Recipe Lists: How They Benefit Meal Planning

Creating recipe lists can greatly benefit and improve your meal planning process. They serve as a guide in building sustainable plans for your family.

Creating recipe lists can be viewed as a way to maneuver around certain points in your meal planning journey. Think of recipe lists as a guide or a road map of sorts to help plan your meals.

Would you fly on a plane where the pilot doesn’t know where to land? Would you use a GPS system that didn’t have a space to type in your destination?

The above are examples of occurrences where directions are greatly needed to get to point in A to point B. Recipe lists can be thought of as directions to your meal planning routine.

What are recipe lists?

Simply put, they are a group or collection of recipes your family enjoys over long periods of time. They can even be a list of recipes that you would like try.

Why are they beneficial to meal planning?

Without a list of recipes, you will be left to figure out what you should place on your meal plans every week or month. Some people do not mind this, however, others highly prefer a guide to help them. Curating a collection of recipes can help with this.

How can I start my own recipe list?

Putting one together is a simple task:

1. Figure out if you want it in digital form or if you prefer a more, manual form (like pen and paper). Digital programs such as Paprika and Eat Your Books are wonderful options. Pinterest is also great for collecting recipes. If you aren’t into digital or online programs, Etsy.com has a wonderful collection of recipe binders.
2. Once you narrow down the form, begin placing all of your tried and true family recipes inside the program or binders.
3. When it’s time to start your meal planning, you now have a reference recipe guide to help you along the way. Need a meal idea for Monday? Look at your recipe list and pick one out! Need a quick dinner for Wednesday? Let your recipe list guide you.

Added note:

When you try a new favorite recipe, make sure to remember to place it in your collection so you do not forget about it. I can’t tell you how many times this happened to us!

Just like how your busy weekly/monthly calendar can help with meal planning, so can producing a collection of recipes. Your master recipe list can guide you from point A to point B and can make all the difference in planning your meals!