Sometimes when you’re busy, it’s hard to figure out what you’re having for dinner. Too often busy schedules means less time preparing meals and more time picking up meals. Fortunately, there are services, such as Build a Menu, that can help you plan your families upcoming meals. You can choose your preferred store, select the recipes you want to prepare, and Build A Menu will not only provide your with prices, but also with printable recipes to help make your next shopping trip easy.
Easy to Plan, Easy to Make
Review by WiC Chick Libby, of Libby’s Library (with some comments/edits by The WiC Project)
Build A Menu isn’t just a meal planning service. No – far from it. It provides menus, recipes, and shopping lists. What makes it even better, is that you can design your selections around the grocery store where you shop. Choose from different categories based on your family’s individual preferences. Mix and match, any way you like.
They have a variety of recipes to choose from for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and if you like, snacks and desserts as well. Simply select the store where you want to shop, choose the recipes you want to cook up for the upcoming week or two, print out the recipes and shopping list, and you’re ready to go…including the prices for the ingredients that you will be purchasing. How great is that!?
Many of the menus take advantage of weekly sales, helping you to save any more. If you choose the “Any Grocery Store” plan, the prices will be based on average pricing.
This site could not be any easier to use, which is a BIG deal to me. The recipes are easy to make and don’t require exotic ingredients. Many of the meals are freezer friendly, so I plan to double some of them, so that I can have extras on hand should we have unexpected company, or in case of a last minute need to provide a meal for a neighbor, or a family from church.
The Blue Cheese & Bacon Stuffed Hamburgers…out of this world. The same goes for the Pizza Smothered Baked Potatoes and Greek Chicken and Potatoes. Cherry Vanilla Oatmeal will be a regular on my menu, as will Brownie Mix Double Chocolate Chip Cookies and…
Lemon Buddies (Chow Mix).
Would you like to take a guess on how long this yummy snack lasted?
Build A Menu is a great site to help you plan, prepare, and shop for a week or even a month of meals. When you print your shopping list and recipes, they print out one after the other, helping you keep all of the meal planning organized. Note that if you’re planning for several meals, you can save on the amount of paper needed if you choose to print the list and recipes double-sided.
Get $4 coupon off Build A Menu’s meal planning service. Use Coupon Code JOIN2012 for $4 off, making it only $4 to try it for a month. Not only is Build A Menu committed to helping families save time and money thru menu planning, they also donate a portion of their proceeds to orphan care charities, so when you join Build A Menu, you’ll also be joining in their effort to support these charities!
Build A Menu gets 2 forks up from me!
About Build a Menu
Build a Menu Online
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One winner will receive a 6 month subscription to Build A Menu ($40 value)!
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Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. Your experiences may be different. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. WiC Chick Libby did receive a complimentary subscription from the manufacturer or their representing PR agency to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.
We decide what to eat last minute, but I would love to be able to plan in advance!
normally its just me, except for lunches and those are planned.
probably about half and half
sometimes I plan and sometimes it is spur of the moment
We do a little of both. It just depends on the day.
I have planned meals in the past but being preggo w/ 4 kids and a hubby overseas we just wing it now.
I tend to “wing it” more in the hot summer months and then I’ll stick to a menu the rest of the year. Of course I’m always flexible. LOL!
I usually wait until I am hungry to start thinking about what to make for dinner. A way to help me plan would be great!
I’m usually figuring it out last minute. But, I’m working on trying to start menu planning!
Thanks for the chance to win!!!
~Ola
Its usually a last minute scramble. Very stressful!
I have to plan our meal or I end up making crap – – Paul T/Pauline T aka Paul Tran….. emscout9 at Hotmail dot com
I do both lol depends on the day
I plan the first couple weeks meals, but then things get so hectic that the last two weeks it’s a last minute kind of thing. I want to change that!
We pretty much plan last minute. If I’m good, the night before.
we plan a few meals but most of them are unplanned
Sometimes I plan the meals but others we decide at the last minute.
Everything is planned!
I’m new to mealplanning but LOVE it! It’s saving time, money, energy, and of course…some of Mama’s sanity! 🙂 I’m actively looking for the perfect meal planning tool!
I try to plan but often i am picking something out last minute.
I definitely try to plan them. We make a rough menu for the month and then juggle as needed to make things fit to the changes in schedule.
I plan using the weekly sale flyer as a guide