Tips and Tricks #2
What's For Dinner
I remember a time when I would stand in front of the refrigerator at 5'oclock in the evening of a busy work day wondering "What's for dinner?" With a looming 6:00 soccer practice my brain would fight to come up with some sort of idea. Spaghetti? No noodles. Meatloaf? No crackers. Chicken? It's frozen! You know that feeling..when you have spent a million dollars at the grocery store, get home, put everything away with a great deal of satisfaction only to be disappointed two hours later when you have no idea of what's for dinner. A couple of years ago I was browsing through a Better Homes and Gardens Magazine when I came across this beautifully made magnetic menu board. It had categories for veggies, meats, and carbs. All you had to do was plug in your choices, make a list, and head out to the grocer. Now, I am more of the immediate gratification kind of person. I am also not very crafty and am cheap. I was not about to make that magnetic board. However, I did have a million dry erase calendars hanging around the house. My Menu Board was born.
I simply use a note book with sections for chicken, beef, pork, and seafood to keep track of the different meals we eat on a regular basis. I may get around to adding sections for veggies and carbs...maybe. Whenever I come across a recipe I like, I add it's title under the correct section in my notebook and a note of where to find it. At the beginning of the month I write on my dry erase board calendar the menu for two weeks. It's not so hard because I have my notebook to refer to for ideas. Using the calendar to make my grocery list, I buy only what I need. If you put the menu some place in your kitchen where everyone can see it, it will help to encourage pre-reading skills and discourage the, "What's for dinner?" questions. One of the first things my youngest began reading was the home menu.
There are a lot of helpful menu websites out there as well as apps that you can use to make menus. On another note, my dry erase board does not have ads and doesn't collect information on me to sell to a third party. If you are a crafty super organized person, you can go the Better Homes and Gardens route and make the full on magnet menu. I however, have no time for that!
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