Menu Planning for Beginners

I'm happy to be here posting again. I'm even happier because Sher and her family are visiting!!!

This week I'm going to blog a little about Menu Planning and show you my Menu Board (I'm really quite proud of it.)

You may be asking yourself, Why plan a menu?
Here are some of the reasons it helps me.

1. I save money
2. Grocery shopping is easier
3. We eat healthier
4. Preparation is simpler
5. The food fits my schedule
6. I can cook what my family likes
7. When 5 o'clock rolls around, I know what’s for dinner

    I am in no way a fabulous cook.  I'll admit that when my husband and I were first married, I only knew how to "cook" (and I use the term lightly) about 10 things.  Most of them started out frozen.  It wasn't pretty.  We ate out A LOT.  As you have probably figured out eating out is much more expensive than cooking at home.

    Once we had the girls, Sugar and Spice, we couldn't afford to eat out every night so I had to learn to cook.  I started out slowly, learning 1 recipe a week, and soon I had learned quite a few recipes that were not too difficult and that tasted good.

Here is a quick overview on

How to Plan a Menu

1.    Choose a consistent time each week to plan your meals

2.    Make a list of meals/recipes that you’ll be using

3.    Plan your meals by assigning a recipe to each day

4.    Make a shopping list using your meal plan

5.    Go shopping

6.    Enjoy the stress free cooking experience a meal plan provides

  

 

   And now for my Menu board.  I thought this little baby up after trying several other menu planners that just didn't work for my family.  It was important for me to be able to have my recipes close at hand so I knew I needed something using recipe cards. 

 

I bought the black board in the AS-IS section of Ikea for $1.25, had the hubby screw on some office clips, put up some vinyl lettering, and WALLA!  There you have it.

I have each day of the week labeled..  I plan my meals Monday to Sunday, so this format worked best for us.  It allows me to plan 2 full weeks.

I've since revised my recipe cards so that the ingredients and the recipe are on the front, I'll post pictures once we get settled.

There you have it!  I love it!  I consider it a functional piece of art.  What do you think?