Menu on the wall: The best thing EVER

I purchased this chalkboard at IKEA a few months back, for just $15, to put in the kitchen/breakfast area. (Thanks to my friend Janet for the idea!) Can I just say it is the best thing ever? I write down the meals for the upcoming week on it and it is so awesome to have! Heres why I love it:

1. It helps me to plan.
2.It inspires me to try and make a better variety of foods.
3. It inspires me to try and make new foods that have fancy sounding names:)
4. I think it looks cute.
5. It saves me time. I am forgetful sometimes. In the past, I remember forgetting what meals I had planned and would have to dig through my pantry and figure it out from the ingredients I had bought days before.
6. I cook more often! My family really benefits from it. I made a goal when we moved here about 2 years ago, to cook more. I no longer wanted my family eating fast food and frozen dinners so often. The only things I actually cooked were things like spaghetti, hot dogs, tacos-the basics. Now I'm venturing out and trying new things and its fun. Its become a new hobby for me(and Joey doesn't mind that at all!) Its just not healthy to eat out all the time and it doesn't teach the kids good eating habits. Instead of saying, "I don't know what to make for dinner" I already have it written down and planned. Of course, this requires planning beforehand. I sit down for about 30 minutes and plan a menu for the upcoming week. I really try to only go to the grocery store once a week. I use the cooking blog, This Mama Loves To Cook, for a lot of great new ideas. Check it out if you haven't already! I also have other great recipe blogs I've found on my sidebar.
7. The kids love it-Aubrey will read it in the morning to see what we are having for dinner that night. Sometimes she'll look and see that we had the wrong meal the wrong night and call me on it. Sometimes you have to adjust to your schedule, geesh! :)

I would recommend this to anyone that needs a little help in the cooking department. It really helps to have a visual somewhere where you have everything written down for the week. Before, I would write it down on a piece of paper and sometimes I would lose it. Its great to have it nice and big and where you can see it. If you don't have space on your wall, then one of those magnet dry erase boards on the fridge would work well too(my friend, Sarah, does that). So, anyways, just a tip from lil ole me. And I'm not saying we don't eat out or eat fast food-yeah right. I love eating out! But this has really helped me to limit how often we do.

So, happy cooking!