Grocery Shopping Service and Menu Planning

Options
MinMin97
MinMin97 Posts: 2,676 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Anyone use a service? Do you plan your menus? I'm looking for ideas on this, websites, etc....what's your tricks?

Replies

  • miss___pretty
    miss___pretty Posts: 4
    Options
    I need help with this too. I never know what to eat
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
    Options
    eat what I want but less? but if you need to help control hunger, unprocessed foods are your best bet.
    Ex. I will eat an apple
    form of meat
    2x protein shake
    chicken wings
    orange
    grapes
    candy of some sort
    beer

    Bam still losing weight
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Options
    yes please
  • CallMeBacon
    CallMeBacon Posts: 196 Member
    Options
    For me, I plan a week at a time - right before I grocery shop. Helps me have leftovers for lunch at work, and easy to make a good choice (i.e. not call and order pizza) if you have all the ingredients you need for your meal.
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,676 Member
    Options
    Bump
  • redversustheblue
    redversustheblue Posts: 1,216 Member
    Options
    I just started a free trial at plantoeat.com

    So far, it seems really cool. You can import recipes and stuff from other sites, and then plan out your meals week by week. It will give you a grocery list too, so that's a huge plus for me. This is the first week I'm attempting to use it, but it made my grocery shopping I did the other day a lot simpler already.

    I'm really bad at planning, but I think this week will go a lot smoother with this website. I'm anxious to see how it works out for me during the trial.
  • 1two3four
    1two3four Posts: 413 Member
    Options
    Anyone else use www.plantoeat.com?

    Their service is $39 a year, and half off for "Black Friday" (ending on Dec. 2). I haven't even read through their site yet... just wondering if anyone here had experience while I read about it. It sounds great, but we all know how that goes. I might just do it for the pure fact that it works out to be less than 38¢ a week with their special price which isn't all that bad, I can think of a lot worse ways to lose $19.50!
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,676 Member
    Options
    Thank-you! I will check it out...plantoeat.com
    I found that after Thanksgiving (I did all the cooking), I had a ton of leftovers.....I might consider doing bi-weekly cooking. I am presently re-heating an apple pie I pulled from the freezer, for our breakfast! We ate roast beef, salad and acorn squash for dinner last night. Prior to that it was leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, desserts....all pulled from ziplocs in the freezer. Delicious! And I made a layered corn tortilla/salsa/cheese/turkey casserole on another day, super easy.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    Options
    Fairly easy to do yourself.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1147298-how-to-eating-healthy-on-a-budget
  • costleyma06
    costleyma06 Posts: 19 Member
    Options
    I have a dry erase board calendar on my fridge. Before I go shopping each week, I write down what we will be having for dinner each night. This allows me to not buy unneccesary items at the store, makes shopping ALOT more easier, and there are no discussions on what is for dinner - it's already been decided. Its just my husband and I, so I make 4 servings. 2 for us for dinner, and 2 for our lunch that we pack right away. We eat lots of lean protein, veggies, and rice! Keep it simple!
  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
    Options
    any free meal planning software out there?
  • megan_elizabeth8
    megan_elizabeth8 Posts: 216 Member
    Options
    I make a table for the week and stick in on the fridge with my breakfast, lunch and tea listed in advance for every day. Then I can look at what supplies I'll need for the week and write my shopping list that way. If I want to change something on the plan around, I'll make something else with similar ingredients :smile:
    It works for me, but different things work for everyone :smile:
  • Crohns2013
    Crohns2013 Posts: 57 Member
    Options
    I plan all our dinners (and try to always have leftovers for my husbands lunch) and I plan what needs to be baked each week. (Muffins, granola bars etc) I have to plan around 3 kids, multiple allergies, celiac disease and the kids sports (where we get home late) so meal planning in advance is a must for us.

    I do either a week or two weeks at a time and then go get what we need for groceries. I just write our meal plan on either my iPad or a notebook. No fancy website or app.
  • StaceyJ2008
    StaceyJ2008 Posts: 411 Member
    Options
    I find that it is way cheaper to not use a service. I make simple meals that can usually be whipped together with the same ingredients but use different protein sources. If you aren't on a restricted plan and are basically just counting calories and your own macros I would get a cookbook such as hungry girl. There are a lot of low cal and delicious recipes in the books. She also has a website you can go to for recipes. She does use a lot of soy based items which I try to avoid but you can easily supplement them with different protein sources.

    A tip I have is that I buy family packs of chicken, beef, and pork when they are on sale and then I transfer them into smaller portions in freezer bags. I also make a lot of soups. I don't plan dinners very much, I just buy the same things every week and use the meat in the freezer until it is gone and time to restock. It saves money that way and different seasonings add variety.

    I usually eat soup most of the week if I make a big pot for a quick and already made meal. Especially during hectic holiday season.

Categories