My doctor gave me a bunch of sample menus for my RepairVite program (food elimination diet). My job this weekend is to plan out the first week’s menu and make the grocery list.  I am going to go through the sample menus and start marking the recipes/items that sound good and doable.  For instance, smoothies are definitely going to be on our list.  Deli meat (Applegate) snacks are also going to be on my list. I will use the recipes that I have for the first week, and then I will start pursuing my books and the net for other permissible recipes. Right now, I am obsessed with the snack options. I think I am so obsessed with snacks because I always get the munchies in between meals. And with this program, I am supposed to put something into my mouth before I get the munchies. My doc told my DH, if I am cranky because I am hungry,

then he’s already too late in getting food in my system. One of the keys to the RepairVite program is to keep your blood sugar levels at an even keel.

Since I plan to start this coming Tuesday, Monday will be a big grocery shopping day for me. I wonder if I will have enough energy to prep any of my meals on that day? Hmmm, I probably shouldn’t count on it. I find I do most of my menu planning on Sundays. I use an app called Pepperplate for my meal planning. I can easily import online recipes (from well known recipe sites) into the app using their Pepperplate Bookmarklet. Once I have the recipe page open, I click “Add to Pepperplate” and BOOM, it’s added.

And I can easily manually import my favorite recipes from my recipe books. I have the app on my laptop, iPad, and iPhone. I can be out and about and quickly look up a recipe and its ingredients and purchase the ingredients I need while I am out.  And when I am ready to cook, I just pull up the recipe via Pepperplate on my iPad and have it sitting on my counter.

 

I can just tap the screen with a clean finger as opposed to trying to turn pages with more-than-likely food-covered-fingers. I can add recipes to the Planner (app calendar), and I have meals planned for the week. It keeps me organized.

The app will also create a shopping list for you based on the recipes you select with a couple clicks.

Wish me luck on selecting recipes for this food elimination diet. (Watch out snacks! Here I come!)

Do you meal plan? And what methods do you use to stay organized? What works for you?

Note: This entry is part of my food elimination diet series. These posts are based on my personal journal entries during this period. Subsequent related entries will be posted chronologically but may not be posted on the same dates they occurred.