Comments on: Meal Planning Ideas & Recipe Organization

By: Margot

Margot — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:02:56 +0000

Forget the cookbooks, then. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipes/ is a great site for recipes. You pick one (or more) and it will make a shopping list for you. If you want to use your favourites in the notebook, take the pages out of plastic. Messy recipes show you’re a cook! I used to plan my meals around the week’s grocery specials, doing my planning when Thursday’s Washington Post came out. Efficient and money-saving.
I laud your efforts to plan your meals, but don’t go overboard. You need time for life, too.

By: Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:55:48 +0000

A couple more thoughts.

When I was dieting, it was my most successful strategy to plan what I was going to eat. It made me feel less deprived, because if I felt a little hungry I always knew I would be eating again soon, and exactly what I was going to eat.

Eric feels that it isn’t as important to have the recipes on the computer as it is to have a good index–just a piece of paper with a list of your favorite recipes and where to find them. That’s easier to keep in the kitchen.

I don’t think that I would like keeping my recipes in plastic sheets because I tend to change them a little each time, and I like to record my changes. I don’t mind some splatters.

I’ll be interested to see how this all evolves for you.

By: Kara

Kara — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:27:37 +0000

I would indeed like to check out your system. The more ideas, the better. I also like the idea of checking out cookbooks from the library, because really I will only make a small fraction of the recipes in any cookbook.

We bought a little two-person crockpot today, thinking that would make some of our meals a little easier.

By: Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:17:25 +0000

This is a problem that I’ve struggled quite a lot with also. When my husband and I first lived together we used to do grocery shopping when we ran out of stuff, and we just bought a lot of things that we used a lot like pasta, cereal, fruit, etc. We only occasionally made big dishes. I got tired of this and set up a grocery scheme. Now we take a piece of binder paper and write up the grocery list. My format has evolved over time. On the left is the actual grocery list. There’s also usually a few items to buy that aren’t at the grocery store that go into a separate column. There’s also a place to put our schedule for the week, if we’re out for the evening, or if we want to plan to make a specific dish. I also keep track of what’s leftover in the fridge, and I have a list of recipes that I want to make soon. We also have a separate sheet of paper that has all our staples. I read this off and my husband looks in the fridge and cabinets to see what we need. We keep the grocery list in a binder that we can check when we get home to find out what we have a plan for.

It takes time to look through recipe books and find dishes that you want to eat. When I was working on this, I would try to make one new thing each week. Then if it was successful I would add that to our recipe book. I keep a list of our favorite recipes separated into seasons to give me inspiration. I really like getting cook books from the library because I can find specialty cookbooks (fast, low-cal, slow-cooker, vegetarian, or whatever) and then after I’ve found a couple of recipes that I like, the book goes back to the library.

I would recommend picking some method, and plunging ahead. You’ll find that it will change and evolve in any case, so think of it as an on-going process, as your mom suggests. You’re welcome to check out our system any time.

By: Kara

Kara — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:04:25 +0000

Lately, Stephen and I have been reduced to about four different dinners that we rotate. It’s getting a little boring. I have tons of recipes that I like to make or would like to try, but finding what I want when I want it is kind of a pain.

By: Kara

Kara — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:54:24 +0000

Stephen suggested I could just take my laptop into the kitchen. The screen is a little small, but it’s a good idea.

By: Mom

Mom — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:02:31 +0000

I do like my computerized recipe room arrangement, although it took me three years to figure it out! I also like the convenience of the computerized recipe files, and it is so easy to attach to an e-mail when someone requests a recipe. I like your idea of scanning recipes, although I probably won’t be able to give up my hard copy recipe files. There is something warm and fuzzy about using a recipe in my mother’s handwriting or that of a friend.

By: Shirley

Shirley — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:24:36 +0000

I’ve tried every method you mention! I have a shelf full of cookbooks just outside the kitchen, a huge file of recipes on my computer, some that I’ve typed into Word, some PDFs that I’ve scanned… but I rarely refet to any of them except for recreatinal reading. Mostly, I have some tried and true cooking methods that I use for soups, chops, vegetables that I “plug in” various ingredients depending on what is in season. The more I stick to Pollan’s advice to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” the less I rely on recipes. When I try something I need a recipe for, it’s either something new I’ve seen in a magazine, or some dessert thing that I’m making for a special occasion.

Meal planning: check out sparkpeople.com — great tools for lifestyle change.