{family meal planner}

This project is not only adorable, it's extremely helpful and practical. Preparing meals is something we do everyday, and this is something I came up with to make my life a little easier.

Family Meal Planner

When I'm getting ready to go grocery shopping, I always sit down, make a menu, look at the ads, and then make my list from that information.

Well, I don't know about you, but I have more than one cookbook I use on a regular basis...a favorite recipes binder, a church cookbook, and couple others that I love. This means that when I sat down to make my list, I was pulling out a stack of cookbooks to go through to find a specific recipe and the ingredients required.

So, I decided to do something about that. I came up with "The Family Meal Planner", and I love it! I got that stack of cookbooks out, found all of the favorite, tried & true recipes our family eats the most, and got to work. I listed the name of the recipe, a list of the ingredients, and where I could find the recipe (in which cookbook). Now I can just pull out my meal planner, decide what our menu will be, and have a ready list of ingredients all in one place. It's the perfect size for my purse, so even if I don't have time to make a list, I can easily refer to it to make sure I don't forget anything. It also allows for new recipes to be easily added at any point.

ITEMS YOU NEED:

• cardstock
• scrapbook paper, and coordinating papers
• cookbooks, favorite recipes
• silver clasp ring
• distress ink
• ribbon
  

DIRECTIONS:

• Open a blank Word Document. I formatted it into 2 columns, and fit 4 recipes per page.
• Print onto cardstock.
• Cut into 4x4 squares, with one recipe per square.
• Cut your scrapbook paper into a 4x4 square, and embellish as desired. Distress edges.
• Using a hole punch, punch a hole into the left corner of each square. To make sure all the holes are in the same place, try this: punch a hole in the first square, then place each additional square one at a time underneath that first square. You will be able to then punch a hole directly over the top of the original hole.
• Stack all your squares together, and place on silver ring.
  
• Tie ribbon on ring.

This will initially require some time to get it all together, but you will be so glad! It's definitely worth it.