I decided perhaps I’d be better at cooking at home and less likely to eat out if we had some sort  of menu plan.  However I’m fickle and change my mind all the time- plus I can never remember what we have on hand.  I was looking on Pinterest and found all sorts of menu planners and decided to roll with it and make one for our kitchen tonight.  Lili assisted me throughout the process.

Supplies:
Magnetic Dry Erase Board
12×12 Scrapbook Paper (we used 4 sheets)
Magnetic Notepad
Magnetic Pencil Cup
Adhesive Spray
Alphabet Stickers
Scissors
Sheets of Print-Your-Own Business Cards
Clear Vinyl Badge Holders (7)

First, we used the spray adhesive to glue a sheet and about 2/3rd of another of scrapbook paper to the dry erase board, as seen in the above photo.  Both were the same design.  Then we cut another color into abstract shapes and added the alphabet stickers to represent the days of the week and glued them in place. Beside each day, we added one off the clear vinyl badge holders, ensuring that the opening was facing out so we could slip the business cards in and out later on.

Using the last of the scrapbook paper, we cut an oval shape and added the words ‘Family Menu’ with our alphabet stickers. Once that was done, we attached our magnetic pencil cup and notepad.

Finally, we printed out all of the meals we could think of that we commonly eat in our house on the business cards.  I used different colors for them, and a fun font to keep with the whimsical theme.  I have several sheets of business cards left, so we can add to it as we remember them and come up with new recipes to try.

I hung it on the wall next to our kitchen- I already had dry erase vinyl decals there where we would keep track of upcoming appointments and events.  Now, each week we can select what dinners we would like to eat and slide them into the corresponding day on our planner.  The extra meal cards are kept in the magnetic pencil holder.  If we are out of certain ingredients, we can write it down on the attached list.  I hope this encourages us to plan better and shop better!

Do you meal plan in advance?  Or do you just throw stuff in the cart at the store like we’ve been doing?