Shortcuts for getting started
1) Quick planning -- I started using the Meal Planner by entering just the TITLES of a few favorite meals into the recipe. This allowed me to "play" with the planner and get a plan for the week laid out without having to enter an entire recipe in order to use it in the planner (NOTE TO SELF: need to mark these titles with a note to finish them, so I won't end up with missing ingredients). As I'm getting into really using the planner fully, I'm entering the whole recipes as needed.
2) Convenience foods: I'm also entering recipes like "Pot Pies" and just putting in "2 pot pies" in the ingredients list, so they will be in my shopping list.
3) For recipes from my cookbooks, I'm searching first to see if
anyone has posted them online so I can import them quickly. For the
directions, I am entering a reference to the cookbook page so I can
pull out the cookbook for reference while cooking. As I get into
using menu planner more, I may fill these in so I can print out a
notebook of my recipes to use, but for now, this gets me going
quickly.
2 Posted by mmdm on 27 May, 2010 06:02 PM
For convenience foods or non-recipe foods, I add them right on the meal planner on the day I want to serve them with the Add Other Ingredients link. If I want to have corn on the cob as a side dish on Monday, I can add it there with that link and it will be on my planner and it automatically adds it to my shopping list as well.
3 Posted by vesperlight on 28 May, 2010 12:28 AM
mmdm - THANKS for the tip! this is very cool and much easier than making a recipe for them. For other people who haven't spotted this feature yet yet -- double-click on the day in the planner and it will give you a pop-up box with a list of recipes and the option to add ingredients (anything added here will go on shopping list) or to add events/notes.
4 Posted by mmdm on 28 May, 2010 02:20 PM
Glad to help! I also use the Events/Notes feature there. If I want to have rolls with a meal but I don't need to buy them, I add them there so they go on the menu but not on the shopping list. If I need to start something early, like a crockpot meal, I'll add a note there to remind me.
5 Posted by MandyMom on 01 Jun, 2010 02:34 PM
Another thing that I like to do for meals that I don't need recipes for (but they have a number of ingredients) is to just add a "recipe" that only includes ingredients. For instance, we eat tacos fairly regularly, and I don't really need a recipe for it. I just add a "recipe" with all the ingredients I need though, so that they end up on the shopping list (as opposed to the "add other ingredients" feature).
6 Posted by 123LeandraB on 29 Jul, 2010 11:59 AM
I do the same as Mandy - so i have a recipe for Sausages and Veg - but i don't need the recipe!
7 Posted by Bronnley on 31 Jul, 2010 01:38 PM
I do the same as Mandy - and it's a real time saver. Also, I use the 'save plan' option for things we are going to use all week or on a regular basis. For instance, in order to simplify our lives we take the same thing for lunch for a week. So I will input everything for Monday - the receipe for what we are taking for lunch, any sides and snacks. Then save the plan for just that day and turn around and load that same plan for the rest of the week. Saves time & clicking. Also allows me to search the saved plans for pre-made combinations of foods that will make up a lunch or breakfast.
8 Posted by shepherdfamily on 05 Aug, 2010 12:20 AM
Wow, these are really great ideas! Thanks for posting.
I also use the "recipe" feature to add my side dishes, that aren't really side dishes - but want them planned and want them on my shopping list.
I just Titled them so I would remember, like "Canned Green Beans" and for ingredients - 1 can green beans. this way, I can just plan it and I won't forget to go "add more ingredients" later. I actually did the same thing for the grocery list - I added items that were not already listed so I could quickly check the boxes and be done! (I print a shopping list that has all our usual stuff on it plus blank spaces for whatever, and I post it on the fridge. Whenever we run out of something, or someone uses the last of something, they just check it off on the list. When I do my planning for the week, I grab the list, check the boxes off in my online shopping list and off I go!)
So LOVING this!
9 Posted by Kelly on 10 Sep, 2010 05:31 PM
sheherdfamily... so, do you use the Plan To Eat shopping or just combine it onto your own? Trying to find a groove for myself. ;)
10 Posted by shepherdfamily on 10 Sep, 2010 05:40 PM
@Kelly I use the shopping list too! On the tab where the shopping list is, there is a tab next to it that says "popular items" (or something like that) I went in there and added my own categories and items we ALWAYS need and some other things that weren't listed but we do buy.
The list I post on the fridge, is just a typed list of most of the items I keep on hand. That way, anyone who notices that we have run out of something can quickly make a note on that list.
When I get ready to go to the store, I take the list off the fridge, come back to Plan To Eat and find the items we need on the "popular items" tab, check them off and click "need items" to the right and then they get added to my weekly shopping list. Print list and off I go armed with everything I need to get the job done quickly and efficiently.
Did I answer your question? :) hope so! If not, let m know, I'll try to answer better next time!
11 Posted by 123LeandraB on 12 Sep, 2010 04:45 AM
-----Original Message-----
From: shepherdfamily [mailto:***@tenderapp.com]
Sent: Saturday, 11 September 2010 3:42 AM
To: ***@activ8.net.au
Subject: Re: Shortcuts for getting started [Meal Planning Talk]
12 Posted by Nicola-Jane on 13 Dec, 2010 05:34 AM
Thank you all for your wonderful tips! Has anyone worked out a monthly rotating meal-plan (or similar)? This is my ideal - to have something I can keep copying over from month to month, but then making adjustments to for variety. Am just getting started with entering some of our favourite meals. Thought I'd add myself to this discussion so I can keep hearing the hot tips from regular users.
13 Posted by bdouglas95 on 07 Oct, 2011 07:30 PM
Nicola-Jane... i know its many months after your question, but better late than never.
Yes, I'm one of those that does have a rotating menu plan that I have spent YEARS creating. (Started WAY before I found "plantoeat".) That's why I absolutely love this site, because now I can finally put my pencil and paper version into a more workable format.
I started with two rotating weeks of our favorites and eventually worked my way up to 8 weeks of menus, with almost no repeats. (Two whole months of variety! Woo-Hoo!)
14 Posted by brightman73 on 23 Nov, 2011 11:35 PM
THese are great ideas! I'm loving the "staples" section of the shopping list. There are certain things I always buy: eggs, greek yogurt, hummus, salsa, coconut milk for example. I love having that separate from my recipes list.
You can PTE friend me with the log in: brightman73
15 Posted by brightman73 on 23 Nov, 2011 11:44 PM
I notice some of my recipes are in my meal planner, but not in my ingredients list. What step am I missing?
OH! I had the shopping list set to show things for "today" and I changed it for the next two weeks. Wow, the options.
16 Posted by shepherdfamily on 24 Nov, 2011 12:24 AM
click on a recipe you know should have ingredients in your list, then check the recipe to make sure that "categories" for the shopping list are not blank. If blank, they won't show up on your shopping list. you will need to manually select the categories. Hope this helped!
17 Posted by brightman73 on 24 Nov, 2011 02:02 AM
Yes - it did help! Thank you!