Weekly menu planning

Natalia   2012-06-02

When me and my husband have just started living together, I felt that everyday cooking for a family is a very difficult task. We always had the same problem – we asked each other, what are we going to cook today and we had no answer. The fridge was full of food bought on a whim, but no coherent meals came of of it.

The result was sad. We cooked the same dishes every time. We constantly dashed to the shop to buy some ingredient, which was needed but forgotten, but bought a lot of other food, which often went to waste. We spent a lot of food, while eating the same things over and over again, and throwing out a lot of food. Neither of us was happy with the situation.

Then my husband got fed up. We started planning our meals using EasyMenu application. Now there is a printed out menu hanging on our fridge, and we always know what to cook for dinner. We also share the menu, so that both of us can access it online – whether to decide whether to eat a large lunch, or to go shopping for food. Our problem is now solved. Feeding a family, which has in the meantime grown to 4, is easy.

Once a week I ask who wants to eat what, and I make the menu based on these wishes. If there are not enough ideas voiced, the rest of the meals are left random, and the last meal of the week is always “leftovers” - to use up what if left in the fridge or in case the plan shifts. Then EasyMenu application creates a shopping list, I edit it, share it, open it in my iPhone, and go shopping.

Such planning is very easy. We have added our tried-and-true recipes and choose either a specific recipe, or a random one. It saves time and energy, and makes our meals more varied. Also the shopping list where I can check already bought items makes shopping for food much more effective.

We see a lot of advantages in such planning. First of all, we save time on planning and thinking at the same time eating a more varied diet. Secondly, now we shop for food only once a week, which allows significant savings. There are fewer possibilities to buy anything on a whim. Thirdly, we do not have to think hard about what to cook out of the existing food in the fridge – everything is already planned and clear.
When the system is for some reason not in use, or example, when we travel, we see very clearly how EasyMenu makes our life much easier.