Menu Planning

Hi all!

One of the more frequently used sections in my planner is the Menu section.  As a wife and mother, I try to provide a well-balanced diet for my family, i.e., more variety, less repetitions.

I used to do this daily but found that planning the menu weekly was more efficient and saved more time.

Here's how I do it!

I use this image as a template for the week.  I resized, printed and laminated it so that all I have to do is slap a sticky note onto it and just replace the sticky note weekly.

Daiso sticky film is the perfect size.
Flyleaf with Post-Its for notes.

 Tabs at top and bottom help me to find the template easily

I have a few pages of dishes that I know we like.  I categorized them by entree, soup, salad, etc.  No recipes in here.  If I need to look up a recipe, I go to the Home binder, or the good ole internet.

Two pages of entrees:

Beef, Pork and Veggies

Pork and Fish/Seafood

Followed by:

Appetizers, Salads/Dressings and Soups

Pasta and Desserts

These all used to be in my Home binder but I moved them in here because I do sometimes change what's on the menu mid-week and it was just easier than pulling it out of another binder everytime.

I even remind myself to do it every Sunday night (along with bathing the dog) so I don't forget.

This has been working well for me for a few weeks now.  Since I started doing this, there has been less stressing about what to prepare each day.

I would love to hear what menu planning tips you may have!





Thanks for visiting!

I Miss My Filofax !!

Hi everyone!

As the title suggests, I miss using a Filofax everyday!  Don't get me wrong, I love my Midori Traveler's Notebook.  I love the leather, I love that I can stuff it, I love the amount of room on the pages, I love that there are no rings to get in the way of my writing.

However . . .

I miss the flexibility of a Filofax.  I love being able to change things around on a whim.  I love how I can take out pages I don't need anymore.  I love how I can fit a lot of pens in it.

So, just to keep my longing staved for a little bit, I pimped the pink personal Finchley and now use it as my home binder.

I was in my Fino leather (faux)filo for a bit, here, when I moved into the Midori.  I'm currently in a Midori/Filofax combo system where my Midori is my everyday planner/organizer, the personal Filofax is the home binder, and the Slimline is the wallet.

I'm still in the Slimline, but the Finchley is now the Personal Filofax Home Binder.

I only keep a set of flags on the front cover pockets with a Filofax care card and that mini catalogue sheet that comes with each new Filofax.

To decorate the front page, I used sticky notes to make it colorful and festive.  A flyleaf protects the sticky notes.

(I'm trying to find other ways to use these decorative sticky notes.  I'll post a review soon on other uses I've found for them.)

What I use this Filofax for is as a reference and record keeper: financial records/accounts, inventories of important things, travel/packing lists, etc., etc.

It's composed of two main sections:

The first section is divided into side tabs (Lists, Financial, Home and Calendar).  All of the tabs are made of plastic folder material to make them more durable.  I used washi tape to label the tabs which are stick-on index labels.  The Calendar section is made up of 3 tabs; Year (just birthdays, anniversaries, special events), Monthly (bills) and Weekly (chores, TV shows).

What I use it most for though, almost everyday, is as a reference for menus and recipes.

I refer to this when I 'try' to plan a weekly menu, or just everyday for ideas on what dishes to prepare.  A today ruler takes me instantly to this section.

I attached a flyleaf on the front of it with sticky notes on it for when I need to take any notes.

To pretty up the ruler, I attached a Hello Kitty binder clip up top.  This also creates a 'handle' or tab that I can grab and open up to the Food tab.  This idea was inspired by Adam of Adamsfilo on Youtube.

Jot pads are recipes to dishes I need to refer to.

In the second section is actual data I need to keep.  I used the A-Z tabs to alphabetize the entries, with a Legend in front to help me find what I'm looking for.

I made a plastic marker/bookmark for this section.  I made it longer than usual and stuck some washi tape at the bottom to find it easily.

At the very back, a Daytimer (or is it Day Runner?) plastic envelope (which I love) to hold loose bits of paper, mostly delivery menus and the like.  The jot pads come in handy for other random notes.

This gel pen in blue-black fits perfectly on the rings.  (No need for a multi-pen in this Filofax, at least for now.)  The pen comes from this pack of 10 that I found on ebay.  And they write in 10 different colored inks!  For $3!

Now that the Home Binder is pretty and pink, I look forward to using it more.  And with the Midori, I think I have the best of both worlds.

Thanks for visiting!