[Monchichi]

I am trying to put together an easy and low cost 2 week menu for my family. My husband and I gave about 100 to lose but our kids who are 14 and 12 just need to eat a little more healthy. We also have a 22 month old and a 3 month old, co money is tight.
I really can't afford to pay for the online tools at the ww site, but I really like the tool that you put in your recipe and it will calcuklate the points for you. Is there another place I can find something like that. Also a program that will calulate your grocery list. Something where I can put in my menu and it will calculate what I need to buy. I need to conserve money but still eat healthy so I don' want to buy to many things that are pricey.
Anyone got any ideas? Thanks

[Jane]

Welcome to 3FC, and especially to the Weight Watcher forums. Here's a link to a free menu and grocery list site. Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but it's a start. Since all foods are allowed on WW, you should be able to find something your family will enjoy, yet keep it healthy. Good luck!

http://www.menus4moms.com/kitchen/weeklymenu/

[Kelly_S]

You are talking about the Recipe Builder. That is just on the W/W site however you can purchase some software for your computer called Mastercook. It is available at most computer software stores, Best Buy and Circuit City type places as well as at www.mastercook.com (I hope this website is ok).

I have been using it since I started W/W in 1998. It is actually much better than the Recipe Builder. It gives you the nutritional information so you can figure points easily.

BTW Mastercook will produce a grocery list if you use the meal planner portion.

[derrydaughter]

Try thinking big and then small.... sounds intriguing, right?
For example:
buy a turkey, a big one
cook that and have it for a nice family meal but do NOT make it Thanksgiving all over again, it's just a turkey dinner. Have a potato and vegetable and skip the stuffing, even if you are greatly tempted. Maybe even skip the gravy too?
Then, you have turkey to do many things with. You can have sandwiches one day. You can cut it up and freezer 2 cups (or more) all nicely sized and trimmed of fat for recipes. You can stir fry it with vegetables and serve over rice. You can make turkey soup and make it hearty with barley, brown rice and lots of veggies. You can even take half the soup and make it into a turkey minestrone with pasta (whole wheat) and kidney beans with diced tomatoes and a bit of oregano added to the broth. You can shred it, add taco seasoning and use low fat sour cream and cheese and have veggies with it to have some really great turkey tacos. You can shred it, add BBQ sauce and serve it on those nice Weight Watcher 2 point rolls for a lovely meal with a salad along the side.
You can make a cream sauce using low fat milk or broth and use leftover turkey and leftover or mixed vegetables to make turkey pot pie. But, instead of using high point pie crust, you can use low fat biscuit mix and have a biscuit topping, kind of like a dumpling.
So, maybe the turkey sounds expensive at first, as it might cost about $20.00 but I just named 8 different meals you could make with it. Divide $20.00 by 8 meals and you have $2.50 per serving. I know you have to add extras to each meal but that is for your "base" food. So, something like that really makes some sense.
Another thing I've done with leftover chicken is to cut it up and put it in a pan with some olive oil, garlic, a few diced tomatoes, canned mushrooms, capers and a couple of black olives. I cook and warm it thoroughly and serve it over pasta with a bit of Parmesan. You just need to think creatively, but thinking big is a very good way to stretch the budget!
Good luck!

[CHS_teacher]

I've been reading about Mastercook on this site lately. I've never heard of it, but I think I'm going to have to buy myself a copy!!

Susan

[Monchichi]

Thanks everyone. I am going to go check out that site now. Want to know something funny? I joined this site way back in fall of 06 and I had just started WW. I posted in the newbie area. I did a search on what posts I did and my first on came up. LOL I weighed the exact same as I do now. The only difference is I had another baby. Yep, my son, Lucas was 10 months old when I got pregnant with Zachary. This was January of 07. My latest addition is now 3 1/2 months and I am ready to start again. I am nursing so I don't expect to lose much the first few months, but it is a start. Again, Thanks for your help.

[jmb1981]

i went to amazon to check out the mastercook software. it doesn't really say a whole lot of what it does, so my question is, does the software figure the nutrition value of recipes that you put in?? i have some recipes that i have made healthier by altering the ingredients, but i don't know how to figure out the nutritional value of these new recipes. if this software can do that i would be soo happy!