My Menu Board: How I organize a week's worth of meals and plan my grocery shopping trip.

I wanted a place in the kitchen to display my week's menu, so that I knew if I was going to have to prep the night before or if it was a Crock pot day, or if I needed to pull something out of the freezer. So i went on Pinterest and found an idea for a Menu Planning Board....and well here it is!

I took it one step further, and ran out to the crafts store and bought cute little chalkboard clips, that I used for side dishes. I have 15-20 of these, which have salad, baked potato, mixed veggie...etc

So now not only do I have the main dish planned, I also have the side dishes too. The nice thing is everything is clipped on the board, so if needed it can be moved around, for when a night runs later than originally planned and a pizza night is in order then that nights meal can be shifted down a day.

GROCERY SHOPPING
I do all of my planning the day before my weekly grocery trip. First I plan what meals I am going to have for the week, which is usually based on what meat is in the freezer, or what seasonal items are available.

After planning my menu for the week, I then write out everything I need from the grocery store. I do take this one step further, and try to plans meals where I can use ingredients in two different dinners, for example if I am going to make pinto beans for my Tostadas, then i usually make burritos this same week so I can use up the beans, salsa, and sour cream. (we love mexican in this house, so no one really ever complains about it).

The Advantages:
1) I only make one trip to the store, before this I was running to Kroger at least 4x a week!
2) I never have to stand starring in the fridge wondering what I can whip together for dinner, then end up ordering a pizza, (saves me money)
3) Saves Money (^)
     Plus I am not wasting food, only buying what I need for the week.
4) Since i know what I'm  making for dinner, I get everything cooked faster, I feel organized and less stressed. If I know the next day is a crock pot meal, i can prep the night before or know to get up a little earlier so I can get everything in the crock pot.
5) when my oldest son comes home from school, he knows whats for dinner....instead of asking me everyday "what's for dinner? Lol

* I will work on menus with shopping lists and recipes....stay tuned.