Menus

• Creating Menus
• Adding Items to Menus
• Link Products to Menu Items

Creating Menus

Menus are really just another kind of list. For us it's a list of the things we want to make for a meal on a given day.  My family is quite indecisive, and it often devolves into us just not having any idea what to make from day to day.  A simple problem, but also one that's easier to deal with if we all sit down as a family, and make a plan for the next seven to ten days.

You can create as many Menus as you want.  These work just like Lists in this regard, except all Menus are shared with all users.  When you want to create a menu, navigate to My Menus in the top navigation, or the slide out navigation on mobile,

then touch / click the '+ Add New Menu' option on the list of Menus.  Enter a Menu name, then click / touch the 'Add' button.

After clicking the '+Add New Menu' option, you'll see a modal (pop-up) window open where you can name your menu. Once named, click the 'Add' button to add the menu and close the modal (pop-up). 

You can now touch / click on the new menu you just created to go into it and begin adding menu items and dates to serve those items to your menu.

 

Adding Items to Menus

Adding items to Menus is as simple as deciding what you want to have on a given date, typing in the item name, and selecting a date for it to be served. 

You can type the item into the 'Item' input box. I like to list each dish I'll be serving on a given day, such as "Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Beans, and Rice".   When typing, just like when adding List Items to a List, the system will offer autocomplete suggestions based on menu items you may have previously entered that match what you are typing.  As with Lists, this feature can make generating a menu, and ultimately a shopping list, much easier and more efficient over time.

Once you've entered the item you want to serve, click / touch the 'Date to Serve' field, and you'll be presented with a calendar modal (pop-up) from which to choose the date that you'll serve the menu item on.

Select a date by clicking or touching the date, then click / touch 'Ok'.  Once the date has been selected, and the menu item entered, you can click / touch the "Add" button to add the item to your menu. 

You'll see the items listed below the entry form as you continue to add more menu items to your menu.

You can delete a menu item by touching / clicking the trash-can icon to the right of the item in it's row.

If you are anything like my family, you may lay out a menu for the next 10 days, but then decide to have left-overs one night instead o what's on the menu.  Not to worry, when this happens, just touch / click the 'Shift All By 1 Day' button. This will shift all of the menu items by 1 calendar day later.  So, if you planned Beef Tacos, Beans, and Rice for Aug 30, 2024; it would be moved to Aug 31, 2024 instead.  And, everything after it will also be moved out by one calendar day.

 

 

 

Link Products to Menu Items

In order to make generating a shopping list easier, and more sane given the menus we create (food is expensive these days), I have added a feature where we can link Products (items that go on a shopping list) to the Menu Items we add for our meals.  When you link the products, then add that item to a menu again, you can add those linked products to a List you choose very easily.

First, you'll see a link icon to the right of your menu items.  Click  / touch the link icon,

and you'll be presented with a modal (pop-up) form where you can select as many products as you need in order to make that menu item. 

You can search the list by typing to make it easier to find items as well.

When you've selected all of the products to link to this menu item, click the 'Save' button to create the link.  You'll now see a button labeled '+ Shopping List' next to any menu items with linked products. 

Now, when you add this menu item to any menu, you can click the '+ Shopping List' button, to open a modal (pop-up), then choose the List you want the items to be added to, and select any of the products for this menu item to be added to that list.  Sure, you could just go through and add them on the from the List view, but this helps make sure you're only adding things you need for the Menu you've set out.  Hopefully it can help you save a bit of money by not buying things you don't need right now, and things that may go bad if not used quickly enough.