A New Way to Meal Plan

My family meal plans. It is seriously the most time (and money) saving thing we do around here. On the weeks that we don;t meal plan we all just mill about the kitchen and have long drawn out conversations about what to have for dinner. We rummage through the fridge with a general sense of apathy and concurrent feelings of being overwhelmed. And really all I can think is "How do people do this without planning?"

So, we plan!

I used to plan each day on this cute little calendar that had 2 weeks on it. I would think about what was happening each day and try to pick something that would work with the days schedule. It was all very well intentioned. 

But here's how it really played out. On Tuesday we would not want what was planned. We would want what was planned for Wednesday. Then on Wednesday we would want what was planned for Sunday. And then I would feel like a failure because I hadn't adhered to this fictional schedule that I had created with good intentions. And really, who want so to feel guilty when you are just trying to plan something? 

So I changed it up. I still plan for 2 weeks of meals and I account for things I know are coming in those weeks: date nights, dinner with my sister, birthdays, etc. 

I try to balance the selections with things that I can make and with things that my husband can make. We also try to work in things that the girls request with out having 4 nights of nuggets and mac n' cheese.

It works super well and I can even use my meal box that I posted about HERE.

What I did was take an old picture frame and I simply put some old fabric where the picture would go. Then I used some left over letter stickers and wrote "What's for dinner?" at the top.  I hung it on the side of my fridge and I use dry erase markers to write the selections on it. After we make it, I just wipe the item right off! Super easy and incredibly efficient. :)