One of the things I have always struggled with is grocery shopping. It seemed like I would buy a cart full of goods only to come home and realize I didn’t have exactly everything I needed to make dinner. Everything was random. By the time I combed through the cupboards and refrigerator for an idea for supper, I would be too hungry and tired to make it, which lead to unhealthy takeout. Along with that, any perishable items I bought would tend to perish before we got around to eating them. The times I had a meal planned out and all ingredients bought, I’d come home from work to find that my husband had ate one of the ingredients I needed. It was a hot mess. One day I decided I needed to do something about this problem. I started to plan out my weekly dinner menu. I looked through the kitchen for the ingredients I had on hand and planned meals around those, only adding the missing ingredients to my grocery list. As time went on making dinner became easier. I knew in advance when I had to defrost or prep ingredients. My grocery bill also went down because I was no longer buying random items. I bought what I knew I was going to need. Now that I had the main problem fixed, I decided to move on to the next issue: a nice way to display the weekly dinner plans for my family to see. Displaying it would allow my husband to know what I was planning to make so he wouldn’t accidentally eat the items I needed to make it. I knew that I wanted something reusable. I didn’t want to have to constantly buy paper planners or even print something off the computer every week.
My weekly dinner menu planner, made from a Dollar Tree certificate frame.
Thank the heavens for Pinterest and whoever came up with the idea of using picture frames as dry erase boards! I found a frame that fit standard sized paper {8.5 in x 11in} at my local Dollar Tree. I then designed a menu to put in it. I love playing with fonts so it was only natural that my design would revolve around the use of different ones. I placed the menu in the frame and added twine to the back so I could hang it in my kitchen. Each week I use a dry erase marker to change out the menu plans. So easy and so helpful! If this idea sounds like a winner for you, feel free to download my Weekly Dinner Menu and let me know how it works for you.
To download my Weekly Dinner Menu PDF for free, click here.