In Search of Meal Planning Site

I get a monthly e-mail from familyfunmagazine.com. They have great family crafts and recipes and this weeks e-mail had a link for "October's month of meals" It's a calendar ith meals for every day. COmpletely free! Here is the link.
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/meal-planner/?campaign=NL...

Here's a homemade menu planner:
http://aprongirls.blogspot.com/2008/07/monthly-menu-plann...

There is a site where you can type in ingredients and it gives you a recipe... I can't remember what it is called...

Here are a couple that I use:
Menus4Moms http://www.menus4moms.com/kitchen/weeklymenu/2008/080630.php

There is also a meal planning calendar you can print out, and it has a column for grocery list and for notes to help you plan out the meals.

I also signed up for Arcamax, but those recipes tend to be more gourmet style. However, there are weekly recipe plans. The most they do is send you advertisements, but I just delete them. www.arcamax.com/recipes

For quick, free recipes to help you out, I use www.allrecipes.com and I look for things based on ingredients I already have and look at the reviews written.

I'm sure there are more, and I look forward to seeing the suggestions others have.

Hi C.,
I own a store called Super Suppers that is a very affordable way to get dinner on the table and you can come and buy a weeks worth of pre-prepared dinner entrees in about 5 minutes. We are currently doing a promotion with Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine so I was on the website www.rachelraymag.com and she has some weekly menus posted. You can also check out www.supersuppers.com (choose the Hawthorne store) and view our menu. We can save you money but more importantly time...
L.

Check out modernmenus.com.

I know exactly how you feel! One great resource I found is on the Stater Brothers website. In one of their drop down menus they have what is called MenuButler. it gives you many dishes to choose from including sides and desserts. Each has a picture so you can see what it looks like. When you make all your choices (I think you can do up to 7 days) it will e-mail you your menu, recipes, AND shopping list. Very convenient! You could even use it even if you do not shop at Staters or live near one. Good luck!

Try www.organizedhome.com heard of it through MOPS when the kids were little. I laughed at the idea of even trying to get organized back then...not in my life!! My thought was "organized people are just too lazy to look for things." However, it's probably just the right thing for you.

I do Pampered Chef shows that are called "Power Cooking Shows"-we make 3 recipes at your show and 2 go in the freezer while one gets eaten at the show. Let me know if you want to do a show and get FREE stuff!!www.pamperedchef.biz/veraskitchen

My crockpot is practically a member of our family. I love this blog that has a new recipe every day: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/crockpot-red-ribs...

While you look for the perfect meal planning site, check out the one-dish dinners on www.bemomalicious.com -- these are perfect and fast and delicious and healthy! Good luck! C.

this is a novel approach to dinner, but some people buy in bulk, cook for 2 days, and freeze the rest. google it about freezing meals. It offers good variety. May be more of adult dishes, but check it out when you are bored.
good luck.
K.

This is not a website but Woman's Day Magazine: every month on the last page it has a menu of pretty simple stuff for the entire month. I think you can access it from their website and also print out weekly shopping lists for it too. Haven't ever gone to their website but I get some meal ideas from that page when I am in a rut.

This isn't quite what you asked for but you could try Saving Dinner. There is a book with a years worth of dinner recipes, organized within season, by week and include a weekly shopping list. The shopping list even includes side dishes.

You can also find Saving Dinner online. There is a fee but it is all nutritionally balanced. You can get meal plans that fit varied restrictions as well.

One of my friends recently started a recipe club. Six of us meet every other weekend to exchange recipes and hints on the weekly topic. I also enjoy Rachael Ray and her online recipes.

Good luck!

I use Menus4Moms, like Priscilla H down below. It gives you a shopping list and a weekly dinner menu. The website also has a TON of great info in terms of "freezer cooking" "bulk cooking" and other articles perfect for busy and/or tired moms.

Have fun!
J.

Check out Saving Dinner. There are some recipes that you can download for free and you can take a look at their different menus. I love this site.

Here is the link http://www.savingdinner.com/

Good Luck,

W.

Some more suggestions that have been helpful to me: http://www.bettycrocker.com/ and rachelraymag.com
I know its easy to get stuck in a rut, good luck!

Not that I have done this (too busy right now but will try it soon...) but I heard about this idea somewhere and thought it was pretty cool. Make a MONTH'S menu for your family and just stick primarily to that every month over and over. Since you're only repeating every 30/31 days, it's not supposed to get overly boring. I'm kind of an organization freak so having a plan for the month sort of appeals to me. (My poor husband...) ;-)

WEELICIOUS.COM
A daily email with great toddler meals ideas!

C.,

I subscribe to Everyday by Rachael Ray. It features a pull out 7 day/ 7 meal planner which includes a grocery list. I haven't really tried one out yet, but one criticism that I have of many of the meals (the great majority seem wonderful and easy) is that they don't include suggestions on accompaniments/sides. Like you, I am burned out and thinking up interesting sides lately takes up a lot more energy than I feel it should. I received the subscription as a gift so I'm not sure what it costs, but I believe that all the recipes are available online in printable form- probably true for the 7 day/meal planner also. The 30-minute meals as well as their meals for under $10 (serve 4) section are really worth it. I read your update...Which of those sites have you found the most useful/user friendly?

Hi, C.. Check out Kraft Kitchens. it's www.kraft.com. After you sign up (it's free), they send you a monthly newsletter with meal ideas and different things, including holiday ideas. They even send you an email with birthday ideas when it's your children's birthdays! Quick meals, sides, desserts, etc. It's great.

I really like allrecipes, because you can see what the recipe has been rated by users and scroll down and read the reviews. Kraft foods, for me, uses too many processed foods, but if that's not an issue for you, it's a helpful website.

I love epicurious.com.

They have a weekly menu planners, although it does tend to skew a little gourmet, so it may be more involved than what you are looking for -- but such a great site!!
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/everydaycooking/...

Kraftfoods.com is an excellent site that helps with meal planning. They will give you a 5 day meal plan and a printable shopping list. It's very helpful. The kids section is very good too!