Since last week's post, I have spent much of my time putting away the last of the Christmas decorations, catching up with people and family and spending lots of time getting organized on the computer. (Does that count as writing?) Something I did write this week that seems to have struck a chord with many readers was my Comparison Kills Contentment post at Catholic Mothers Online. Read that here if you are interested.
One way I am determined to be more intentional and creative this year is by creating and sticking to a weekly menu plan. To help me accomplish this I signed up for the free trial of Plan To Eat. Have you heard of it or are you using it already? (If so, please friend me @Mistysmornings so we can share recipes together!)
I struggled so much at first because I do not want to take the time to type in every recipe I love in order to be able to drag and drop the recipes onto the planner. Thanks to Clint, the PTE customer assistant, I learned that I can simply find the recipe on-line, click the PTE Save Recipe button, and the entire thing is automatically uploaded into my recipe file. No typing necessary! This made me a believer and I have spent lots of time uploading recipes from my Pinterest food boards. I forsee myself finally getting around to trying many of those mouth-watering recipes I have been busy pinning from the web. My hope is that after the initial time spent loading recipes, the Plan To Eat planner and self-generated grocery lists will save me more time in the future.
Here's what we plan to eat this week:
Monday - Pumpkin spice chocolate chip mini muffins and Sushi (out for the holiday)
Tuesday - Kalamata Lemon Chicken
Wednesday - Mediterranean Layer Dip and leftover kalamata chicken
Thursday - Fat-free refried beans and rice burritos
Friday - Bean nachos (leftovers)
Saturday - OUT
Sunday - Tomato soup with bacon grilled cheese sandwiches
Sharing here:
Commit2Write
Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday!)
I've found so much strength through meal planning. It felt silly at first, but it's helped me become a better cook and a better grocery shopper. Stick with it, friend!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement Sarah! I'm learning.
DeleteI try to meal plan each week - sometimes two weeks at a time. It makes life so much easier and cheaper! I love your ideas listed. I am going to use the burritos and nachos! We love soup nights here and I never thought of adding bacon to my grilled cheese! Thanks so much!!
ReplyDeleteI so need to do this. I have tried numerous menu planners and I fail everytime. Thanks for the suggestion...better luck this year! ~Theresa
ReplyDeleteYour menu sounds great! I've never tried any special menu planning tools besides just pen & paper, but I find that linking up to MPM really helps make sure I do it every week.
ReplyDeleteThat is great. I also have a food blog www.adventuresinthekitchen.com I did not know you can clip the recipes and not have to type! I'll have to check it out. Bacon on a grilled cheese--mmmm!
ReplyDeleteI was using saymmm.com and then started using plantoeat.com. They both have their pros and cons, but recently saymmm has added an Evernote feature that is kind of nice and you can plan meals with out having to create a recipe for it like you do in plan to eat. I do like the web clipper that plan to eat offers.
ReplyDeleteI have a separate blog (hey, it's free) for meal planning. I am lost without a meal plan. ;-)
ReplyDeletehttp://forwhichwegivethanks.blogspot.com/