"This Week's Menu" - (Keeping Me Organized)

"This Week's Menu" -for on the Fridge

(details below)

WHY I DID THIS:

BOTTOM LINE: Consistently having an organized dinner plan is a weakness I desire to turn into a strength.

I sincerely dislike having to decide what's for dinner every day.  Trying to come up with something at the last minute that sounds good never works out very well and makes me dread the hours approaching the dinner hour.

BACKGROUND: OUT OF SIGHT - OUT OF MIND (at least for me):

I had tried a variety of things to decrease my afternoon stress over dinner but had not been very successful in following through for any length of time.  They all seemed to have the same problem;"Out of sight, out of mind," which didn't work for me.  I decided I needed to have the dinner plan "in my face" first thing in the morning so I would know my plan and do something about it. Maybe then my afternoons just before the dinner hour might be less stressful.

THE PLAN:

First, I created a Dinner Calendar on my phone.  I set the time for "dinner" for just after I normally wake up in the morning - without a reminder.  (I could only imagine how much more I would dislike dinner time if a reminder of it woke me up every morning.)  However, because it was the first thing on my calendar every day, it showed up on my phone at bed time and I saw it as I was plugging my phone in to recharge for the night. The first time I saw it I thought, "I'm heading to bed and I have to think about tomorrow's dinner!!"  I'll admit, I was annoyed.  But, I have found that it has actually worked out well for me.  It is a reminder of what I need to do the next day to prepare (like get out the frozen chicken breasts to defrost) without having to drop everything right then and there in order to accommodate the dinner plan.  Instead, I could plan how to prepare for dinner on my time schedule.

Just having a reminder on my phone was helpful but it wasn't quite enough.  I like things digital, but am finding I still like to see some things in print, like my dinner calendar.  So, I thought maybe having something on my freezer door might help keep me on task and if it were something I enjoyed looking at that would be even better.  I searched Pinterest for some ideas of what others had done and found many fabulous ideas.  In the end, I used a combination of ideas to make it work for me.  (See pictures and details below.)

HELPFUL HINTS:
RULE THE DINNER - DON'T LET IT RULE YOU!

1. Set a time to make the weekly plan - put it on the calendar - follow through and make the plan.

2. Know what is on your calendar for the week and plan your meals accordingly.

3. Set a day and time to do your grocery shopping - then do it.

4. Leftovers not eaten before the next shopping trip should be disposed of or possibly frozen for another time.  This is another area where I struggle, but I'm going to take it one thing at a time.
Suggestion: If possible, clean out the fridge the night before garbage day.

WHAT I CREATED: (Materials: paper, permanent adhesive, sticky strip and magnets; Tools: ruler, Stampin' Up Paper Punches - 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/5" flower punch, paper cutter or scissors)

THIS WEEK'S MENU

Magnet for each day of the week.

The cards are 4"x4" square (black card stock), 2.5" square (white standard printer paper).

THIS WEEK'S MENU BOXES

UNUSED and USED Boxes.  My goal is to have enough meal ideas for an entire month (or more). 

I have one that says, "OUT" and one that says, "LEFTOVERS".  Both stay in the UNUSED box if not on the fridge.  Three magnets on the back of each box seems to be strong enough to keep them on the fridge without a problem even if they are full.

TEMPLATE for the Card Box

The entire template fits perfectly on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.

Fold the tall piece with the "mistake" line on it toward the inside of the box.

FINAL STEP:

I haven't done the final step on my menu cards yet, but here is my thought.  Ideally, on the back of each meal card would be the recipe, or at least the ingredients needed for the dish.  Reasoning: Once you pick your menu for the week, your grocery list would practically be made for you.  You'd just have to write it down or type it in.  The idea of not having to think about what I need for each meal every time I make it appeals to me.  I am hoping that a little extra effort up front will help save me time and keep things simple in the long run.

SO FAR, SO GOOD:

I've been giving this plan a try (minus the ingredients on the back) for more than a month.  I'm spending less time stressing about dinner, and less money and time at the grocery store.  I'd say...so far, so good.  We'll see how long I can keep it up.

-Jill