4 Creative & Simple Meal Planning Ideas

          
It is pretty mind-blowing to think about how many meals we have to plan and prepare. 3 meals a day, 21 meals a week, and 630 meals a month. That’s pretty hectic stuff when you stop to ponder that. The hardest part is keeping everything organized and within your budget.

Planning your meals for the week (or even the month) doesn’t have to be hard and something that you wish you didn’t have to do. Taking the time to plan out your meals will save you the sanity of running to the grocery store at the last minute. It will also help you stay within your budget because we already have what we need on hand. No late night shopping at the highest grocery store in town.

Meals are eaten whether we choose to plan for them or not. By taking some time to plan ahead, you are getting to control the cost and nutritional value. No more swings through the drive-thru window, because you forgot to un-thaw something for supper.

Here are some amazingly creative menu plan ideas, that will help you along the way!


The Balancing Beauty & Bedlam Blog have these amazing $3 Cookie Sheet Menu Planning Boards. I love how simple yet creative these are. $3 for a cookie sheet, and then whatever color scheme or layout you want. Not hard at all, weekly supper at a glance, and more color for your kitchen. How could you go wrong there?

I prefer the second layout, myself. I love how she laminated the recipes (which are recipes they use most in their home on a weekly basis). It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make, and it’s a great way to use all that scrap paper you have sitting around. (ahem, don’t tell me I AM the only one who keeps old scrapbook paper, lol).


The Thinking Closet has this Menu Planner to Rule them All. The design can be switched up to fit your favorite color, colors of your kitchen, or just mixmatch whatever supplies you have on hand. It doesn’t have to be exactly like hers in design or color. Just work with the essential “idea”.
I love the little boxes that hold the weekly dinners. You can just sort through them and choose which you’d like to make that week. Just clip them on to their “days” with those cute little hangers.



How Does She makes this super cute and thrifty menu plan idea. Cute picture frame, a few accessories *like the flowers* and some colored paper and you’re ready to roll. Make that menu planning seem conquerable with just a dry-erase marker. No printing, no hassle.


If you would rather print one off and stick it to your refrigerator or inside a binder, you can’t go wrong with this one. Jenny Collier made this printable menu that has breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snack spots. Amazingness, I tell ya.

Which would be a better fit for your family. I would rather print out the bottom one, laminate it, and then size it down to fit inside picture frame. That would be pretty cool and something I definitely want to try.

-Jess

Review: Youcopia Classic SpiceStack 24-Bottle Organizer

Do you like cooking or baking? Do you have a giant variety of spices sitting around taking up cabinet space? Can you never find anything that you need to find WHEN you need to find it?

Photo Courtesy of: kevinberardinelli.com

The Brilliant Youcopia Class Spicestack is the new and improved way of storing those spices! That way you know what is where and how to get to it when you need it most. Save time and sanity this holiday season!

This can easily fit into your cabinet or beside your stove. Wherever you see it’s best to get to everything you need without it making a hassle and giving you a headache. I don’t know how many times spices have gotten pushed to the back of the cabinet.

When they got to the very back, I’d have to take the time to get a chair and pull it up to the counter so I could look further back into the cabinet. I’d still have to push and drag stuff here and there just to see what I was looking for. It was a hassle and took up time that could have been spent cooking and getting it done.

I love the Youcopia Super Spicestack I can put this close to my stove on my counter and have all the spices right at my fingertips when I need them. The drawers pull out and lower to a resting position so that you can leave it like that if there is something else you may need in the same rack.

The drawers pull out very easily so that everything is in clear view and easy to see. Everything is easy to reach and I can just slide it back in if I’m done. I love feeling organized. It not only saves me time searching through everything, but it saves me from feeling frustrated from wasting so much time looking.

It Includes 96 labels that are easy to stick on the front with no problem. If you have spices that aren’t in the collection, there are blank ones that come with the set too. It even tells you what font and size the labels are written on so you can easily duplicate it.

Organizes 24 full-size or 48 half-size spice bottles and fit all standard cabinets. If you have more spices than normal people you could always buy more and stack them on top of each other! They are very easily stacked.

I love that it came fully assembled. I didn’t have to struggle at looking through instructions. I just took it out of the box and it was ready to use. This would be the absolute perfect gift for the cook or baker in your life (that might even be YOU).

BUY IT: You can click here to find retailers near you! and they are available at all the online retailers below.

 

Jessica Renee