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If January felt longer than it should have, you’re not alone. But we’re already heading toward longer evenings, which makes it time to start dreaming of gardens and getting some seeds started. Here’s your monthly recap, including the latest from our blog and YouTube.
New Podcast Episodes
#124: Big Questions About Meal Planning
We asked AI to ask us questions about meal planning from our experience of hosting the Plan to Eat Podcast. Over the past 120+ episodes, we’ve reviewed books, had dozens of world-class guests, and shared so many tips and tricks about meal planning. In this first episode of 2026, we’re reflecting on what we’ve learned, how it’s changed us, and what advice we have for meal planners.
#125: Feeding Your Family When You’re Too Tired to Plan or Cook
In this episode, we’re discussing how to combat low energy and motivation, so you can still feed your family! We talk about how to actually cultivate motivation, why systems help reduce your lack of energy, and give you practical tips for creating meal plans. And, as always, we’re here to remind you that meal planning is a favor to your future self! The energy you put into it now saves you energy and decisions in the future.
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Recent Blog Posts
3 Ways to Make Meal Planning Part of Your Week
You might think meal planning is only for people who “have it all together”, but it’s really a system that helps during tough seasons.
If You Start One Habit This Year, Make it Meal Planning
The magic of meal planning is that by doing just one task, you get myriad benefits. You only need to put your effort into meal planning, but the result gives us so much more than just a meal plan.
Get to Know the Staples List
Whether you’re brand new to Plan to Eat or a long-time customer, you may have come across the Staples List and wondered what it’s for and how best to use it.
New on YouTube
Follow us on YouTube to get quick meal-planning tips and program tutorials!
Extras
January’s most popular recipe imports:
- Creamy Lasagna Soup from NYT Cooking
- Flaky Puff Crust Pizza from King Arthur Baking
- Ginger Chicken and Rice Soup from NYT Cooking
- Peruvian Chicken from Half Baked Harvest
- Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies from Joy Food Sunshine
Program Updates
The development team is working hard to make updates, squash bugs, and add new features to both the desktop and mobile app versions of Plan to Eat!
Desktop:
- We improved our “Import from other apps” feature so importing recipes from Copy Me That should be more accurate.
- We updated our recipe clipper so you can import more recipes from Facebook.
- We improved the results of our new Beginner Mode option for recipe directions.
- You can now access the planner search from multiple locations, including the event popup, recipe view, and planned events.
- We have updated the planner event search to improve search result accuracy.
- You can now use the planner search to find ingredients, notes, and prep notes.
Highlighted Reviews
“This app has completely changed meal planning for my family. With all the recipes in one place, a shared calendar, and shopping lists, it’s made meal planning so much easier. We’ve been using Plan to Eat for three or four years and I cannot imagine life without it.”
“This app is easy to use, very functional, and helps with saving recipes as well as planning. The development team is super responsive. Best in class.”
