This is it my friends: the mother of all organizing tools. It takes me about five minutes to plan ONE MONTH of meals. I added cookbook references for things I don’t have memorized. All I need to do is make a shopping list at the start of the week.

I started by typing meal ideas into an Excel spreadsheet. I used precious meal planning pages and my three most often used cookbooks. Then I split them up by protein type: poultry/beef/vegetarian/fish/pork. I also made a category for days when I am not cooking and we are either eating out, having leftovers, or what have you. I printed them on color-coordinated cardstock and laminated them. Then cut them all out and added magnets. I have over 80 meals here.

Now I’m working on a sheet with side dish ideas for the nights that I have”entree and vegetable” written down, and salad ideas as well. That way I can just pick and choose. No more sitting around trying to come up with something. I made some blanks to write in new meals, but I can always add to this! I am obsessed.