Hellobee

When I was in the corporate world pre-baby, my co-workers often asked how I managed to make the all my meals during the week while I was munching away on lunch. I wasn’t sure if my planning method would translate once Petit Macaron joined the world. My husband had us try out eMeals prior to the baby’s arrival. We enjoyed it, but I enjoy finding and cooking meals and didn’t want to give it up if I didn’t have to. The good news: I was able to settle back to my meal planning ways after the initial shock of having a baby worn off. The meals may be simpler now, but the methodology is working just great.

It took me a while to get where I am with the meal planning. It all started on paper – literally scraps of paper where I wrote the meals on one side and the shopping list the other. Then I had binders with all the printed recipes. I would put post-it notes to mark the recipes for the week in the binder.

Mr. Macaron is a big tech guy, and saw my ancient methods and made some software suggestions. With some trial and error, I have landed with a great tool and thought I’d share what has been working for me in hopes it helps you.

Here’s how it goes…

Step 1: Gather Recipes

Finding the perfect recipe never stops for me. I’m always on the quest for the perfect meal – one that’s quick, tasty and healthy. Mostly I source my recipes from blogs and Pinterest.

Blogs: Below are are a few favorite cooking blogs. I use a blog reader (like this one) to follow my favorite bloggers, so I am always getting fresh recipes to review and try.

• Pioneer Woman – Ree, otherwise known as the Pioneer Woman, is great and I’ve been following her for years. She’s built quite the empire for herself and even started a program on the Food Network. I’ve been to her book signing and met her when she signed my cookbook. Her chicken parmigiana is a favorite in our household.
• Annie’s Eats – Annie always seems to have great solutions for healthy and quick meals. She seems so nice, like she could be your friend. Her Mexican quinoa is one of my go-to’s for a quick meal. Just add some avocado and sour cream and chips on the side and you’re good to go. And, if you want some meat, I often add the carnitas from Trader Joe’s.
• Gimme Some Oven – Ali has some awesome meals – I know them all on a first name basis. I love how she lightens up a lot of traditional meals and does recipe round ups by ingredient. Her Hummus Crusted Chicken is super tasty – just serve it with Trader Joe’s rice! (Isn’t TJs the best?!)
• Mel’s Kitchen Cafe – I tell ya, Mel makes some good, home cooked meals. She often make suggestions on what to serve with the meal, which is helpful. I enjoy the Thai Style Chicken and Quinoa during the spring and summer.
• Pinch of Yum – Lindsay is a recipe machine. I also follow her on Pinterest and she’s got so many recipes pinned. One I made in the spring and will make again soon now that it’s cool enough for the oven is the Six Ingredient Sausage Potato Pie.

Pinterest: I use Pinterest to quick save a recipe that looks promising. When I am looking through my blogs and come across a recipe, I pin it to one of my boards. I also use Pinterest to source recipes. I follow a few of the bloggers on Pinterest as they pin other people’s recipes, too. Sometimes it’s recipe overload, but better to have too many than not enough.

Step 2: Plan the Week

First, I want to tell you the main tool I use for planning and recipe management, Paprika. This is is a great piece of software and has served me well. I was doubtful of switching off my paper method at first, but once I did it for a few weeks I didn’t look back. When I have a meal picked for the week, I just import it into the tool. Over time, your recipe library builds up and it becomes even easier to meal plan. I have Paprika on my desktop, phone, and iPad so it’s really convenient.

Now that you know the tool, let me share the steps. The process starts on Sunday when I sit down and plan the menu for the week. Then I take the following steps:

1. Weather Check: Yes, I check the weather. I want to know whether I want to turn on the oven or not (this is key for the summer).
2. Review Recipes: I go to my Pinterest boards and check out if anything catches my eye. If you have a favorite cookbook, perhaps take a look at the table of contents. Do a quick web search if you have something particular in mind. With the tool (the one I’m about to mention), you can review past recipes as well.
3. Meal Decisions: There is a calendar tool in Paprika, so go through and decide on a meal for Sunday through Thursday (I take off Friday & Saturday meals usually). If it’s a new recipe, you may need to import it. Or, if you already have it in your library, great! You open the recipe on Paprika and there is an opinion to “Add to Meals” – go ahead and add it. (See *Tip below)
4. Grocery List: At the same time you add the meal to the calendar, you can click “Add to Grocery List.” Then you click all the boxes for the items you need. Don’t forget to go through your pantry and refrigerator to see what you have, what needs refreshing, and want you need. You can also just manually add items to the grocery list. I have some things I get every week – yogurt, bananas, milk, ice cream – so I add those, too. The tool is great and will categorize them into aisles at the store.
5. Go to the Store: Pre-baby I’d go to the store on Sunday afternoons. Now I tend to go on Mondays. I go to Trader Joe’s and/or Safeway – sometimes I go to both. I take out my iPhone and open Paprika, and go through my grocery list. As I put an item into my card, I check it off and the item disappears.
6. Put the Food Away: This is pretty straight forward. I usually put Petit Macaron in his exersaucer that resides in the kitchen while I put everything away.

*Tip: I try to have some variety to my weekly meals. I tend to have one pasta dish, a chicken dish, ground turkey/beef, and pork. You could also do where a cooking method or cuisine type conencts with the day of the week such as Taco Tuesday or Slow Cooker Thursday.

Step 3: Cook each Day

In the morning, I open Paprika and see what’s planned for the day. I try to prep as much as possible during Petit Macaron’s naps. I like to use our iPad and a little stand in the kitchen with the recipe open while I do the prep and cooking. The meals I cook usually make 4 servings (or more!). We eat two for dinner, and then put two in tupperware for lunch the following day.

There you have it – one way to do your weekly meal planning. I hope this helps inspire you and gives you some ideas on how to plan your weeks. I find it saves time to plan for the week rather than living on a day-by-day existence!

Cheers and Bon Appetite!