TIP #1 - Take a minute to check the basics:

• Notice you now have access to five subscriber-only pages. Click on your "MY PREFERENCES" page to make sure your e-mail address is correct and that you have selected your preferred choices.

TIP #2 - Enter some of your own recipes:

• The most successful meal planning includes a combination of new recipes as well as your own "comfort" recipes. Think of DinnerSelect as your personal dinner resource. Each week when you plan your dinners, you can choose DinnerSelect suggestions or choose from your personal recipes. Either way the ingredients will be included on your shopping list.
• Recipes that you enter can only be seen by you; they are not shared with other subscribers.
• So take a few minutes to add two or three of your own meals now, and you can always later add more.
• Follow the steps below:

1. Click on "MY FAVORITES" page and click to add your own meal.

2. Enter a name for your DINNER and click a category. Then click

3. Enter your RECIPE and include ingredients if you want them to show up on your shopping list. Click and you will be taken back to the DINNER screen.

4. Back to the DINNER screen you can add another RECIPE like a vegetable or dessert or click to save your DINNER.

TIP #3 - Choose your planning and shopping day:

• DinnerSelect menus are generated at midnight each Thursday evening, so you could take a few minutes some time on Friday during work to choose your next week's meals and print the recipes and shopping list. Then you could do your shopping on Saturday. Whatever days you choose, you'll be most successful if you make it a habit.
• Once you print your menu and recipes, jot down the day you will make each. Remember to use the most perishable ingredients early in the week.

TIP #4 - Ask yourself what kind of planner you want to be:

• Are you on a tight budget and need to plan and shop for 7 evening meals each week? Are only weeknight dinners critical to plan, and you are happy to be spontaneous on the weekend? Or are you tired of the same old meals and just want to add one or two new meals to your own repertoire each week?
• It's okay if you're happy being spontaneous on the weekend or allowing the luxury of a night out each week. The important thing is to recognize this up front. The more honest you are up front, the more successful your planning will be in the long-run.

TIP #5 - Consider what kind of a cook you are:

• Are you a great cook or are you a beginner? Everyone can use help planning dinners. Depending on the type of cook you are, you may approach the recipes differently. Experienced cooks may use the weekly suggestions more as inspiration to make their own version of the suggestion; whereas beginner cooks may follow the recipe word for word. Either way is fine.
• Even beginning cooks may have a chili recipe that their whole family loves. If DinnerSelect suggests chili one week, why not let that be the inspiration to make your own chili? Of course you may want to give a new version a try, and that's okay too. The important thing is that when chili night comes, you are prepared in advance!

TIP #6 -Consolidate all your daily meal planning:

• DinnerSelect covers the dinner planning from menu ideas to recipes and shopping list. In addition to dinner, you also need to shop for breakfast, lunch, snacks and household products....ideally all in one trip to the store.
• Post a blank shopping list pad on your refrigerator and jot down breakfast, lunch, snack and staple items during the week as you notice them getting low, for example: milk, juice, eggs, cereal, sandwich bread, laundry soap.
• On your chosen shopping day merge your DinnerSelect grocery list with the refrigerator list. Then take a few extra minutes to add items you need for the other daily meals or snacks.