Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping the iPhone Way

I have to confess. Today I did something that I swore to myself I would never do, I cooked hot dogs for dinner. Don’t get me wrong it’s not that my kids have never had a hot dog, but I have never physically cooked or prepared one for them. To be honest I had to ask my husband how to do it.

Growing up I had my share of hot dogs and once I was old enough to understand the ingredients and how they were made I vowed to never eat one again. And I also promised myself when I have children I would never cook them for my children. Today I broke that promise and I’m feeling guilty.

So why did I break my vow? Well, I wasn’t feeling well after work and we ate all of the BBQ for the weekend, excuse one. Plus my daughter informed me that she was “tired of chicken and we should eat something else,” excuse number two. And finally, I didn’t want to endure the 6pm grocery store rush. So as a last resort I pulled the hot dogs out of the freezer and tossed them in a frying pan.

After I watched my kids enjoy, I mean devour, their dinner I pulled out my FOOD magazines and family cookbooks and vowed that I will start creating a weekly meal plan and take control over our dinner table.

Can you guess what came next? There’s got to be an App for that!

iFood Assistant
Brings simple, delicious food ideas, anytime and anywhere you go with how-to videos and smart 1-2-3 recipes. Create your shopping list while you browse through recipes.
For more intformation visit iFood on kraftrecipes.com.

Epicurious
Epicurious recipes and shopping lists app is great for busy moms. It allows you to create shopping lists, follow step-by-step instructions and browse recipes all from your iPhone or iPad. You can even send your favorite recipes straight to your inbox. Be sure to check out their fast weeknight dinners. For more information visit the Mobile page on Epicurious.

MiMeals
Easily create your weekly meal plan from you iPhone. MiMeals is a simple application that allows you to plan and store meals for the entire week separated by day. You can even add a grocery list to have on hand while walking the isles at the grocery store. Available on iTunes for $1.99.

Menu Planner
Another iPhone App that makes maintaining a weekly meal plan and shopping list look easy. All you have to do is pick your meals for each day and view them in an easy to see weekly list. Available on iTunes for $2.99.

Don’t worry if you slip up on your meal plan or if dinner doesn’t turn out exactly as you hoped, you can always download Grubhub or UrbanSpoon to look up a nearby restaurant available for takeout or delivery.