Dine and Dish

Food blog with family recipes

Menu Planning – Time Saver for Busy Families – Giveaway CLOSED

(Do you love my handcrafted pen? I do too. My nephew makes them! Check out his facebook page for more information!)

I might sound strange when I say this, but I love planning my weekly menus. What other time do I get to sit down, browse through my favorite cookbooks, magazines and blogs to focus 100% on food? I get to combine some of my favorite things with something that is useful for my family. It’s a win-win!

Planning out our weekly menu saves time and money for our family – and I love anything that can give me the results of more time and more money. Menu planning takes out the last minute “what’s for dinner” guess work you face when you don’t have a plan. It also eliminates the rush to the nearest fast food restaurant for dinner because you forgot to plan. With a plan in place I am more likely to stick to what’s on the menu, reducing the times we eat out. When I plan our menus out for the week and grocery shop, I head to the store with a specific list, which means I am less likely to impulse shop and spend excess money at the grocery store. Menu planning is key to the way our household runs. I love it when I do it, and dread it when I don’t.

My problem with menu planning through the years is having a system to do it. I’ve tried online programs, tried making my own system, have gone willy nilly without a real system and have had a difficult time incorporating something that fits all my needs… that was until I found The Organized Family Menu Planner.

The Organized Family Menu Planner is pen and paper…which is what I want for menu planning. It is a bright, beautiful, flexible binder with wide open spaces to write. Some of the features of The Organized Family Menu Planner are:

  • 52 weeks of Menu Planning worksheets with detachable two sided shopping lists
  • Favorite Meals list – so you can easily find what your family loves on days you might be stumped
  • Recipes section – a space to write down some of your favorite recipes
  • Special Occasions Planning Pages – includes event information, menu planning chart, guest and RSVP list and notes
  • Wipeable cover – important since it will spend most of the time in the kitchen!

If you want to take control of your household in the New Year can I suggest giving menu planning a try? The Organized Family Menu Planner retails for $20.00 and is the most ideal system for menu planning I’ve found to date. The good news is, they want to give one lucky Dine & Dish reader the chance to win The Organized Family Menu Planner.

Giveaway Details:

To enter the giveaway leave a comment on this post telling me what you love about menu planning or let me know what obstacles get in your way when it comes to planning your weekly menus.

For additional entries:

  • Tweet the following: “I want to #win The Organized Family Menu Planner to help me organize my weekly meals @dineanddish @lindsayGlowbaby http://su.pr/4p8y5R ” Leave a comment on this post letting me know you completed this.
  • Follow @LindsayGlowbaby on Twitter. Leave a separate comment on this post letting me know you completed this.
  • Become a friend of Glow Baby (the creators of The Organized Family Menu Planner) on Facebook. Leave a separate comment on this post letting me know you completed this.

All entries must be received by midnight, CST on Thursday, December 22nd. Winner will be chosen via Random.org and notified via valid email address.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Glow Baby however I truly love this menu planning system and am so excited to share it with you. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Kristen M. says

    I love to meal plan simply because I enjoy looking at recipes. I need a paper/computer plan to follow to keep me on track during the week. I like the family favorites feature of this planner. I’m always saying I need to write down those rare moments when every single family member loves the meal. 🙂

  4. Amanda Webster says

    I have 4 (picky) kiddos and my sweet honey. As you can imagine, our life is normally pretty chaotic and we are always pulled in a million different directions. But it’s important to me to feed them right and sit down as a family to eat. Getting organized in my meal planning might better help me accomplish these goals!

  8. Michele says

    90% of the time I’m just cooking for 1. I work rotating shift work and some days I’m just so exhausted its easier to throw in a frozen dinner or stop at McD’s. I actually love to eat 🙂 love to cook, but I just can’t seem to going with the whole menu planning thing, even though I have the bet intentions!

  9. Joy says

    I love that I can glance at the note on my fridge and know exactly what I’m cooking that night, without having to think about it.

  10. Sia says

    I’m so disorganized.. well I take that back, I tried to be organize. I have searched for everything to make things easy and organize. I still end up being disorganized and forget what I really need at the grocery store. I also have picky kids who never follow my planning. Getting organize would be great.

  12. Katie says

    I love to sit down and think of different things I can put together during my days off so I will be ready for those long days after work

  14. Sally says

    I love not having to think about what’s for dinner except for once per week! I’m new to menu planning, but am already hooked!

  18. Melanie says

    I love meal planning. I know what to take out of the freezer in the morning before work, and then I don’t have to think about anything when I come home tired from work. When I look at my calender at the beginning of the week, I can tell which days are going to be busy and plan accordingly.

  19. Natalie says

    I love menu planning with Pinterest because I can go there and browse through all of my boards to find what I am looking for, whether it is pasta, pizza, breakfast, snacks, etc. And, like you, I love that it takes the guessing away from what I need to prepare once 5 o’clock rolls around each day.

  20. Zahra says

    The best thing about menu planning is that it takes out the “oh no I haven’t decided what we’re having for dinner” alarm that automatically sounds in my head around 4:30 every evening. I can plan ahead of time and, get this, possibly PREP!

  24. Darcie says

    I so need one of these! The most challenging thing about meal planning is that my three kids have after school activities that have staggered start/end times. Everyone ends up eating in waves, rather than a family dinner time, making it hard to really plan a menu that will work . Not to mention finding the time to cook it in-between the chauffering. I am kinda of tired of crockpot meals. 🙂

  25. Sam H says

    I just love how when meals are properly planned I don’t stress and we end up eating meals that nourish and bring joy to my family!

  28. Kari says

    I love menu planning. My favorite is trying new recipes but it’s hard to keep track of recipes we’ve liked that I might want to make again.

  35. Cheryl @ That's What Che Said says

    My 5 year old helps me plan our menu! It’s my favorite party about planning. He gives me ideas and then we also have much less disputes at dinner time because HE helped me choose and he chooses things he likes! Everything seems to run smoother at night when dinner is smooth!

  38. cocobean says

    time is my enemy… finding time to do it (and having the time to find where I made the list when I found the time to make the menu!)

  39. Debbi says

    I looked at the menu planner and LOVED it!!!!! I’m hit and miss on doing it weekly, but when I take the time, I love the process AND it makes my life so much easier!! Thanks so much for the tip.
    PS – I liked Baby Glow on Facebook!

  42. Krissy says

    I enjoy menu planning. It helps make the day go smoother and everyone knows what we will enjoy for dinner. Great giveaway. Thanks.

  45. Alicia says

    I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who meal plans like I do. I love meal planning. It’s like going to a restaurant every night. My husband tells the guys at work that he never knows what we are having for dinner each night. It’s like a new restaurant every day. And that makes me feel good to know that he likes that variety. My problem is that when I find the recipe I want to make I end up losing it between making my list, shopping, then cooking the meal. I can’t tell you how many itmes I’ve done that. How do I fix that?

  51. marian says

    i have found out a long time ago that meal planning and or menu planning goes along way. i have 5 children and 7 grandkids now and planning helps save money and time. believe me when i say that if you don’t plan ahead that you might find out you forget something that is a main ingredient for a meal. stuff happens, but being prepared helps you to become the all-time super person of the kitchen.

  52. lisabella says

    I love to plan things out. Meal planning gives me such a sense of accomplishment and saves me time-I’m no longer running to the store every other day for ingredients!

  57. Jennifer says

    As a single gal, it’s nice to meal plan so I don’t waste my money eating out every night (or cooking pasta…oh the carbs!) because it’s easier, but I’m in desperate need of a system to help get my grocery shopping in order!

  58. debbie says

    Menu planning saves so much time! It would make my grocery shopping so much better! I posted on GlowBabyFacebook. Graet Giveaway!

  59. THERESA E says

    MENU PLANNING SAVES TIME AND MONEY BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MAKING BEFORE HAND SO YOU HAVE EVERYTHING ON HAND AND LIKE ME YOU DONT HAVE TO TRAVEL 16 MILES JUST TO GET AN INGREDIENT.

  60. samW says

    I love KNOWING what I’m cooking for dinner rather than waiting till 5 pm to decide….and my kids like it to!

  62. Kat - LA Blogger Gal says

    I want so badly to get the hang of menu planning. Part of our challenge is that our schedules can change in an instant and I’m not quite sure how to plan around that. But I want to. I’m tired of running to the grocery store each day so I have something to cook…when I have an entire house full of food.

  65. Amy B. says

    My obstacle to meal planning comes if I’m not able to do grocery shopping on Mondays – that throws the whole week off

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  68. Brooke says

    I have done meal planning successfully in the past, but always have to adjust for obstacles such as my husband working until 6:45pm and the kids not being very hungry, and sometimes it just isn’t worth the effort to make the meal I had planned. Unfortunately I have no way to plan for these things!

  69. susitravl says

    Menu planning is one of my favorite things. The problems I have (though we are not picky eaters) is that one person doesn’t like tomatoes and NO ONE, except me, likes beans.

  70. theurbanbaker says

    I always meal plan. I make the market list on Saturday(typed. listed with the market name followed by the ingredients). The hubs does the marketing on Sunday am(after golf) and I spend Sunday prepping all my ingredients for the week! Makes life so much easier.

  74. Dena Hamlin says

    I love love menu planning, I have a hard time keeping it consistent though. And would like to be able to incorporate couponing at the same time. Save time and $$$

  78. Norma says

    As a mom of 4 in a household where the husband and I both work, we need to stay organized. I’ve tried online programs and the like, but for me a pen and paper always win. I keep my calendar the same way. I like things accessable in my kitchen. This looks like a great system!

    Thank you for giving away a copy.

  79. Laura G. says

    I enjoy planning our weeks worth of meals, it makes it so much easier to do the grocery shopping. I can be in and out of the store in no time.

  80. Jodi Pavlik says

    I struggle with mixing up my menus. It seems like I make the same things over and over! My family isn’t very helpful either when I ask them what they want for dinner this week!!

  81. Beth Martino says

    Like you, I’ve tried numerous solutions including online and paper. The thing I love most about having a plan for the week is that I start off feeling so organized on Monday morning!

  84. Cathy M says

    I tweeted “I want to #win The Organized Family Menu Planner to help me organize my weekly meals @dineanddish @lindsayGlowbaby http://su.pr/4p8y5R ” Leave a comment on this post letting me know you completed this.

  87. Kay Gellerstedt says

    Went on FB and friended “friend of Glowbaby”. This would be so helpful in allowing me to get mealtime updated in order to make it more enjoyable. My daughters have diabetes and we’ve gotten into a meal-rut. We need some new ideas but I need a good system to organize them in first. Like you I’ve tried the online schedulers and the pen an notebook method…none of them last long enough to be helpful! Thanks!!!

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