Guides
Plan better, eat better
Practical guides on meal planning, grocery savings and dinner ideas, designed for here.
September 15, 2026
TikTok Favorites keep the video, not the recipe. The three ways to save TikTok recipes, compared, and how to turn any cooking video into a recipe card you can plan and shop from.
Read the guideAI cooking assistant: what Olive actually does in your recipe app
What Olive, Olivi’s AI cooking assistant, does in a real week: recipes that come in without typing, a meal plan from one sentence, answers while you cook.
ReadOctober 28, 2026Olivi is on the App Store: the recipe and meal planner app for iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad
Since October 28, 2026, the Olivi app for iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad has been on the App Store, now at version 1.0.3. What iOS lets it do: a timer you can see with the phone locked, a Share button that hands recipes to Olive, a layout optimized for iPhone Duo, folded or unfolded, and an iPad layout that spreads a recipe over two columns.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Hanukkah food for all eight nights: latkes made ahead, a brisket that waits, and one big family dinner
Hanukkah 2026 opens on a Friday and closes on a Saturday. The plan: latkes fried and frozen the weekend before, a brisket braised two days early, one family dinner on Sunday, December 6, and seven easy nights around it.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Christmas brunch ideas, planned: two casseroles assembled on the 24th, rolls that rise overnight, and a morning timed around the presents
A savory casserole and a French toast bake assembled on Christmas Eve, cinnamon rolls shaped the night before, and a morning plan that has brunch on the table at 11 and the oven free by 1 pm for dinner.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Homemade mince pies, planned: mincemeat on Stir-up Sunday, pastry in rounds, a freezer full by December
One pot of mincemeat on Stir-up Sunday, one Saturday morning of pastry, 48 pies in the freezer: when to make each part, how much to buy, raw or baked freezing, and the oven times for fresh, frozen and reheated pies.
ReadOctober 12, 2026A Veganuary meal plan for January 2027: four weeks of menus, a cupboard list and Sunday batch cooking
January 2027 starts on a Friday: a three-day warm-up, then four full weeks, each one prepped on the Sunday before. With the dinners week by week, the cupboard list by aisle, where the protein and the B12 come from, and how to do it when the rest of the house is not joining in.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Leftover turkey recipes: a 4-day plan from Friday sandwiches to Monday fried rice
Four days, five containers and six recipes: how to carve and split the leftovers on Thanksgiving night, then eat them from Friday to Monday, with the freezer as the safety valve.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Christmas cookie baking, planned: six varieties, three sessions and a December 2026 schedule
Six cookies chosen for how they keep, about 20 dozen in three sessions: a dough day on December 6, a bake day on the 12th, icing on the 13th. With the cookie exchange math, one bulk list and the 2026 mailing dates.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Christmas dinner timings, the British way: the 25th hour by hour, the shopping list and Boxing Day
One oven, four rings and a turkey that needs three and a half hours: the 25th worked back from a 2pm sit-down, the Christmas Eve jobs that make it possible, the shopping list by aisle with the day to buy each thing, a version for two, and what Boxing Day does with the rest.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Australian Christmas lunch, planned: a cold menu, seafood quantities and the week before
A Christmas lunch for 10 that barely uses the oven on the 25th: prawns and ham by the gram, when to beat the seafood queues, how to keep a platter safe on a hot day, and a list by aisle with the day to buy each thing.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Thanksgiving meal plan for 10: the menu, the turkey math, the grocery list and a 7-day prep schedule
One Thanksgiving, planned from the headcount to the leftovers: a menu for 10, quantities per guest, a grocery list split into two trips, a day-by-day schedule from November 19 and an oven plan for Thursday.
ReadOctober 12, 2026Christmas dinner, planned: the menu, the quantities and a December 20 to 25 timeline
One main, four sides, two pies and a six-day plan: the Christmas dinner for eight that is mostly done before the 25th, with quantities per guest, the list by aisle and a printable planner.
ReadOctober 12, 2026New Year’s Eve dinner or party at home: the menu, the make-ahead bites and the January 1 table
A sit-down dinner at 8, a second round at 11, or an appetizer party that lasts until 1 am: the menus, the bites per guest, what to cook on December 30, and the January 1 brunch and lucky supper.
ReadOctober 9, 2026Olivi for Android is on Google Play: the meal planner app with your recipes and grocery list
Since October 5, 2026, the Olivi Android app has been open to everyone on Google Play. What it does that the website cannot, what early users changed, and how to install it in two minutes.
ReadOctober 6, 2026Monthly dinner calendar: 28 dinners on a 4-week rotation, with the printable PDF
Seven theme nights, 28 dinners that never repeat two weeks in a row, two big shopping trips a month, and a 4-week calendar you can print and pin on the fridge.
ReadOctober 6, 2026Whole food meal plan for a week: 7 days of minimally processed meals, with the grocery list
What “whole food” actually means at the store, a seven-day plan of meals you can cook on a weeknight, the grocery list, and the four packaged products that look clean and are not.
ReadOctober 6, 2026Cheap meal plan for a week: 7 dinners under $3 a serving, with the grocery list
Seven dinners with the cost per serving worked out, a grocery list for four that comes in around $85 to $100, and the five habits that matter more than any coupon.
ReadOctober 6, 2026Weekly grocery list: the one-page template for two people or a family of four
The list that covers a normal week, by aisle, in two sizes, with the ten items that should always be in the cart and the five that only go in if the plan says so.
ReadOctober 6, 2026Family meal plan for a week: 7 dinners for four, the lunches that follow, and the grocery list
Seven dinners that work for kids and adults, lunches built from last night’s leftovers, a one-page grocery list for four, and the blank planner template so next week takes ten minutes instead of an hour.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026Copy Me That Alternative: What It Does Well, and What Olivi Adds
Copy Me That turns any web page into a recipe you own, and it has done that job well for more than ten years. Here is what it covers, what a big recipe box starts asking for, and how Olivi compares.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026High-Protein Meal Plan: a Week Built From Real Numbers
Most high-protein plans hand you a menu and a gram figure nobody can trace. This one goes the other way: real numbers from Health Canada’s nutrient file, and a week Olive composes around what you actually eat.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026Plan to Eat Alternative: the Clipper and Calendar Model, Rethought
Plan to Eat has been refining one idea since 2008: your recipes, your calendar, your list. It does that idea very well and says plainly that the menu is your job. Here is what changes when it is not.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026The meal planning template that actually gets used (free printable PDF)
The rows a meal planning template actually needs, a filled-in week you can copy tonight, and the grocery list half that most printables leave out. Plus the three things a paper grid will never do for you.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026Recipe Keeper Review, and the Alternative for When You Want the Week Decided
Recipe Keeper is one of the best-built digital cookbooks you can buy, and it works offline on more platforms than almost anything else. What it does not try to do is decide your week. Here is where that matters.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026Eat This Much Alternative: Both Generate a Plan, Then They Part Ways
You have already accepted that a machine can build the menu. The only question left is which one, and the answer is decided less by the generator than by what happens in the hour after you press the button.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026A gluten-free meal plan that holds up on a Wednesday
The hard part of a gluten-free week is not the recipes, it is the label reading, the shared toaster and the two ingredients you forgot about. Here is a full week, the places gluten hides, and how to set the constraint once instead of every Sunday.
ReadSeptember 18, 2026Meal planning for one: the portions, the leftovers, the packaging
Cooking for one fails on arithmetic and packaging, not on appetite. Here is what divides by four and what absolutely does not, a week built on three cooking sessions, and the grocery habits that stop half of it going in the bin.
ReadSeptember 15, 2026ReciMe Review and Alternative: What ReciMe Does, and How Olivi Compares
ReciMe is great at pulling recipes out of Instagram and TikTok and filing them away. What it does, where it stops, and when Olivi, which plans your week with you, is the better fit.
ReadSeptember 15, 2026What Is the Mediterranean Diet? Food List, 7-Day Meal Plan and Recipes
A clear, European look at the Mediterranean diet: the principles, the Cretan original, a food list with frequencies, a 7-day meal plan and recipes to start this week.
ReadSeptember 15, 2026Mob App Review: What the Mob Kitchen App Does Well, and Where Olivi Fits In
Mob is one of the best-loved recipe brands in Britain, and its app is a tidy way to plan a week of its recipes. What it does well, where it stops, and when Olivi suits you better.
ReadSeptember 15, 2026TikTok Recipes Worth Cooking: 20 Viral Dishes and How to Find the Good Ones
The TikTok dishes that deserved the hype, rewritten from scratch with real quantities, plus a short guide to finding recipes on TikTok that hold up once the camera is off.
ReadSeptember 8, 2026Mealime Is Shutting Down: What to Do Before October 21, and the Best Alternative
Mealime, the meal planning app born in Vancouver, closes on October 21, 2026. Here is what happens to your account, what you lose, and why Olivi, designed in Montréal, is the most natural alternative: AI planning, an automatic grocery list, your own recipes, on web, iPhone and Android.
ReadAugust 2, 2026Batch cooking: cook once, eat all week (without the chaos)
Batch cooking means cooking several recipes in one focused session, then eating all week. How it works, what to cook, and how Olivi turns it into a guided, timed session that fills your freezer.
ReadAugust 1, 2026Meal planner for busy families: the week organizes itself
Weekly menu in minutes, portions for the whole table, grocery list shared between partners in real time: how Olivi lifts the mental load of family meals.
ReadJuly 14, 2026The Best Meal Planning Apps in 2026
Six meal planning apps compared on what actually matters: how the week gets planned, what happens to your own recipes, and who writes the grocery list. A clear verdict for each profile.
ReadJuly 14, 2026eMeals Alternative
eMeals delivers preset weekly menus by subscription: efficient, but the menu is chosen for you, from a catalogue. Here is the alternative where the week is generated from your tastes, constraints and your own recipes.
ReadJuly 12, 2026Use Olivi without downloading an app: your meal planner and grocery list in the browser
Olivi runs entirely in your phone’s browser: nothing to install. And in two taps, a home-screen icon launches it like a native app, on iPhone and Android alike.
ReadJuly 8, 2026AnyList Alternative
AnyList makes great shared grocery lists, but everything starts with you: you fill it in, item by item. Here is the alternative that builds the list for you, straight from your meal plan.
ReadJuly 8, 2026Jow Alternative
Jow plans your meals and fills your cart… in French supermarkets. Its best features don’t work outside France. Here is the closest alternative: plus other options.
ReadJuly 8, 2026Paprika App Review (Paprika 4) and an Alternative, Feature by Feature
Paprika 4 just came out and catches up on a lot. What it does well, where Olivi goes further, and how to move your whole library in a few minutes.
ReadJuly 8, 2026Cooklist Alternative
Cooklist is wired to grocery chains you may not have. Here is the closest alternative: plus other options.
ReadJuly 4, 2026Recipe Nutrition Facts: Calories and Macros, Without Guessing
Olivi automatically calculates the nutrition facts of your recipes (calories and macros per serving) from an official nutrient database: sourced numbers, never made up.
ReadJune 26, 2026Easy Chicken Recipes: 25 Ideas for Weeknight Dinner
25 easy chicken recipe ideas, sorted by cooking method (oven, pan, slow cooker): enough to vary weeknight dinners without the fuss.
ReadJune 26, 2026What to Make for Dinner? The Method to Decide Without Stress
The real dinner problem isn’t cooking, it’s deciding. Here are 5 ways to find a dinner idea in two minutes: and how Olive decides for you.
ReadJune 26, 20265-Ingredient, 15-Minute Recipes: the Principle for a Quick, Delicious Dinner
What “5 ingredients, 15 minutes” really means: the rule, its limits: and 20 quick dinner recipe ideas, sorted by protein.
ReadJune 26, 2026AI Recipe Generator: How to Get a Recipe That Works With What You Have
What an AI recipe generator does well, where it trips up, how to phrase your request, and a 30-second check before you turn on the stove.
ReadJune 22, 2026The all-in-one AI cooking app: never wonder what to make for dinner again
Why bring meal planning, recipes, the grocery list and the pantry together in a single app: and what AI Olive changes by connecting it all and deciding what to make for dinner for you.
ReadJune 22, 2026Healthy recipes: eat well all week without spending hours on it
What a healthy recipe is, how to build a balanced meal, and how AI Olive suggests easy healthy recipes tailored to you: with the grocery list generated automatically.
ReadJune 22, 2026Weekly Meal Planner: Plan the Week’s Meals in Minutes (and Waste Less)
How a weekly meal planner app builds your menu with AI, helps you waste less, and keeps meals balanced and affordable: with the grocery list generated automatically.
ReadJune 22, 2026How to create a recipe: by hand or with AI Olive
Three ways to create a recipe in Olivi: generate it with AI Olive, enter it by hand, or import it: and how it instantly feeds your plan and your grocery list.
ReadJune 18, 2026Import a recipe from a URL or a PDF: keep all your finds
How to import a recipe from any website, food blog or PDF, without copy-paste: and keep it in the same place as your plan and your list.
ReadJune 18, 2026The Olivi meal planner: your weekly menu in a few minutes
How to build your weekly menu in a few minutes with the Olivi meal planner: and never wonder what to eat again.
ReadJune 18, 2026Shopping mode: your grocery list to check off with a thumb at the store
Olivi’s shopping mode: a big display of your grocery list to check off with a thumb, sorted by aisle, to shop without forgetting anything.
ReadJune 18, 2026Scan your recipes: from paper to your phone in seconds
How to turn your paper, handwritten or magazine recipes into usable digital recipes: without retyping anything.
ReadJune 18, 2026Sharing your grocery list: two people, in real time, no install
How to share your grocery list with your partner or a loved one, without them installing anything: and everything syncs in real time.
ReadJune 14, 2026How to plan weekly meals: the simple 4-step method
The 4-step method to plan your weekly meals, save time and cut your grocery bill.
ReadJune 14, 2026How to save on groceries: 9 strategies
9 concrete ways to cut your grocery bill every week.
ReadJune 14, 202615 quick and easy weeknight dinners (30 minutes or less)
15 dinner ideas ready in 30 minutes or less, sorted by type, for busy evenings.
ReadJune 14, 2026Meal Prep for Beginners: Your First Week, From Grocery List to Lunch Boxes
A real first week of meal prep: one 2-hour Sunday session, eight meals through Thursday, a grocery list for two, the session timed to the minute, and the mistakes that make people quit by week two.
ReadJune 14, 2026Dinner ideas: 30 easy recipes for the whole week
Thirty dinner ideas: quick, family-friendly, healthy or for entertaining: and the method so you never draw a blank in front of the fridge again.
ReadJune 14, 2026Easy recipe ideas: 25 simple everyday meals
25 easy recipe ideas: few ingredients, few steps: to cook something good without spending the whole evening on it.
ReadJune 14, 2026Easy and quick vegetarian meals: 20 ideas in 30 minutes
20 easy and quick vegetarian meals: bowls, tofu, legumes, pasta: ready in 30 minutes, balanced and budget-friendly.
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