Have you used a menu planning service

[ccgirl]

Once again, ya'll have given me a good place to start. I work a full time job all year round and a part time job during the tax season, plus tax training classes in the fall. And to be honest, I'm just lazy when it comes to cooking. It's easier to let someone else prepare and bring me my food than it is for me to be bothered with the shopping and the the preparing and plus I'm tired!

I think that Tiffany's site will help get me back on the horse so to speak and then once I start getting some ideas then I can go back to preparing my own menus. I guess the key to it all is to be organized and right now I'm just a disorganized hot mess!

That's my problem too. I don't get home until at least 6:30pm. Last night my family didn't get home from work/activities until 7:15pm. My crockpot has been a lifesaver. Got a programmable one for Christmas. Last week I threw a pork loin in there with some BBQ sauce and seasoning. Super easy and yummy meal. Used the leftovers for pulled pork sandwiches later in the week. I also made a beef stew last Sunday and used the leftovers for work lunches. There is an awesome thread about crockpot meals here. It took me a while but I am now able to steer clear of the processed foods. I no longer buy the Knorr's prepackaged noodles. Now I keep Minute Brown Rice and lots of frozen veggies. My families new favorite is salmon. I put some salt/pepper/McCormick's salmon mates and broiled. Put that over a salad. Even my DD8 LOVED it. And it is super quick. Broils in less than 10 minutes.

I'm hungry now!

 

[Piper]

We have used "Saving Dinner" Menu Mailer lots and love it.

I've tried this on 7 or 8 different occasions. Her meals are very expensive to prepare! It costs over $100 a week for her menu for 2. I also found that many of her ingredients require special vinegars, spices, and sauces and that really adds to your food bill.

 

[SaraJayne]

I use Relish. What I love about the menus is they use fresh food...very few processed things, and they get us out of the rut of eating the same things over and over.

It also makes a grocery list for me...my least favorite chore.

 

[Aristocath]

I used Relish for a while. We really loved it and got some great meals from it. I stopped because we got really busy and I was able to use the years worth of meals I already had and repeated them.

I might do it again soon because we need some new ideas but I wish I could do two weeks at a time. That is what I have been doing... making menus and grocery lists for two weeks at a time. Then I just have to make a produce run the second week.

I found that Relish uses a lot of the same spices and specialty items from week to week. So it may be an expense one week but you'll keep using it.