It is the dreaded question: What’s for dinner? If you struggle to figure out what to make for dinner every night, you are not alone. Maybe it was a New Year’s resolution to eat takeout less often, or perhaps you want to be more organized with grocery shopping and meal planning. (Discover my unique take on New Year’s resolutions.)
Whether it was a resolution or not, planning meals can decrease stress, help you stick with your dietary goals, and save time and money. Here is how you can do it.
Meal Planning Technology To the Rescue
I use two technology helpers that make meal planning easier. The first is a to-do list application on my phone/iPad called Reminders. It is a default application on Apple devices. I create several lists with this application, including holiday menus, supplies to gather in an emergency, and my grocery list. The grocery list automatically sorts items into categories such as meat, pasta/rice/beans, breads/cereals, snacks/candy, and other headings. This makes grocery shopping more manageable for us. As we add items to the cart while shopping, we tap the item on the list, and it is deleted. If my husband is grocery shopping and I think of something I need at home, I can add it to the list, and (hopefully) my husband will see it before he leaves the store. This process works well for us. As I cook and use almost all the rice, I tell my husband that we need more rice, and he puts it on the list. As I sit on the sofa and randomly remember something we need, I add it to the list. There is no need for paper and a pen to make lists, to have to remember to take the list to the store, and painstakingly mark off each item while shopping. If you do not want to download an application, you can use a grocery store’s online cart as a shopping list and remove items as you shop. Of course, there is the danger of the cart being emptied and you losing your list. Find whatever method works for you or your family. I know that a paper grocery list on the refrigerator will not work for us, and we have come to rely on the shopping list application.
The second technology aid is a shared calendar on Apple’s Calendar application. While my calendar appointments remain private, my menu planning is added to a shared calendar. A shared calendar lets everyone know what is planned for dinner, so there are no questions or surprises near dinner time. Everyone knows what to expect. Having meals on a calendar also helps with accountability; it is more challenging to order food near dinner time when the meal you are supposed to cook is glaring at you on the calendar, and everyone is expecting you to cook that for dinner. Using a calendar also allows you to plan for the entire week, rearrange meals as needed due to the week’s activities without abandoning your planning altogether, and use leftover ingredients for the following evening’s dinner. As you add meals to the calendar, you can look in your pantry for ingredients and add them easily to your electronic shopping list.
Using these two applications together leads to planned meals, ingredients purchased and available when needed, and less food waste. The shared calendar also works well in a couple of other ways. Instead of constantly thinking of menus, you can repeat menus every few months or look back through the calendar for dinner ideas.
Other Helpful Hints
If you have not digitized your recipes, it might make meal planning easier. I use Paprika. This application allows you to add your recipes and easily find them by typing in keywords. Some of the features include allowing you to add items you have in your pantry to create a grocery list (omitting the need to have a separate grocery list app, although I still use one), to download or send recipes to others, and a built-in calendar for planning (although we use a separate calendar). The main idea is to find a combination of options that work for you. I like using Paprika to search for my recipes, add ingredients to the shopping list app, and then add dinner menus on our shared calendar. Everything is added, deleted, or moved quickly and organized.
Why You Will Like Meal Planning
Meal planning saves time because you are not thinking about dinner, looking through your pantry for ingredients, going to the store, and cooking every night. When it is time to cook, you know what you are preparing and the ingredients are available. That just leaves the actual cooking time. This can make a difference during your busy week! Meal planning also saves money because you reduce the number of trips to the store and use the remaining ingredients while they are usable instead of throwing them away. Add to these benefits that you reduce your dinner-related stress and have more evening time to do other things or to relax. If you transition from nightly dinner planning chaos to organized dinner planning, it will probably be like other new habits: it will take some time to make it a new lifestyle. The great thing about using applications or technology for meal planning is that if you find yourself returning to old behaviors of not planning your meals, you can quickly start again and get back on track. It is an easy process to return to when life gets hectic and throws you off of your organized meal planning.
How To Get Started
If getting started is overwhelming, you can take a few small steps to get the process started.
Are you ready to get started? Pick a date and start the process. Happy (organized) dining!