Quite a few years ago, I learned what a food calendar was, and supposedly how helpful they can be. I raced to the store and bought the supplies, planned my recipes, and scheduled the month. It was one of the most stress relieving, highly organized things I had done. It was amazing! Over the years, I have upgraded to a larger board, and made a few other small changes, but we continue to stick to our food calendar, and meal times are no longer stressful!
I've included a photo of my food calendar in action-lol.
Here's what you need to make your own food calendar:
Large monthly whiteboard with pegboard bottom (mine is also magnetic)
Whiteboard markers/ Eraser
Pins
With these few supplies, you can make a highly effective and organized monthly food calendar. I also made myself little magnetic 'meals' for some of our most common recipes, but that's certainly not necessary.
At the beginning of each month, I sit down with the household calendar, the food calendar, a pen and paper. I use the household calendar to plan which nights are the busiest, and use slow cooker recipes for those days. I then plan the standard busy days, and choose recipes that are quick and easy, or recipes that I will have time to prep earlier in the day. I save new recipes, or recipes with longer cooking times for days when we are not quite as busy. I use my whiteboard markers to layout the dates and write in the recipes. I then take the paper copies of any recipes (that i will need) and pin them to the bottom of the calendar. This way there is no lost time searching for recipes. Finally, I take the food calendar and applicable recipes, and prep my grocery list- 2 weeks at a time. This way I know that I will have all the supplies I need- even if i decide to shuffle around recipes a bit.
As you can see from my own food calendar, I like to make notes of desserts or additional treats/ baking items along the side. I might also include a little seasonal doodle along the top! Each month I try my best to include a variety of recipes. Some are household favorites, some are 'seasonal' meals (such as turkey/ heavy soups or light summer pasta salads), some use the slow cooker, and I try to include at least 2 NEW recipes each month, as well as at least 4 meals from different countries/ ethnicities. We have tried Hawaiian, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, Jamaican, Russian, Ukrainian, French, Indian, Italian, Canadian, American, Vietnamese, English, Mongolian, Korean, Native American and Amish recipes. I think we may venture towards Africa next! Keep in mind, I don't necessarily choose 4 DIFFERENT cultures each month- sometimes we might try 3-4 Mexican meals, or 3-4 Asian inspired recipes. Make your calendar how you like it, and how it will best function for your family.
Feel free to reach out with any questions!