Menu Planning Made Easier {Launching Today!}
Well, you guys know that I LOVE menu planning (and believe strongly it can save one’s sanity on the daily) and I am so, so excited to finally tell you about a menu planning solution that is launching TODAY!
{FYI: some of the links below are affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and sign up or make a purchase.}
I’ve partnered with the savvy Prepear app to bring you brand new, simple, sanity-saving meal plans just in time for the new year. If you are new to hearing about the Prepear app, it’s basically a pretty cool little menu planning app you can use right on your phone or tablet (or computer, too).
I’ve been wanting to do more with menu plans for a long time…and using the Prepear app to create menu plans gets YOU the best of both worlds. Because not only do you get access to my recipes, but there are also hundreds and hundreds of other recipes from bloggers and websites on the Prepear app for you to choose from.
I’ll be creating and adding new family-friendly, simple menu plans every week to the Prepear app for you to customize and use as you plan your menus. You can add and remove recipes from any menu plan to tailor it exactly to your family’s tastes and schedule!
Here are a few of the meal plans I’ve already set up that are available now:
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Dinners Meal Plan
Quick and Easy Dinners Meal Plan
Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner Meal Plan
Weekly Meal Plan (Dec 31 to Jan 6) – this one will be reoccurring with a new meal plan every week!
30-Minute Dinners Meal Plan
Instant Potpalozza Meal Plan
It’s as easy as tapping on the menu plan you want – sliding it right into your weekly planner on the app and then sitting back and patting your intact sanity. Right now the app doesn’t have the capabilities to send a dinner-making fairy to your house, but I hear that functionality is coming soon. 🙂
What it DOES offer, though, is the ability to customize any meal plan the way you want it. So even if you select one of my meal plans above, you can remove recipes and add others that are more to your liking/tastes. AND the app allows you to automatically generate a grocery list based on the recipes you are using (and accounts for items you may already have in your pantry). Insert angels singing.
The Prepear app lets you do all of that right on your phone (or tablet, laptop, desktop, etc) and even lets you gather and sort all your favorite recipes in your own “cookbook” and share what you made with your friends and family.
{You can also add your own recipes or copy and paste links from anywhere on the web to import a recipe.}
These exclusive meal plans are going live on the Prepear app today! Prepear is running a limited time special for the Prepear Gold membership: for $1, you can get three months of meal plans delivered to you weekly through the app (or you can always use the free version of the app for creating your own menu plans, if you’d like!).
To learn more and/or sign up, click here!
Also, feel free to ask any questions about the Prepear app and the meal plans in the comments! I’m excited to bring you fresh, new meal plans throughout the year!
I use your website ALL THE TIME! But before I change up my meal planning routine, I just wanted to know if ALL of your recipes are on the Prepear site? Thanks for all you do for your readers!!
Hi Roberta! Yep, they are all on there (except for maybe 5-10 super old recipes). If you ever find one that’s not on there that you want added, just let me know!
Do you find the calorie calculation to be accurate? An example of my confusion: Your Ultimate Beef Stroganoff shows 82 calories per serving and Italian Beef shows over 700 calories.
When I look over the ingredient list, I can’t figure out what would cause such a drastic difference between the two meals. Am I missing something? Which one do I believe? 🙂
I realize this is an algorithm by Prepear and not something you have direct oversight over 🙂 I just wondered what your experience/knowledge is with this. I’m really excited about this app!
Great question, Kim. I think the issue on these two recipes is that on the beef stroganoff, it was reading the recipe as “2/3 pound stew meat” instead of “2 to 3 pounds” so thanks for bringing that to my attention. I’ve fixed that recipe (and changed the serving size on the Italian Beef which I had on my to-do list anyway). If you see other recipes that look funky, let me know. Otherwise, most of the recipes should be accurate as long as the ingredient list is accurate. 🙂
I’m so late to this bit it’s been a crazy month. Is this deal still good? And how can I access it? I’ve already added the app but want to try it out for a fewk that before paying full price. Any chance we I could still get the deal?
Hi Angela, the trial for three months (for $1) is over, but have you tried emailing the prepear support (from the app) to see if they’ll honor it? You never know and it’s worth a try!
Wanting to try this out! Is the 3 month for $1 over? I’m only seeing the first month free?
Yes, darn it! The three month trial for $1 ended Jan. 20th. Sorry!
So is the only way to get your weekly meal plans now though the app?
Just the menu plans on the app – I’ll still be sending out menu plans every other month or so in my newsletter (just like I was doing before).
hey Mel I am loving the prepear app, it is amazing, however today I made the rice noodles with shrimp and hoisin sauce and the measurements were super whacked-out. I finally just switched over to your blog when I realized that I don’t even know how to convert 2/9. Thank you for your big portions for big families!
That’s so odd, Becky! Did you increase or decrease the serving sizes? Any insight you have can help me figure out what’s going on so that it’s easier to use the recipes in the app.
I’m not sure what I might be doing wrong, it’s happened on several recipes now. I have figured out, though, if I choose to change the serving size from four to six or eight people the recipe usually straightens out okay. I really enjoy the app, not sure why it’s going crazy for me on the serving sizes. Thank you for your amazing dishes!
This is a game changer and an amazing price compared to other meal plan subscriptions I have had in the past! Thank you Mel for knocking it out of the ball park AGAIN!
Thanks, Tiffany! I hope it’s helpful!
Thanks Mel! I have not been interested in other meal plans, but considering how often I visit your site this will be fantastic. I’m excited to use it. And I have to say, I work in user experience and app development, and you are handling the launch and onbording like a champ! What an awesome 2019 you’re headed into!
Thanks, Michelle! 🙂
Mel, this is awesome, thank you! I so desperately need this right now. I’m single, work full time, take care of two elderly family members and don’t have the time (or energy) to properly plan meals. For me, $10 a month is SO worth it to preserve my health and sanity. Bonus, I love your recipes, it’s like getting Mel-in-a-box. Thanks again!
Thanks, Carla! And good luck to you, my goodness, you have a lot on your plate!
I was so excited about this app and I’m loving it so far! The functionality for importing recipes is so much better than apps I’ve tried in the past. I’ve already imported in about 25 recipes from other sites with no issues. ! It’s also great to have all your recipes there and available. I feel like $10 a month is very reasonable for what the app has to offer.
Thanks for the feedback, Anna!
Thanks Mel! I’m having trouble seeing how to get 3 months for $1 each on the app. I just see a 30 day free trial and then $9.99 a month after that.
Hi Jennifer – it’s actually $1 for the first three months total and then the price changes to $9.99 a month. If you sign up for the free trial, it will automatically upgrade at the end of the three months (but you can cancel at any time as well). Does that help?
OK, great! Thanks! I was worried that I would be charged the $9.99 after 30 days. I’d like to try it for a few months before committing to that.
Seriously – $10 per month? That’s a little steep. I was so excited until I saw the pricetag. I guess I’ll muddle along with your website and maybe the free version of Prepear to make my own menus. Nothing against your recipes though. I’ve long browsed your website for great food, and made lots of new favorites.
Thanks for the feedback, Michelle. The gold version of the Prepear app is definitely not the right solution for everyone – sorry the price tag is a deterrent for you!
I’m with Michelle on this. Srsly – twice the price of similar apps and I cannot see added value. Additionally, per the “Gold” vs free … the added functionality is questionable to me. It appears from the site that this is more of a social media app with some meal planning functionality. So … what is it about this app that you (Mel) find savvy and worth the gold price?
Hi Liz, good questions. 🙂 First of all, I certainly don’t think this app/meal planning method is for everyone, so I can totally respect those that feel like the price point is too high to justify the cost. The part of this app that won me over (and the reason I jumped on board to provide meal plans) is that very piece – the customized, ready-to-go menu plans that are available to Gold users. Free users of the app can create their own meal plans, but Gold users have access to a whole library of meal plans created by a variety of different food websites and bloggers. They can add the meal plans they like to their profile and then swap out recipes that may not be a good fit (or just use the meal plans as is) and then create grocery lists from those curated meal plans. I’m not familiar with other menu planning apps, but I have seen other websites/bloggers offering online meal plan subscriptions that usually start around $10/month (thinking of sixsistersstuff in particular) so the price for the Gold membership on Prepear, to me, is comparable to those (and there are a lot of those menu plan subscriptions available as bloggers have started to widely offer them), and personally I think the Gold membership menu plans could be even more appealing than subscribing to one blogger’s meal plans, since a user of this particular app won’t be stuck using only one style of menu plans from only one website/blogger and can choose from a variety of different meal plans. Anyway, just my thoughts for what they are worth! 🙂 Just to reiterate, nothing on my actual food blog is going to change because of these meal plans I’m creating – it’s just an optional service for those who find this method of meal planning helpful. 🙂
Thanks, Mel.
I am definitely not the target audience for this type of application. But part of me has a strong dislike of the $1 for 3 months (give us your credit card) and then the auto monthly unless you cancel. Hopefully, cancelling is straightforward and available easily in account settings vs requiring out of app contact.
If something like this saves time and money for the user, it might ultimately negate the subscription cost.
I hope it is useful to those it is targeted toward and successful for you and the other participants.
This is amazing!!!!! I cannot express to you how incredibly excited I am about this.
Thanks, Alli!
I was scanning through my email getting ready to download another meal planning app and saw this big announcement !! Since I use so many of your recipes this is fabulous !
I’m getting started today !
Thanks, Debbie – I hope it is helpful!
Are you going to keep the existing menu planning page on your website? I mean the page with links to the Side Dish Planner, and all of the seasonal menus you’ve created? I use those often. Will you be adding to those, or will this app be the way you provide menus in the future?
I appreciate all of the work you put into those.
Yep! Everything on the blog is staying the same…and I’ll continue to provide the same types of menu plans in my newsletter and things like that. Nothing is really changing on the blog front, this Prepear app is just another optional service if people like to menu plan that way!
Two days ago I was wishing I had a system of meal planning that just worked and lo and behold this appears in my inbox!! Mel’s recipes linked to a smart system = my dreams fulfilled. I just wish I had thought of this system. Here’s to a stress free new year!
Happy New Year, Shannon!
Can you import recipes directly from IG or FB? And how much will it cost after the three months is up?
Looks like it’s $9.99/month or $99/year.
Thanks Amber!
Hi Shaynee, Amber’s right – it’s $9.99 after the $1 three month trial. I believe you either need to have a recipe link (I’ll check to see if Facebook links work) or you can type in a recipe manually.
I’m excited to try this out. I’ve looked over it just briefly and it looks like a meal planner and organizers dream. I especially like that the grocery lists have the possibility of being linked to Walmart Grocery— my favorite way to grocery shop for sure!!! Can’t wait to see if this can make my meal planning life a bit simpler in 2019. Happy New Year Mel!
Thanks, Helen!
I downloaded it and have my meals set for the next two weeks! I love love that it will autopopulate a grocery list from my meals I picked! I’m excited to see how this next week goes, I’m also excited to try some of the meals you picked! Thanks, Mel!
Look at you go! So fun!
I’ll try it out. So far, I already had to contact them since the screen on the computer is blank. Completely blank. Sigh. I wish you were on Plan To Eat though! I love that one, and have loaded lots in.
Darn! Sorry you’ve had issues, Courtney. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.
I have been looking for a recipe app and a place to store all our family favorite recipes too. I’m excited to try this one. It sounds wonderful and if I can link to your meal plans–WOW!! Even better! Thank you! Thank you! Happy New Year! Mine is getting better all the time! 🙂
Thanks, Donna! Happy New Year!
Can I get menus without paying for them?
The free version of the app allows you to have access to all the recipes on there (I have over 800 and there are hundreds more than just mine) and you can definitely create your own menu plans from those recipes, but to access the custom meal plans already put together (and other premium features), you have to be a Prepear Gold member (which is the paid version – $1 for three months and then $9.99 after that).
I was just lamenting yesterday how I couldn’t find a meal plan service that would be adaptable to the many food allergies in my family. Then today, this!! I am so excited!!! Thank you so much! Your blog has been a favorite recipe source of mine for years and this is just what I was looking for!
Yay, Janette! The awesome thing about the Prepear app is that you can specify what food allergies you are working around. I’m in the process of going through my recipes to make sure and flag all the ones that are dairy-, tree nut-, egg-free, etc.
Hi Mel! Happy New Year to your family! I am so excited to try this new app. As I go through your posted recipes, I feel like I am rediscovering things I have not made for a long time as well as finding some new to me gems to try! I am not sure where on the app to find your created plans- can you help? (Sorry if this is obvious and i just haven’t found it yet… I am not a very ‘techie’ type of person) Thanks! 🙂
Hey Kris, no worries! I am happy to answer any questions (and if I don’t know the answer, I’ll ask the smart people at Prepear!). Have you tried these links? If you want to see all the meal plans listed in one spot, I am pretty sure that you have to create a login (you don’t have to pay to do this, you can create a free account). Once you go to my profile page here and are signed in, you can see all my recipes and meal plans). There is a link for recipes and meal plans. However, you CAN see the individual meal plans using these links without being signed in:
Healthy New Year’s Resolution Dinners Meal Plan
Quick and Easy Dinners Meal Plan
Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner Meal Plan
Weekly Meal Plan (Dec 31 to Jan 6)
And if you have any requests for other types of meal plans, let me know and I’ll create some of the most-asked-for meal plans!
Thanks for your reply, Mel! I have created an account and am also now able to see the menu plans. I am really loving the ability to create a grocery list based on what recipes I am selecting. My next project is to tackle entering what is in my pantry. 🙂
I would LOVE to see more instant pot and slow cooker meal plans. During the week these tend to be go to meals for my family due to everyone’s super busy schedules.
I also just figured out how to create my own meal plan by pulling recipes on the website, too. I am excited to keep exploring! 🙂
Thanks for the update, Kris! I’ll get to work on a slow cooker meal plan!
This sounds amazing!! I think this app sounds so useful. Three cheers for Mel. You never disappoint.
Thanks, Bri! Even the free version of the app is pretty awesome, but I’ve been using it personally on the Gold membership (I’m “melcooksalot” on my personal profile) and LOVE the meal planning functionality of it.
I am hoping to love this app but I was wondering what happens after the 3 month period for $1. Are you automatically enrolled or can you cancel? Also, how much is it to continue? I tried to click on the terms of service but it said there was an error. Thanks so much, this looks promising!
Great questions, Mardi! I’ve let the folks at Prepear know the terms of service link isn’t working. After the three months, the cost for the Prepear Gold membership is 9.99/mo but you can cancel at anytime (no contracts) and always use the free version (the free version gives you access to all the recipes in the app just not the exclusive meal plans). Does that help? Let me know if you have any other questions!
WHOA. Didn’t see this coming, and it is AWESOME!!! Mel, you just keep making this world a better place! Thank you, you amazing woman, you!!!
Thanks, sweet Amy!