Posted in Recipe Box

Meal-planning Mondays

Monday morning, do you know what you’re making for dinner? I always struggled with knowing what to make and having anything available to make! A couple months ago, my daughter Rachel saw these menu boards on Pinterest and offered to make one for me. We changed it a bit from what was on there.

We used…

~ an 8×10 picture frame

~ 2 pieces of coordinating scrapbooking paper

~ wooden clothespins

~ letter stickers (large ones for “Menu Board” & small ones for on the clothespins – days of the week

~ a small box for the recipes 2″ H x 4″ W and 1″ D

~ and a hot glue gun

We cut out and covered the box with the one style of paper and used the small letters and labeled it Recipes, then cut out and covered the clothespins with the same paper and labeled them the days of the week with the small letters.

Then we placed the coordinating paper in the frame and placed the letters MENU BOARD on the glass where it looked nice.

The pattern on Pinterest suggested using just the menu for the day, but we went one step farther and printed out the recipes for each meal for a couple reasons.

#1 – I’m not always the one making the meal so this alleviated the girls having to find the recipe first

#2 – So I could plan for my week better and get the meats out of the freezer ahead of time and so I could make sure I had all the ingredients

and #3 – We have been changing our diet to be Paleo and gluten-free, so even I didn’t remember how to make a certain recipe each time.

Then I used Word and typed out each recipe in a 2×4 form, for main entrees, sides, desserts and breakfast items. As I find new recipes I like to type it out to put it in the box. Then each Saturday or Sunday, I go through my box, check to see what I have in my freezer, see what I have on my calendar (do I need alot of time to make something or make a crockpot meal), and plan my meals for the week. I even have “Out to Eat” and “Leftover” cards to use.