Professional Meal Planning

One of my goals {always} is to master the art of meal planning... not only does it save us major $$, but preparing my own food/eating at home has proven to be a healthier option as well...

Last week I came across a great meal planning idea on Pinterest ...{Seriously, if you have not checked that out please do... but be warned it will consume many hours of your life}

I was so inspired that I thought that this idea might just be the push I needed to get on board with meal planning...

One of the many fantastic perks of Pinterest is it links back to the original post/idea which often gives direct access to DIY tips/instructions... and that proved to be the case for this project...

The Ultimate Goal:  A dry erase, magnetic meal planning calendar

Supplies Needed:  Blank Dry Erase Magnetic Calendar
                              Printable Magnet Sheets
                              Free Label Template {from bhg.com}

 After I printed the labels on the magnet paper... I just began compiling lists of different foods in various categories:  breakfast, veggies, meat, fruit, seafood, breads/grains/potatoes, and soup/salad...

 The rest of the project just consisted of filling out the labels, cutting them, and then placing them on the side of my fridge for simple meal planning...

 Of Course I still added in a couple "free" spaces... just in case we are really wanting to go out to dinner.. {and I would have used my free choice tonight... a burger was just calling my name haha}

I love the idea of this & when I proudly showed it to Dan {I think he was super impressed} he already started brainstorming of different meal ideas... I do most of the grocery shopping for us on one of my days off, and we usually end up making one trip a week to the grocery store... one of the biggest challenges I find when it comes to planning meals is knowing what we will be hungry for any given night... and sometimes it can be overwhelming to think of the varieties of options available when making a grocery list, BUT seeing all the options in front of us and being able to literally put meal ideas together directly onto the calendar will be so great!

I know this will be so helpful to us & cannot wait to get started & hopefully keep up with meal planning!