With all of the different hats that I wear, I’m all about any app, tip and trick that will make life easier! And, as the designated grocery shopper and “chef” in my family having to answer that popular (read: dreaded) question, “what’s for dinner?” from five different people with five different tastes, I’ll do anything to make dinnertime a little less stressful. My husband has Type 2 Diabetes and my oldest daughter suffers from seizures, so healthy (but tasty) eating is essential to our way of life. Add a demanding schedule on top of that, I can get overwhelmed and uninspired in the kitchen pretty quickly. Enter a few family-friendly hacks that help me create healthy, stress free meals for my entire family.

For Recipes & Meal Planning

Yummly has changed my life! With this app, I can search for recipes, save my favorites, create a rotating dinner menu, make my weekly shopping list and add meals to my calendar so I know exactly what we’re eating every night. It even sends me an alert when it’s time to start cooking so I can get dinner on the table in time.

For Grocery Shopping

Going to the grocery store feels like such a waste of time in my schedule. Sometimes, it gets so distracting, that I also end up with items I don’t really need. But, Kroger’s ClickList has changed the grocery game for me! I can shop for groceries via the Kroger app on my phone, where it saves my previous orders so I can quickly add go-to items, compare prices and even use coupons (an extra plus that keeps me on budget!). I schedule my pick up time during a window that works for me, and they bring the groceries right to my car where we review my order together before I am on my way. The entire process takes maybe 10 minutes and I never even have to unbuckle my seatbelt – a big win all around!

I used to dread this entire “meal planning” process, but now in about an hour on a Saturday – from my couch – I can plan the week’s meals, shop for what I need, set reminders on my calendar and forget about it until I get the notification that it’s time to start cooking!

My hope is that these hacks are just as helpful to you for making an important part of life a little bit easier, and inspire you to create healthy, tasty meals for your family at home. Do you have your own tricks and tips? What are some of your favorite apps for making mealtime and grocery shopping easier? I can’t wait to try them out!