Must-have Apps for Holiday Meal Planning

With Thanksgiving less than 48 hours away, many Americans have already started making meal preparations. In fact, professional organizer Nicole Anzia recommends that hosts and hostesses begin the planning process three weeks in advance. But what if you don’t have three weeks until your friends and families are seated at the dinner table? Check out these apps to help save time and money and plan the perfect feast.

Menu selection

Pepperplate can help manage recipes, create menus, calendars and arrange shopping lists. 

Looking for a new recipe or a new spin on the same old leftovers? Choose from hundreds of seasonal recipes using the Epicurious or Big Oven apps.

Shopping

Before heading to the store, create a mobile shopping list with Fivefly. Shopping lists on Fivefly can be also be shared via text message or email, or synchronized with another person directly from phone to phone. Save money at the store by downloading mobile coupons and extra loyalty offers using an app like Coupons.com.

Cooking

For the “Turkeytarians,” the newly updated Butterball Cookbook Plus app offers recipes, “how-tos” from thawing and brining to safe food handling, and gluten-free holiday dinner ideas.

Alternatively, if home-cooking isn’t in the cards this holiday season, check out GrubHub to order delivery and take-out from nearby restaurants.

From the grocery store to the table, tech tools can help take the stress out of your holiday meal planning.

Do you have a favorite holiday meal planning app? Tell us about it on Twitter at @VZWNews.

Data usage applies for app download and use.

This is part of the Verizon Wireless “Must-have Apps” series, which provides insights into the apps that people use every day to embrace the mobile lifestyle.

Jenny Weaver is a public relations manager for Verizon Wireless. Follow her on Twitter at @VZWjenny.