meal plan monday: feb 11.

planning this week's meals took even longer than usual this week. but it was only because i spent a good chunk of time on Saturday and Sunday putting together our new meal planning board!
 
i know i told you i would have more details for you later, and in my head that meant i would end up with a detailed tutorial-type post about how i made this little lovely, but my "creative process" on this project was a little less than linear. and i didnt take time for any process pictures. i was practicing some hardcore trial and error crafting, just making it up as i went along and hoping i would like it at the end. good news: i love it.

in case you are only still reading because you are hoping for some helpful tips for making your own board, i guess i can oblige and share what worked for me. i bought some clothespins, a big pack of scrapbook paper, some glitter letter stickers, and a roll of ribbon for this project. i scrounged everything else i needed and used from around my house. as for how i put it all together? lots and lots of double-stick tape and a little bit of hot glue.

but seriously, i bought the paper in a big pack so that i would have coordinating options without having to spend hours standing in the paper aisle at Michael's trying to find paper i liked. i painted the clothespins because i had the paint, and i sealed them with an acrylic sealer to give them a less rough finish. i made the paper pockets by googling "paper pocket template" and scaling their measurements to work for my project. the pockets are still a little small, so if i ever want to add more meal cards, i might have to rethink the pocket situation.

for the meal cards, i compiled 30 of my favorite meals from the past year or so (including 'let's eat out,' 'special event,' and 'leftovers') to write on the cards, which i made by spray-adhesiving a piece of scrapbook paper to index cards and cutting them into 1-inch strips. on the back of the cards, i wrote the main ingredients for the recipe, which should help with making the grocery list.

i still have to put in a little more time to figure out the best way to manage the recipes and links i have gathered so that they are all more easily accessible, and i still have to actually hang this bad boy on the wall, but ive definitely taken a few steps in the right direction already.

once i had the board made, it took me about 15 minutes to pick out 6 random meals and make my grocery list for this week, so here's whats on the board:

Monday: grilled chicken penne pesto pasta.
Tuesday: taco night.
Wednesday: crock pot beef burgundy. (recipe)
Thursday: grilled chicken on spinach salad.
Friday: winter bbq at a friend's house.
Saturday: chicken parmesan. (recipe-ish)
Sunday: chicken fried rice. (recipe)