diy: meal planning + diy chalkboard
So, as I told you last week, I am beginning the process of really trying to take control over my health. First step? Meal planning and organizing! True confessions: I'm not really very great at cooking on a regular basis. Drew does most of the cooking in our house and I'd much rather eat a sandwich or a cup of canned soup than try and figure out what to cook for dinner. Growing up, my mom always had an amazing meal on the table every night at 5:30 and that was "normal" for us. Now, I'm beginning to wonder how she did it.
I've looked at a lot of healthy meal planners - including this amazing one from PCOS Diva - and seriously considered going this route. Healthy meals planned by someone else every week plus grocery lists? YES PLEASE! But, we are kind of in a budget crunch right now and we are trying hard to pinch pennies....so.... I sat down and figured out what it would take for me to succeed at this thing called meal planning. This is what I realized:
With these goals in mind, I created this chalkboard (I found the base at Home Depot):
It took me about an hour total to do this project and I'm really excited about the result. I focused solely on planning dinner meals because I drink smoothies for breakfast and make a sandwich and fruit for lunch every day. You could definitely add in lunch plans too, but that was just too much for me right now. I'd rather eat the same thing every day for breakfast and lunch!! Haha.
For my "treats", I added Velcro to the small squares and bought these cute little ice cream stickers to attach to the Velcro. Every day I have a treat, I just stick a little ice cream cone to that day's square. Thanks to Kate for the idea!
Do you meal plan? If so, what's your process?
I've looked at a lot of healthy meal planners - including this amazing one from PCOS Diva - and seriously considered going this route. Healthy meals planned by someone else every week plus grocery lists? YES PLEASE! But, we are kind of in a budget crunch right now and we are trying hard to pinch pennies....so.... I sat down and figured out what it would take for me to succeed at this thing called meal planning. This is what I realized:
- I need to write down all the meals (dinner) I know that are healthy and that I can cook - preferably easily.
- I need to create an attractive chalkboard that is easily accessible and fully functional for those meals to be displayed.
- I need a place on the chalkboard to keep track of my sugary "treats" each day. I'm only allowing myself 3 treats per week due to my recent diagnosis with PCOS. Plus, it's probably better for everyone if I didn't have 25 cookies a day anyways....;)
- Slowly research new meals and ideas and add them to my collection.
- I need to have "on hand" a lot of healthy sides - veggies, fruit, rice, and salad to name a few.
With these goals in mind, I created this chalkboard (I found the base at Home Depot):
For my "treats", I added Velcro to the small squares and bought these cute little ice cream stickers to attach to the Velcro. Every day I have a treat, I just stick a little ice cream cone to that day's square. Thanks to Kate for the idea!
Do you meal plan? If so, what's your process?