I took to Pinterest to find meal ideas on a budget. There are SO many options. It can be overwhelming, and honestly, some people’s budgets are just ridiculously high, or so dirt cheap that I would end up feeling like crap if I ate the unbalanced budget meals proposed. So, while I did get some recipe ideas from Pinterest, I mostly thought about what we like to eat, ways to stretch those meals, and ways to shop smarter for those meals. (Hint: look at what is on sale at your store each week and try to work in those sales to your meal planning.)

I started writing down all the meals that I thought of or found on Pinterest onto index cards, so that each meal was a stand-alone recipe. I wrote the name of each meal on the unlined side and then squeezed in the ingredients and directions on the lined side. Now, I can keep all of these index cards in a handy little box with extra index cards and a pen so that when inspiration strikes, I can add it to the collection. Now when I meal plan, I just have to thumb through the index cards to find meals that have ingredients on sale, are already in my pantry, or that I just want to make that week.

The next step in my meal planning journey is to build a meal planning board that allows me to clip each index card up under the day of the week that I will be making it. It will be centrally located so Travis and I can share in the meal prep and making responsibilities. That means, between the two of us, we hopefully won’t forget to take the chicken out to defrost!