I don't assign meals to specific days of the week. I choose a few meals that I'll make during the week, this leaves me wiggle room. Since my husband seldom eats dinner at home, I end up with leftovers & plan fewer meals. This way I'm planning for what is likely to happen & I don't end up having to toss food that's past it's expiration date.
I've recently begun using the website http://www.workflowy.com for organization. I've integrated it into my meal planning.
This week I began with leftover meat in my fridge (sale meat for which I had no specific plan when I bought it.) I listed the meat including the sell by or use by date so that I could easily remember what I had without having to go look in the meat bin of my refrigerator. I also have a link to my grocery list so that I can get there quickly. I mark each meal as completed as I make it (I liked to see items crossed off the list.) The next week when I make a new plan, I delete them. With Workflowy you can choose if you want to display or hide completed items.
This week I have leftover turkey sausage & chicken breasts so I set about meal planning based on those items. I've added the recipes I will make with each dish & where to find them.
******(Update I no longer use this app or website, it stopped working, it wouldn't sync and started saying certain items like onions were already on my list and simply would not add them!)********
While I was building my meal plan I also have a tab open at http://www.groceryiq.com - This the grocery/shopping list app that I use on my phone. I love it because it's available for Android, iPhone (& iPad), Blackberry & as a website. I have it on my phone (android), my iPad & iPod Touch, and I've shared my list with my husband who has the app on his Blackberry. I can add to my grocery list no matter what device I have in my hand when I think of items to add, and it will be synced to all my devices. I can also send my list to an email address or print it from the website. Grocery IQ has a barcode scanner, so when I run out of a pantry staple I scan the empty box using my phone camera - and it adds that item to my grocery list. I've also found it's handy if my husband goes to the store because he may not know which type of Ritz crackers I buy, but if I've scanned the item it lists specifics and usually shows a picture.
So I've added to my grocery list & will take my phone with me to the market when I go shopping. I used to use a paper list, but I was often losing it, or forgetting to take it with me, thinking of items to add to it while I was at the doctor's office, or leaving it sitting on the seat in the car, in the parking lot of the supermarket. Keeping my grocery list on my phone has been a great solution for me.
This week I chose 1 cookbook - The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond, and a stack of 3 magazines. I knew what my meats were so I looked through the indexes (I love magazines with a recipe index in the back!) for recipes that used those items. When I wasn't finding anything for boneless skinless chicken breasts that tickled my fancy & went well with the potatoes I wanted to make, I searched for chicken recipes on http://www.cookscountry.com a site with which I have a paid membership. The quality of the recipes on this site make it worthwhile (to me) to pay a membership to have access to their full history of recipes (I believe that access to recipes from the current season of their program is free.) I don't like to waste my time with recipes that turn out to be no good and I find that sites with user submitted recipes have a large percentage of those. I guess I'm picky.
I'm on Menu Plan Monday at http://orgjunkie.com/blog
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