Making Menu Planning Easier

I have become obsessed with Pinterest.  I spend so much time on the site.  I have found so many great things on there.  I have done a few and added a ton to my list of things I want to do one day.  Recently I came across a menu board that I absolutely love made by Clair at http://clairsfairytale.blogspot.com/.  I am guessing I am not the only one that loved the board that she did two follow-up posts on her blog.  I loved the board so much that I made one.  First I had to figure out what we eat regularly and also things we eat occasionally.  My goal was to come up with 30 days of meals.  I then had to write down what was needed for each meal.  Once that was done I printed the meals and lamented each one.  I have several crockpot meals I love to cook and sometimes I just find a crockpot meal I think we will like.  I decided to just have one card for the crockpot.  Periodically I like to try new recipes.  I made one card that says New Recipe.  I am very happy with my completed board.  I have decided I will make it a family event to plan the weekly menu.  The older kids will each get to select 2 meals for the week and then I will select the other 3.  Hopefully this will make things easier since they say I never ask what they want to eat.

Now here is my completed board and a sample of the menu cards.  My cards are very simple and only list the main items.  On the front is the menu and the back is the ingredients needed.  Some nights we also have rolls and salad with the meal but I felt there was no reason to have this on the cards.

Pretty easy to see that is the card for baked chicken and the back of the card for Hamburgers with Fries or Chips.  Of course with hamburgers I do add other ingredients tot he meat but they are main staples I always have on hand.  I didn't list any ingredients that I always have in the pantry. 

I have several scrapbook kits since I am a member of a monthly kit club.  That made this project so much easier since everything is already coordinated.  I used my Slice Elite and Bon Appetit Design Card for the designs on the pockets and the word menu.  Now that I am looking at the picture I may pop open the frame and move the word Menu over an inch or so to the right to make it look centered between the cards and the frame edge.

Here is the direct link to the board - http://clairsfairytale.blogspot.com/2012/01/ultimate-menu-board.html

Now onto my next project - a peasant dress for Vivian.