This Tuesday, I will tell you all about one of my favorite things. I have many favorite things that have helped me lose weight over the past three years and this is one of those marvelous things. I made a family meal menu board. Every Sunday, I sit down and plan my dinners for the week. This little change in routine not only saves time, but saves calories. When push came to shove, I used to come home all stressed out after work and resort to pizza or some other form of take out. Not great choices were made all because I failed to plan ahead. I am someone who makes a living planning~ I’m a school teacher who often has to prepare lesson plans weeks ahead of time; There was no reason I could not make this organizational tool work for my home life. I went to the craft store. I bought this simple chalkboard. I came home and painted a letter for each day of the work week (M-F) in paint. I hot glued a kitchen spoon to the top for decoration and VOILA! It was done! I cannot tell you how helpful this board is! There are times I rush out of the house in the morning, forgetting to take the chicken breast out of the freezer. My husband will read the board, look for the chicken (not finding it) and will take it out for me, saving the day! I try to do a crock pot dinner every Thursday. This also reminds my husband that he will need to start that meal at some point in the morning after the kids get to school.
I encourage you to make a menu board! It will save the hassle of the dreaded “what’s for dinner?” and “I’m too tired to even think about it” conversation that happens to all of us. Give yourself the gift of planning, organization, focus, time, and easier meal prep during the days you need it most. Stay tuned for next Tuesday when I tell you all about my favorite home exercise toy equipment 🙂
runswithhope 
I like it! Simple, visible, re-usable. I haven’t gotten consistently into menu planning, though I wish I would– maybe something like this would do the trick.
Give it a try!! Let me know if you do 🙂
I am DEFINITELY doing this. I absolutely love this idea, and I think it will help us make better choices as well. The problem is thawing the protein for the meal. We get home and we’re already hungry and don’t want to wait, so we make something faster and less healthy or go get something. Thank you for the inspiration!
I love your board! When my daughter is home from school, I keep a menu on the fridge to that she and my husband knows what to expect each night. Now that it’s just the two of us, I meal prep two or three things to last the week and eat what we want. Having a plan really is a time saver!
It makes such a difference! Just that little organizational task 🙂