Lazy Meal Plan

I actually wrote my meal plan in my planner for the coming week and decided to post it here too.  I like being able to search the Meal Plan label and find out what I haven't made in awhile, what recipes I've ignored forever, and what stands the test of time.  I rarely ever decide what to make for a particular day, I just try to plan for something on the list the night before.

• Chili and grilled cheese
• Meatloaf and mashed potatoes with green beans - prepping and freezing the meatloaf today.
• BBQ shredded chicken sandwiches - cooking away in the crock pot right now.
• Mac N Cheese - the lazy blue box kind because I need at least three easy dinners this week.
• Mexican something with black beans, rice and green chili enchilada sauce.
• Breakfast - eggs, biscuits or hashed browns, bacon
• Tuesday - Leftovers/on-your-own/whatever.  I'm in class so they'll find something.

I'm also making bean dip for lunches this week.  Rob and Lindsay take their lunches every day and I try to as well.  On Tuesdays, I have to take a whole day's worth of meals with me to work since I don't make it home before heading to class from 4 - 10pm.  This week I've planned to take bagel sandwiches, salads, fried rice and egg rolls, and sandwiches.  

The Planner Struggle

I love planners, organizers, blank and lined notebooks, and all kinds of paper, pens, markers, and pencils.  My favorite color these days is purple and I nearly always write in purple ink.  It's just a quirk and it makes me happy.  I have a traditional planner, use a Google calendar, and have an app on my phone as well.

Sometimes work, school, and life require me to find and stick with some sort of planning system.  I've learned that I can't rely on an electronic calendar on my phone because I don't enter everything, I get frustrated, it doesn't sync, or some other technical blunder.   A Google calendar is great, but it's not always available, or the app on my phone frustrates me.  That being said, I've been searching for a planner that I can live with, that has sections I'll use, that helps me track useful information, has just enough room for appointments, and isn't too big.

Enter Pinterest and Google images.  I think I might like Pinterest a little too much.  I pin everything.  I have lots of boards that help me organize information...  food, counseling, girls group, journaling, stuff for the kids, things I want, lunch ideas and adult beverages.  I have 33 boards, one of which is organization and paperwork which doesn't actually help me organize at all - until this last week.  I found a link for a blog post on making your own planner.  Well, I think the idea was to show what she'd done and offer up her pdf to others who might like to print it, but why use someone else's template when she very clearly talks about why she wanted to customize her own.  So that's just what I did.  I jumped on Excel and built my very own planner, except mine is weekly and I accidentally printed so many pages that I have a planner that will last two years.

I'm having a blast with this planner.  I'm compelled to track self care, hours I slept, and my mood as well as things I really enjoy tracking like grocery lists, meal ideas, ideas for working with clients, and things I want to see more/less of in my life.

Here's the link to the planner if you aren't Excel-inclined or like the layout of mine.  The pages are formatted for legal paper and if you print them both sides, you just have to cut down the center.  You can even create your own cover by using whatever images you want, printing on legal paper, then cutting and laminating it.  Don't forget to take it to your local office store and have them spiral bind it for you.  Have fun!