Hello! I'm Rei, an official Notion ambassador.
I have a sudden question for you: do you find yourself clipping dinner recipes from multiple apps and social media every day? As someone who's a bit lazy, I found it hard to look up recipes every time, which made me dislike cooking.
Today, I'll introduce a convenient Notion usage method: how to consolidate all your recipes into one Notion page, and how to link recipes to create meal plans and shopping lists in Notion!
This content is recommended not only for those living alone but also for couples living together, so please read it with your partner.
This time, I will explain this template in detail, so please read until the end!
🎬 Director：Rei
✍🏻 Writer：Minokurumi
1. Page Overview
How to manage daily meal plans and recipes with Notion. First, I'll give you an overview of the page!
1-1. Meal Plan
At the top of the page is the meal plan for this week. You can enter your meal plans from Monday to Sunday here.
It's tough to come up with different menu items every day... So, I've fixed the meal plan for two weeks, splitting it into weeks 1 & 3 and weeks 2 & 4 of the month. To switch weeks, use the tab in the upper left corner.
This meal plan is linked to another recipe list and displays meal plans chosen from the recipes.
1-2. Recipe List
Below that, you'll find a list of recipes to be displayed in the meal plan.
By applying filters, you can narrow down the display by tagged cooking utensils or categories.
Since I live with my partner, I also need to include their recipes. By adding a "Cook" tag, I can filter between my recipes and my partner's recipes.
To check the recipe for the day, open the page. I'll explain the properties and detailed content in the next section.
When I cook, I usually open this page on my smartphone or tablet and place it in the kitchen.
Then, for the recipes I want to display on the meal plan, I check either "Weeks 1 & 3" or "Weeks 2 & 4" and select the day of the week. This will automatically display them on the meal plan.
1-3. Shopping List
The shopping list is displayed at the bottom of the page.
This shopping list is actually linked to the "Ingredients" in the recipes I mentioned earlier.
In other words, the ingredients for the recipes added to the 1st and 3rd weeks, and the 2nd and 4th weeks of the meal plan, are automatically displayed on the shopping list. (Too convenient!)
Since I use online supermarkets to buy a week's worth of ingredients, I usually just add the week's ingredients to my cart without thinking, simply by looking at this shopping list. Lol.
2. Detailed Content of the Recipe Page
Next, I'll provide a detailed explanation of the contents of the recipe list page.
When you open it, you'll see the contents as shown, and the items listed in the properties are roughly as follows:
- Cook (whether it can be made by me or my partner)
- Cooking utensils
- Dish category
- Original recipe URL (recipe app or social media, etc.)
- Ingredients to use (selected from the shopping list)
Registering these in the properties allows you to filter the results.
Next, here are the items included in the body text.
The following items are written in the main text:
- Photos you want to display in the gallery view
- Ingredient quantities
- Cooking steps
While quantities and steps can also be checked from the URL in the properties, it's recommended to include them here for frequently cooked dishes, as it allows for a quick glance at the recipe while cooking.
3. Reasons why this Notion is convenient
Having provided a detailed overview of the page and its contents, I'd now like to explain the actually convenient points, along with my reasons for creating this Notion.
POINT 1. Recipe sites are consolidated into one Notion.
The first point is, "No more wondering if that recipe was from Kurashiru, Cookpad, or somewhere else."
Before consolidating recipes in Notion, I used to clip recipes from various recipe apps and social media platforms. So, when I wanted to look up a recipe, I'd have to search through various services one by one, thinking, "Was that recipe from Kurashiru... or Cookpad? Or maybe YouTube?" (A common experience, right?)
By organizing recipes in Notion, I find it incredibly convenient that I no longer have to switch between various tools to search, and I can see a list of all the recipes I can make, regardless of the service.
POINT-2 By fixing the meal plan, you eliminate time spent agonizing over recipes.
This was also one of the reasons I decided to create this Notion: I found the process of thinking about what to cook every day, searching for recipes, and going to the supermarket to buy ingredients to be incredibly burdensome. So, even though it might seem a bit unusual, I arrived at this idea of fixed meal plans. (laughs)
This approach has suited me very well. By fixing and managing my meal plans in Notion, I've eliminated the act of thinking about what to cook every day, which has freed up time and made my life feel simpler.
POINT-3 No more wondering, "What should I buy?"
By having a fixed meal plan, shopping has also become much more convenient.
With a determined meal plan, the shopping list is set, allowing me to do my weekly grocery shopping online. This saves me the hassle of stopping by the supermarket and carrying heavy items.
I also feel like I spend less on impulse purchases that tend to happen when I go to the supermarket, and it seems cheaper than going every day. It's like killing four birds with one stone! (laughs)
Especially with this page I created, the meal plan and shopping list are linked, so I don't have to open each recipe to check ingredients, and I can shop without thinking, which is incredibly helpful... Thank you, Notion...
POINT-4 You can share meal plans and shopping lists with your partner.
Finally, a point that I recommend for those, like myself, who are living as a couple, which is Notion's unique ability to "share with two people."
Notion allows for collaborative editing of pages, so I also have my partner add recipes they can cook here, and we manage who can cook what using tags, as I introduced earlier.
By having both our recipes in one place, we can now plan meals together and one of us can purchase all the ingredients in bulk, which has made things very convenient, eliminating any confusion about what to cook or what to buy!
This Notion also helps with dividing cooking responsibilities, so that's another point I can recommend.
In Closing
That concludes my introduction to how to manage daily meal plans and recipes with Notion! How was it?
Be sure to make Notion a convenient tool for your everyday cooking!
Here's "Todotion," the ultimate task management template for Notion!
The 2-hour "Notion Master Course" is now available, allowing you to learn Notion from scratch through videos!
The book "Notion Lifehack," which introduces 36 ways to use Notion, is also now on sale!
