Get Out Of Your Dinnertime Rut With Meal Planning & #YouMexiCan

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Sew Creative Meal Planning Board SystemConfession… over the summer the Hubs and I have fallen off of the meal planning wagon. We had been so good about looking through our menu cards every weekend, grocery shopping for ingredients and knowing exactly what was for dinner when we came home from work. The summer got the best of us though and we are officially in a rut.

Lucky for me I was recently asked by Old El Paso to be one of their brand ambassadors and I think that’s going to be just the kick in the butt that I need to get back on the meal planning band wagon and get out of my dinnertime rut.

OEP Ambassador  Badge

I thought today that I would give you a recap of just how easy it is to create a meal planning board of your own.

Directions:

1. Hang a cork board up in your kitchen. Mark it with each day of the week (like in my picture above).

2. Hang an envelope from your cork board to put all of your extra meal planning cards in.

3. Every time you make dinner, write out a menu card like the one below. At the top write the name of the recipe. On one side of the card write all of the ingredients you need to make that recipe. On the other side write “Get out of the Freezer” and whatever ingredients you need for the recipe that you usually keep in the freezer. On the bottom of the card write where you can find the recipe– AKA In your head, on pinterest, on Sew Creative… If you do this for 1 month you will have 30 meal planning cards to chose from!

4. Assign one family member to be the “morning freezer person”. This person will check the menu board each morning, and get the ingredients out of the freezer to thaw.

5. On a specific day each week sort through your menu cards, figure out what you are going to eat and hang one card up for each day of the week. Check the pantry, fridge and freezer to see which ingredients you already have and grocery shop for the ingredients you need. *Hint: Old El Paso products are great to keep stocked in the pantry for whenever a Mexican food craving hits. *

Make sure to create a few cards that say LEFTOVERS on them so that uneaten food from the night before doesn’t go to waste.

To get you started we have 9 meal planning cards created (we share a few new ones each month so check back often). Take a peek at them and copy them down to meal planning cards of your own.

The Hubs and I are especially excited to be part of the Old El Paso Ambassador program because we LOVE Mexican food. When I was a kid we used to have Taco Night every Thursday. I looked forward to Thursday evenings because tacos, burritos and taco salads are some of my very favorite foods. I can still see the box of Old El Paso tacos on the counter in my parent’s kitchen and smell the crunchy shells heating up. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. The crunch of the taco, the saltiness of the meat, the creaminess of the sour cream…. Mmmm tonight may have to be a taco night!

For as long as I can remember if anyone asked me what the one food I would eat if I had to pick one meal for the rest of my life the answer has always been “Taco Salad!” It has everything in there– Protein from the meat, veggies from the salad and salsa, dairy from the cheese and sour cream,  carbs from the taco shells. Taco salad really is my favorite food in the whole world. With Old El Paso products there are so many variations of how you can eat Mexican food. I’m excited to explore the many possibilities.

I have lots of plans for the recipes that I will share over the next couple of months. Two of them are Crockpot Ranch Chicken Tacos and Mexican Lasagna. So keep your eyes here for some fabulous #YouMexiCan meal planning cards.

“Disclosure – I am participating in the Old El Paso Blogger Campaign by Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills, and received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

Tell Me… Are you in a dinnertime rut? What is your “Go To” meal? Do you love Mexican food? What’s for dinner?

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9 Comments

  1. Katie Romagosa says:

    I go through spurts of being in a rut. I do a binder for all aspects of my life, including meal planning. But, I really need something in my face like this; better yet – in the kitchen. I always forget what past meals I made that we all liked – the cards would really help me with that! I do have a blank wall in the kitchen, time for me to add a corkboard! I have one in my sewing room, that is fabric wrapped, and trimmed with wood painted to match the walls. I feel a kitchen project coming on! Thanks for the tips!

  2. Crystal, this is such a great idea…especially for those who have to cook for a family. Thanks so much
    for posting this, and sharing your ideas and recipes. And, yay to Old El Paso blogger campaign for recognizing your talent!

  3. I feel like I am always in a dinner time rut! I can’t wait to get some more of your recipes. I always need meal ideas. Taco salad is my favourite. Casseroles are great for the coming Fall months. I love your board idea; I like anything that makes life easier!

    1. Thank you so much Mary! I really appreciate you sharing my post with your readers. 🙂

      Best Wishes,

      Crystal