Trivium Academy Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Is there a website that allows you pick and choose what foods you like, that uses mostly whole foods and creates menus for you based on your preferences? That you can customize if you want? For free? (I know, TALL order) We have a few family favorites like lasagna but I don't think my dh likes my cooking all that much although it's mostly homemade. I'm a little wary of spicy foods and tend to shy away from putting peppers into food, he loves spicy and I know there has to be a middle ground between what he considers bland and what I consider too spicy to eat. Help! Edited to add: My definition of whole foods is food that is not processed, does not contain chemicals although it doesn't have to be organic. I want to use fresh vegetables and products not boxes of mac & cheese, etc. I just realized there might be a different more stringent definition of whole foods than what I mean. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jami Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Is there a website that allows you pick and choose what foods you like, that uses mostly whole foods and creates menus for you based on your preferences? That you can customize if you want? For free? (I know, TALL order) We have a few family favorites like lasagna but I don't think my dh likes my cooking all that much although it's mostly homemade. I'm a little wary of spicy foods and tend to shy away from putting peppers into food, he loves spicy and I know there has to be a middle ground between what he considers bland and what I consider too spicy to eat. Help! I don't know about websites, but I have a spicier dh than I know what to do with sometimes. ;) Our solution...I make flavorful dishes that he can enhance with extra spice. He keeps a jar of jalepeno slices in the fridge to add to burritos, enchiladas, tacos, sandwiches, etc. And a couple flavors of tabasco for quick dashes of extra spice. What we do (and sometimes I forget we've already done this) is I have a list of 15 or so meals that we all agree we like (or will tolerate). Then I just rotate through those depending on what meats or veggies are on sale or when I know I need to use the crockpot during the week. The Saving Dinner menu plans all use whole foods and give you a shopping list. http://www.savingdinner.com There are now several books. It's not free, but I think if you pay a certain amount you can pick and choose from all the menu lists. You could check your library to see if they have any of those books. Jami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagnfun Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Is there a website that allows you pick and choose what foods you like, that uses mostly whole foods and creates menus for you based on your preferences? That you can customize if you want? For free? (I know, TALL order) :) Jessica, Here are a few sites I use for menu ideas~~~~ http://www.menus4moms.com/ They send you a weekly menu conplete w/ shopping list. They also have a great list to a well stocked pantry. http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/index.htm They have both menus & if you go to their Angel Food ministries menu, you can use their menus w/o being involved in Angel Food Ministries. THey also have a shopping list. http://www.dreamdinners.com/main.php?static=index I have been to dream dinners twice. My family just thought it was ok. I however, realized I could use their menus; find my own recipes and buy it all cheaper on my own. I hope you get other replys. I'm always up to try something new~! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I guess I do it the old-fashioned way...with a notebook, cookbooks, and a pencil, lol. I have about 50 cookbooks (it's an obsession) and I'll sit down once every two weeks and plan out a menu and corresponding shopping list. Right now I'm on a salad kick, but lately in a given week I''ve tried to have one or two main-dish salads (often with soup and whole-grain bread), a pasta, a grain/bean meal, and something on the grill. Sometimes I go through an Indian or Chinese phase, not long ago it was a Japanese noodle phase...fun, fun, fun! Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 I'm afraid I'm not as sophisticated in food selection as you are Ria (nice to see you by the way!!!) I need easy, fast but delish. I often skip over recipes b/c of ingredients I'm afraid of...peppers, chili powder or oil and play it safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I found as I grew older my palate changed. Things that I did not eat as a child, I grew to like. My dh's list of veggies that he enjoyed included veggies that I thought I didn't like. I made them for him and tried one bite each time I made them. Now I enjoy things I previously thought I didn't like. It is either abbeyej or parisarah who recommends How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson. It is a great way to change your way of thinking about menu-planning. It has a pithy phrase: give a man a recipe, he eats a meal; teach a man to cook he eats for a lifetime. This book uses whole foods (from scratch, we say in our house) and formulas. I think it might be useful if you don't like particular types of foods (like spicy.) There are chapters on pastas, stir fries, roasting, sauteeing (sp?). Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Thanks! It's probably exactly what I need! I'll get it from the library :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alenee Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I'm afraid I'm not as sophisticated in food selection as you are Ria (nice to see you by the way!!!) I need easy, fast but delish. I often skip over recipes b/c of ingredients I'm afraid of...peppers, chili powder or oil and play it safe. Just an FYI: In the past I thoughty chili powder was spicy but I make a homemade chili and use quite a bit of chili powder to make it. There's really no heat to it as I'd thought. Just the flavor of chili. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I'm afraid I'm not as sophisticated in food selection as you are Ria (nice to see you by the way!!!) I need easy, fast but delish. I often skip over recipes b/c of ingredients I'm afraid of...peppers, chili powder or oil and play it safe. Sounds like you need to start a food widening experience project! I remember when I was learning to cook past the basics, I'd look through books, shake my head and turn the page. After a few months, I found I was shaking my head a lot less. As my cooking experience increased, I became more able to read the recipe and imagine what it was going to turn out like; then these recipes didn't seem so difficult or weird after all. It turned into a bit of an addiction actually. We've tried peanut soup, which is the most revolting thing I've ever eaten, and curried banana and chicken soup. Funnily enough, that was really good! Borrow some books from the library, or find them on the net. Or better still, get the kids to do it, then dedicate one meal each week to culinary weirdness. If it's that bad, you can chalk it up to experience and have cheese on toast. It's only one meal. Perhaps you and hubby will find your compromise in "tasty." Sweet paprika, achiote, curries without chilli in them... My hubby is a bit of a curry addict, but has enjoyed eating African and Latin American styles. :) Rosie- who's last cooking phase was using culinary lavender. That was fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Kirsten~ Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 You've already gotten great help, but http://allrecipes.com/ might help you as well. I know you can input ingredients you have around the house (or in your case, ingredients you know you'd like to use), and it will spit out recipes for you. There are tons of recipes, most with reviews, so it can be overwhelming. But it's another jumping-off point, potentially. Also, consider just leaving out the objectionable spice or item! Seriously! I don't like cooked green peppers, and neither DH nor I do onions in any form, so if a recipe calls for them, I just omit them. Sometimes the recipe won't work, but most times it will. Or, you could just cut the amount in half for something like chili peppper, and see if it's okay for you. I used to be a total spice wimp, but I gradually added a bit of heat to my food because DH loves it, and like Rosie, I've grown to love it. HTH a bit! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delighted3 Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 A couple of sites that I really like are recipezaar.com and supercook.com. Recipezaar has thousands of recipes contributed by members and you can make a cookbook and print a shopping list for free, but you can also join for $24.95 a year and make multiple cookbooks and and really customize things for yourself. Another great thing is that people rate recipes and leave comments an how to make the dish better/different as in less spicy or whatever. Supercook is a massive database of recipes where you can list ingredients that you either have on hand or like and it will list recipes using those ingredients. You can get like 2000 recipes to choose from in no time flat. HTH, Joy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoplayer Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I love Southern Living's recipes: http://www.southernliving.com/southern/foods/0,13362,,00.html Their stuff is well-tested before it is published. I also have found Shirley Corriher's Bakewise quite helpful (both from the recipes it contains and from the explanations of how and why certain things work/flop. Regarding the spicy stuff--this was us when we got married! :lol: DH loves spicy, while I couldn't handle anything spicier than tomato paste.:D Over time, I have learned to gradually enjoy spicier things, although I will never enjoy food as spicy as DH likes. When making Mexican-type dishes, one thing you can use to take the edge off the spicy heat is additional dairy products, e.g., cheese sauce or sour cream. Somehow, the dairy leaves the flavor of the spicy stuff while significantly dampening my perception of the heat. We have a meat-less TexMex casserole we love, and I actually split the batch in half and cook it in two smaller casserole dishes; one will have more spicy heat, while the other will be mild-medium heat that even my Mexican food-hating mom likes. One more thought--you mentioned skipping over recipes because of certain ingredients listed. I have learned over the years that, many times, substitutions can be made to adapt recipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I love Southern Living's recipes:http://www.southernliving.com/southern/foods/0,13362,,00.html Their stuff is well-tested before it is published. I also have found Shirley Corriher's Bakewise quite helpful (both from the recipes it contains and from the explanations of how and why certain things work/flop. Regarding the spicy stuff--this was us when we got married! :lol: DH loves spicy, while I couldn't handle anything spicier than tomato paste.:D Over time, I have learned to gradually enjoy spicier things, although I will never enjoy food as spicy as DH likes. When making Mexican-type dishes, one thing you can use to take the edge off the spicy heat is additional dairy products, e.g., cheese sauce or sour cream. Somehow, the dairy leaves the flavor of the spicy stuff while significantly dampening my perception of the heat. We have a meat-less TexMex casserole we love, and I actually split the batch in half and cook it in two smaller casserole dishes; one will have more spicy heat, while the other will be mild-medium heat that even my Mexican food-hating mom likes. One more thought--you mentioned skipping over recipes because of certain ingredients listed. I have learned over the years that, many times, substitutions can be made to adapt recipes. Spicy-dairy connection: This is one reason why blue cheese dressing is served with chicken wings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I am a cooking/food addict and I find that Cooking Light magazine has the best healthy food recipes of all the magazines/cookbooks out there. I literally shred mine to pieces when it comes, cutting out so many recipes. You could get the magazines out of the library; they also create a yearly book that includes I think, all the recipes from that year. To me, they are not diet recipes at all, although the desserts usually call for low-fat, nonfat, low sugar items, but for the most part they're just very easy, healthy recipes. And they're YUMMY too, lots of flavor. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie in Oh Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Jessica, It sounds like you need to give yourself a little room to experiment. I classify my week of meals dependent on what we have going. So I will do Sunday: Crockpot meal Monday: Chicken Meal Tuesday: Pasta Meal Wednesday: Mexican Meal Thursday: Cassarole in winter/ salad in the Summer Friday: Homemade pizza Saturday: Grill Then I list al the things that I make in those catagories. Right there I will have about a month's worth of meals. Then, if I am sick of the same old stuff I make, I make one night a week a new recipe night, and like Ria, I go to cookbooks or websites and find things that sound interesting. So in a month's time, I might try one new crockpot, one new salad, one new chicken dish, etc. We have added a stir fry night this summer to use up veggies in the garden so that is one night I am doing alot of experimentation. Often, you will find new things to add to your menus for next month. Ask dh if he'd there was a type of food he might like to try- Thai, Mexican, Indian, etc, and make those on new recipe night. Some will flop, but some won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela in GA Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Jessica, It sounds like you need to give yourself a little room to experiment. I classify my week of meals dependent on what we have going. So I will do Sunday: Crockpot meal Monday: Chicken Meal Tuesday: Pasta Meal Wednesday: Mexican Meal Thursday: Cassarole in winter/ salad in the Summer Friday: Homemade pizza Saturday: Grill Then I list al the things that I make in those catagories. Right there I will have about a month's worth of meals. Hmmmmm...I think I like this idea. I might have to steal it. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I'm afraid I'm not as sophisticated in food selection as you are Ria (nice to see you by the way!!!) I need easy, fast but delish. I often skip over recipes b/c of ingredients I'm afraid of...peppers, chili powder or oil and play it safe. Chili powder isn't really spicy and neither are all peppers. Even jalapenos aren't very hot if you cut them in half and remove the insides. Onions aren't very hot if you cook them because cooking brings out the sweetness. You can add plenty of flavor to dishes without adding heat. One thing that helps keep me insipired is that I subscribe to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. That way, I get new recipe and meal ideas every month. You can also search the website for the magazine. Some of our family favorites include: Spaghetti Bolognese Chicken Enchiladas Pasta with Peas and Bacon Cobb Salad Tex-Mex Enchiladas these are just a little spicy but I top with lettuce and sour cream which cuts the heat enough that the kids eat them without a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Sunday: Crockpot meal Monday: Chicken Meal Tuesday: Pasta Meal Wednesday: Mexican Meal Thursday: Cassarole in winter/ salad in the Summer Friday: Homemade pizza Saturday: Grill We do a grain rotation. Each dinner in a week is served with a different grain. (That's the theory anyway.) It sure helps diversify one's cooking. Things that taste good with rice don't taste so good with millet! It also helps reduce everyone's problems with wheat sensitivity. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momee Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 Meal planning, list making, shopping and cooking take up a HUGE amount of my day. A friend gave me a GREAT little magazine full of recipes, totally healthy stuff and has a section called Everyday Food. Features things like Have You Tried sections - featuring things like Quinoa (stuffed red peppers, muffins and cucumber salad made with it) and lunchbox (love! this DH totally deserves to be treated to these awesome lunches (hummus, pepper, bean sprouts YUM! Who'da thought we'd love that stuff?). Today we had wheat bread, toasted, spread with cilantro and mayo, topped with lettuce, mango and avocado slices. WHOO HOO. Yummers. We're spending a bit more on groceries because I'm trying soo much new stuff that I don't usually have on hand but I'm also shopping at a more expensive store for convenience (new baby ;) The other day we had spice rubbed pork tenderloin (healthy white meat and very little of it in all) over top of a salad with cherry tomatos, cubed mont. jack cheese, corn and homemade (mmmm, mmmm) buttermilk dressing. EVERY recipe we've tried has been a hit. If you're still with me, I will now get to the point. Anyway, they have a section where you can buy their suggested ingredients and eat each night's meals. They use all fresh ingredients and it's SEASONAL so they use available fruits/veggies. Last month was cherries (talipai topped, cherry pie, and various salads using them). Can you tell I absolutely love this little thing? Check 'em out everydayfoodmag.com online - they have archived recipes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 My mom has a wonderful Italian cookbook called Famous Brand Name Country Italian, it's a Barnes and Noble book. I've written at least 30 recipe titles down of things I feel would be great for us and soon I will be attempting the recipes. I have How to Cook without a Book coming from the library and my mom has promised to teach me about meats (at the grocery store) before I leave on Saturday. I love Italian food and the recipes are not intimidating. Some of you may remember that I tried French cooking last year, that was intimidating but I learned that I love making sauces with wine. I'm also taking a leap and will add sausage to our foods. Thank you so much for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Menus - We use excel to create a spreadsheet. We made a "Master List" of every single meal we could think of... Then make Week 1 menu, Week 2 menu, Week 3 menu, Week 4 menu... For simplicity consider doing it the same every night of the week, for example: Monday - Veggie night Tuesday - Chicken Wednesday - Salmon Thursday - of Week 1 & 3 - new recipe Week 2 & 4 - Brown Rice, Grilled Chicken, roasted peppers & sauted veggies Friday - Crockpot or Casserole Meal (we run errands on Fridays) Saturday - Homemade Pizza Sunday - Roasted Chicken These are filled out but it gives me a starting point as a generic template. Then I just fill it in. Allrecipes is great for me. Excel is my friend. Then I have a premade grocery list of everything we can thing of (in excel) and I can print one off every two weeks for grocery shopping and mark what I need (using my menus) and not forget anything. :) It saves a lot of money this way... And because we know we have everything ahead of time, it cuts down on poor planning eating out which is different than fun eating out, lol. Disclaimer: I haven't done it very well for the last couple of months because of "supposed" bedrest, preterm labor, and then a new baby, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I made a huge list of all the meals I could think of that my family liked. They could be things I made without a recipe book or recipes I've just used a lot. That gave me a big list of things to start with. For example, spaghetti and chili are ones I use most weeks in the winter. :boxing_smiley: Then I picked a stack of recipes I'd wanted to try (from online) and one new cookbook with some things I've been wanting to try and added those to the list. After you rotate meals you make now, you can start adding in some new recipes, like I've been doing lately. I spent some time looking through the Monday Menu blogs for ideas I hadn't thought of, or just new things that sounded good last week. I try to rotate beef, chicken, ground beef, fish, pasta dishes, soups/stews/chili, and mexican/chinese meals. Some weeks I do better than others. You don't necessarily need to assign the meals to the particular night; just knowing you have the ingredients each night if you pick one meal for tomorrow is a big help. If you'd like a master list to start with, I'd be glad to share mine. I also saved my menus from last winter so I can pull them out again later to save time if I want. Then, if you want any recipes, I'd be glad to share those. I gave up convenience foods a while back on the whole foods journey. We pretty much use common items around here. Course that's probably a different shopping list from those down south. lol P.S. My dh said he didn't like green/red/yellow peppers. Over time, that's changed. My family will eat pepper steak with green peppers, and fajitas with red/yellow peppers. Sometimes you have to just try something that sounds good to you. (Tho with the cost of peppers now, if they didn't eat them, it wouldn't be a big loss. lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticklbee Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 It is either abbeyej or parisarah who recommends How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson. This sounds like something I could use as well. My library has it so I'm going to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenni Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 This sounds like something I could use as well. My library has it so I'm going to check it out. I'm thrilled to know this book exists. I hope I can get it from the library. I am in such a funk about cooking and planning meals right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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