Check the board!

The first part of meal planning is obvious:  What are you going to make?  I get bored eating the same meals every week so I try to switch up my recipes.  For inspiration I'll usually grab a cookbook, a cooking magazine (Cooking Light is my favorite), a recipe website (like the Food Network) or my Recipes board on Pinterest.  Sometimes I'll do themes for a week like "International" or "Comfort Food".  But I'll talk more about my recipe choices later.  Today I want to introduce you to my menu board!

Growing up, my mother used to sit down with us at the beginning of the week and decide what we were having for dinner that week.  She would write it on the calendar so that she didn't have to answer our whiny questions about what was for dinner.  So I adopted the same plan.  In our house the answer to "What's for dinner?" is always "Check the board!"

By writing out each day's dinner plans it not only helps you get your grocery list organized but you'll find that you look forward to specific dinners.  The hubby gets excited when he sees his favorites show up on the board.  I will admit that sometimes I want to jump ahead to a specific meal and don't follow my board exactly.  But it doesn't really matter because you have meals planned for the entire week!

At the beginning of every week, I write down my list of meals on my menu board.  

From there, I figure out what ingredients I need for each meal.  By double checking what I already have, I avoid buying multiples or assuming that I have ground Cumin in my spice rack.  I'm the type of shopper that if it's not on my list then I'll forget to buy it. 

My menu board is my own crafty creation.  I got my inspiration from this pin on Pinterest.  I used my Cricut machine to cut out the letters and then glued them on a 12x12 piece of paper.  I put that inside of a 12x12 scrapbook frame, glued magnets on the back and stuck it to my refrigerator.  Because the front is glass, I can write my meals with a dry erase marker and then easily erase it at the end of the week.  Much cuter than a piece of scrap paper stuck to the fridge like I used to do!

Happy Cooking!

Jenny