I’ve struggled with meal planning – and I haven’t been afraid to admit that. I’ve always complained that my kitchen is too small and relied on boxed meals and quick dinners (and take-out or ordering in) to keep things easy. I go to bed with dirty dishes in my sink (and on my counter and on my stove – ACK!) because I hate washing dishes. I need help, people!!!
It’s not that I hate to cook. Nope – I LOVE to cook & bake – I love making new things and trying new things for my family.
The problem is this:
Cooking = Dirty Dishes
Dirty Dishes + NO dishwasher = Lizard Skin
Even when I use gloves – my hands HATE dishwater… I have the roughest skin & weakest nails because of washing dishes. If it weren’t for washing dishes, I think I’d cook all day long.
But I digress.
Regardless of my minor complaints, my family needs GOOD home-cooked meals and not my last-ditch effort throwing something together in a pan, hoping they like it. One of my GOALS FOR 2012 includes cooking at LEAST one meal (preferably a new recipe) from scratch every week. So far – so good.
But I still struggle with the planning part. I look in my pantry and my fridge – and I go BLANK on ideas for cooking.
sigh.
Enter Plan to Eat – a Simple Meal Planning tool online that stores recipes, offers a meal planning calendar, and then creates shopping lists from my menus.
EASY PEASY!
AND not only that, there is a 30 day free trial (so you can see how well it works for you). After that, the cost is only $4.95 per month. The convenience of having RECIPES with MEAL PLANNER (printable) and SHOPPING LISTS all in one place – all coordinating and working together is really awesome! For the price of a big ol’ coffee at my favorite coffee place, I can sit back and relax a little more with my meal planning.
Whether I add family favorite recipes myself – add recipes from popular recipe sites online – or find recipes from friends, I can keep relevant, useful recipes at my fingertips – and drop & drag them into my planning calendar, and review & print the grocery list in just a few minutes!
LOVE IT!
ANNNNDDDDDD – Plan to Eat offers a mobile feature so you don’t even have to print anything out if you would rather use your Smartphone!
How cool is that?
Yep – I have a referral link for my account – I don’t earn a penny unless you subscribe to the site – so go ahead and check out the free trial to see how Plan to Eat can make things easier for your busy schedule!
About Debbie T
Welcome to my blog. Grab a latte and settle in for a good read! I'm Debbie - aka The Queen Mommy. I'm really just a Right-Brained woman who loves God, her husband, and her three children. I This means I'd rather write than clean... I enjoy writing about family & home, faith & life, marriage & parenting, food & addiction. I do participate in affiliate programs and use affiliate links and graphics throughout my blog. If you follow a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission to help support my family at home. Click here for my Disclosure Policy.
