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!