Let me begin this post by admitting that I am not a very organized or efficient person by nature. My brain tends to be a jumbled mess of ideas and possibilities that often get stalled in the getting started phase. I have always worked best when I have directions to follow, a proper how-to guide in front of me.
When it comes to food, this translates as follows. I'm a solid baker. My mom did a great job teaching me all about ratios and the proper method of mixing wet/dry ingredients. To this day, my husband rejoices when a batch of biscuits or scones go in the oven. Those recipes are always consistent, so the end result has always been predictable as well. I love baking!
What I don't love? General meal planning and preparation. I have always found this particular task to be overwhelming and debilitating. My culinary education was as a sous chef. I was always cutting and stirring, but I never made the flavor profile connection. So until I met my husband, a self proclaimed foodie and adventurous cook, I never ventured very far outside my culinary comfort zone. We've known each other for ten years now and so my education has come a long way in that time.
The most recent development is that we've adopted a predominantly pescitarian lifestyle in the last year. If that term is new to you, as it was to me a few years back, a pescitarian diet consists of vegetarian plus fish. We also throw in ground turkey and the very occasional chicken, but for the most part, this is our way of life. Seeing as I grew up in Minnesota, fish was not the predominant protein on the menu. I was raised in a meat and potato kind of world, where the only fish dish that made it to the menu on a regular basis was tuna casserole.
I feel like I'm starting from scratch. Most of my go to recipes no longer apply, or at least not in their original state. I'm having to scour the web for new ideas, techniques and ingredients to expand my culinary horizons all the time. Thankfully, there are tons of websites and apps available to help make my life easier. So for this not so organized, carb-loving baker, here's how I've been getting it done!
1) Pinterest: I treat Pinterest as my cookbook. It's one of my daily activities for decompressing after chasing the Gentlemen around endlessly. Sure, it's crazy addictive, but I do my best to use the recipes and ideas off that website as much as possible and not just drool over other people's lives.
2) Any Do: Another great app! It's my everyday task manager. This is where I usually build my grocery list. Jason has it too, so we can share lists with each other and add things as necessary.
3) Safeway: This company has hit the nail on the head with this app. I love that they do a lot of the coupon search for you and post it all right there. A new Safeway opened up near us last month and I decided to switch from the Albertsons nearby to see if there was a noticeable change in quality and cost. On average, I've been spending about $30/week less at Safeway! Not to mention the gas credits. Cha ching!
4) Food Planner: My new life changing/ I've been waiting and searching for an app like this for years tool. It's quickly replacing my need for different apps on my phone/computer. You'll have to check it out for yourself and see, but it allows you to plan your meals, import/download recipes, build shopping lists, have a running kitchen inventory, calendar, and the ability to build full menus. And if you want to make your life even simpler, you can purchase preset meal plans through their store. Best part: the app itself is free!
Confession, I haven't been using Food Planner as fully as I could. It drives Jason nuts when he sees me going back and forth between applications trying to build my grocery list. So today I finally started importing full recipes and using the grocery list feature. Why did I hold out for so long?! It's amazing!!!
5) The Kitchn Blog: This blog is a personal favorite. It's full of great seasonal recipes, articles about ingredients & tools, and it also has tons of vegetarian info as well. Oh and the photography is always pretty. :-)
Okay. I'm done feeling like an advertisement. But seriously, if you're looking for more ways to make your life easier, check these out! I hope it helps you like it has for me.
Oh, one more thing! I'd love to hear what you use! Domestic Divas Unite!!!
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