that allows you to access your list, and check things off at the store (or you can print your list); the planner; and your recipes with a cooking view. This works for me, because I use the computer to plan out my week/month, and then just use the mobile site on my phone when shopping, and the mobile site on my tablet in the kitchen when cooking to view the recipes.

So, yes it's a paid site, but I feel like I get plenty for what I pay for it. I haven't researched sites in a few years because I really love this one (I've been using it since 2010, and haven't looked elsewhere since 2012). And the nice part is, if I decide to quit, I can export all my recipes, so my work wasn't wasted.

It does not meal plan for you, so if you are looking for that, this is not the site.

 

My favorite meal sites are Mel's Kitchen Cafe and America's Test Kitchen. ATK will let you see this season of stuff free, and a lot of libraries carry some of their books. They explain a lot of the why, and they test and test and test again so the recipes just work. Mel has a lot of easy to make meals that use normal ingredients and are usually really quick.

If you can get your hands on a pressure cooker that helps make good food fast.

 

I don't blame you at all! If you want to check it out, to see if it is what you want, you can for free. No card or anything. Just an email to sign in with.

 

Oooh, @bestcee that site sounds awesome. I've been wanting a way to click a recipe and a list of ingredients be drawn up for me. Lol I imagine several years ago when I saw the price, said no. Now, I can totally see that price being worth it!

One question... once you've made your meal plan and your list, is there a way to delete what you may already have on hand, or would I have to cross that off the list as I'm going? Just curious, that wouldn't stop me or anything. Lol I will probably give it a try when I can take the time to input recipes!

 

Yep!
Here's how I do it. I plan my mealsmeals, then click shopping list. It defaults to the next two weeksweeks, so I adjust the date if I need to. Then it shows me everything I need to make the meals. At that point, I can check all the stuff I have, and hide it on the list. It stays hidden unless you tell it to hide again. I do that on the computer or with my phone when I'm checking my pantry.