meal planning software?

[wbh1964]

I know we have the eat at home thread which I love but I am HORRIBLE at meal planning...I know...it seems so simple to most of you but I just can't pull it all together. I have a bun of stuff in my pantry that I need to use but just stand there and say...what in the world am I gonna fix?...and end up picking up fast food. We are making a huge effort to eat healthy which I know starts at home! With that being said, does anyone know of a free program that helps you with meal planning. Something that maybe you can put items from your pantry into the program and it helps plan meals???

 

[ilovepete]

I meal plan but don't use a program like you are describing, that would be neat! I know some of the recipe websites have things you put your ingredients in but it wouldn't be like a while meal plan thing.

 

[jenrose66]

I also struggle with meal planning and would love meal planning software but haven't come across any. I used to read Racheal Ray's magazine when it first came out. She would put a weeks worth of meals in it that used similar ingredients and include a shopping list...You can probably get some inspiration from her website. Kraft also has what they call "bag dinners" or something like that. They give you a week worth of dinners with just a bag or two of groceries. I'm not super in love with a lot of their recipies but it's worth a look.

 

[4fordisneyworld]

I have one but I had to purchase it. It is called 30 Meals In One Day. It is meant for you to spend a day of cooking and have your freezer stocked at the end of that day. You can take the recipes they have and adjust them for the number of servings you need. You can also put in your own recipes and create a database of sorts that will keep track of your grocery list for the recipes you choose to use on your cooking day. My two best friends and myself spend an entire day cooking and used this and it was very helpful.
I don't know about any free programs out there though.

 

[semo233]

I would like something similar that also cross references the ingredients for a shopping list.

 

[GoofItUp]

It's not free, but emealz.com is $5/mo and does meal planning for you. I used it for a while and was thinking of getting back on it. I didn't cook all of their meals, but would pick 3-5 each week. Between leftovers and maybe 1-2 times eating out, it fed the family. If you cut out the fast food trips it still saves you money.

 

[dfchelbay]

Maybe we can create it here. It might be fun. If you give us a list of items in your pantry, we can tell you what we would make with those items. Give approx. measurements of how much of each ingredient to create a meal, list the amount of time to cook it, etc. Then all we have to do is cut and paste it to each of our own recipe lists.

Anyone care to try it?

 

[ilovepete]

i would be in for trying

 

[java]

Our very own Tiffany has a website with great weekly meal plans along with shopping lists. They are very straight forward simple family friendly recipes. Many of the ingredients you would already have on hand.
Love Ya Tiffany!
http://eatathomecooks.com/

 

[wisegal]

The Kraft Canada website has a feature that you input 3 ingreadents that you have and the type of meal you want and it will give you some suggestions of meals that you can prepare. I have used it a few time and fround some now family favorites.

Here is the site: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/home.aspx

 

[Sadie22]

I have one but I had to purchase it. It is called 30 Meals In One Day. It is meant for you to spend a day of cooking and have your freezer stocked at the end of that day. You can take the recipes they have and adjust them for the number of servings you need. You can also put in your own recipes and create a database of sorts that will keep track of your grocery list for the recipes you choose to use on your cooking day. My two best friends and myself spend an entire day cooking and used this and it was very helpful.
I don't know about any free programs out there though.

I didn't know about this one. Thank you! I've ordered the software and am looking forward to trying it out.

 

[TiffanyK]

Our very own Tiffany has a website with great weekly meal plans along with shopping lists. They are very straight forward simple family friendly recipes. Many of the ingredients you would already have on hand.
Love Ya Tiffany!
http://eatathomecooks.com/

Thanks for sharing my site. Here's the link to all the menus (over 1 1/2 year's worth)

I think at all recipes you can put in an ingredient and find recipes that use it. That might help.

 

[dfchelbay]

The Kraft Canada website has a feature that you input 3 ingreadents that you have and the type of meal you want and it will give you some suggestions of meals that you can prepare. I have used it a few time and fround some now family favorites.

Here is the site: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/home.aspx

Thanks for this website link. I've been playing around with it for the last hour. Just throwing 3 ingredients up and seeing what it suggests...love it. Thanks again.