Using Trello For Meal Planning

Last year I bought a physical planner, and created forms for a freezer inventory, set on cleaning out all the food in our freezer in an organized manner. Yeah, that didn't work out.  I think the planner worked a whole 2 months.  I'm just not a paper person.

So this year, take two.  I am trying this digitally.  Trello is my current favorite app for projects.  I created a board for Menu planning, added the days of the week, then added graphics to each card because I am happier when things have photos.  :-)  I tend to plan our menu, loosely, by theme, so each day of the week has the theme, and a card for theme ideas.  

Now to use up all the food in our overstocked freezer.

First I went through my freezer with my phone open to a google document, and I used voice to text to make a list of everything in my freezer.   This made for an interesting list, as my phone heard "balsamic chicken" as "butts a make chicken".  But I could figure it out and edit the list pretty quickly when I was done.

Then I pasted that list into a Trello card.  Paste, hit return, and it asks if I want that as one card or 33.  I choose 33, and each item is it's own card in my Freezer Inventory List.  (this is one of my favorite features in Trello!!)

Now when i menu plan each week, I drag the cards from the freezer list, to the weeknight list.  Add any additional items and make a grocery list.

I have lists for things to use up in the pantry, and a list of recipes to try..  all can be dragged and dropped on the appropriate week night.

Will this work better than my paper planner last year?  We'll see.  :-)

I have trello boards for a variety of projects - Christmas gifts for next year, 2018 goals, trip planning....  I love the digital bulletin board concept.  The key will be actually USING it now that the boards are created.