Relish! Menu Planning Review & Giveaway!

As you all know I love organizing and menu planning. Needless to say, when I got an email asking me to review the Relish! Meal Planning Website, I was really exited, and now I'm excited to be giving away a free membership in honor of my 500th post!

Meal planning can really help you to save money, and it will save you a lot of time. This website would be a great tool for everyone whether you're a beginner or an expert at menu planning, and it's very user friendly.

There are a lot of great features that I think you'll find very helpful. On your main screen, you'll find a list of meals to choose from, and each week there's a different list of recipes featured here. The page instructs you to choose 5 meals and one dessert from the menus. On this page there is also a list titled "Dime and Dash," which gives you a list of quick and inexpensive express meals to choose from.

And on this page you'll also see a section for favorites. Each week when you create a menu, you can choose to add certain meals to your favorites section, and once these are added to favorites, they will always appear on your menu planning screen. I really like this feature because it allows you to throw a couple of things that you know your family loves in with the new recipes that you select from the menu screen.

Another great feature on the main menu screen is the Recipe Legend. Beside each meal is a symbol which describes what kind of meal it is, and the legend tells you what each of the symbols mean. For example, KF means Kid Friendly. C equals Crockpot. LC means lower calorie. And M means Morning Prep.

And of course, the site is equipped with all the recipes you need. On the main menu planning screen, just click on a meal, and you'll be directed to a printer friendly page with all the recipes that you need for a particular meal. And to make this feature even better and more useful to you, there is a pull down menu where you can select how many people the meal will be for, and the recipe cards that you view will be adjusted to fit the number of people in your family. Super!


Another favorite feature of mine is the shopping list component. Once you've selected the meals you want for your menu, click "create custom menu" and the site directs you to a shopping list. In the first column is a list of "Items You Need but May Already Have." (Things like milk, butter, and spices.) And then all your other shopping list items are organized into food groups, and the shopping list even includes the quanity of ingredients you need. (So if you've selected 2 different meals that include chicken breasts, and you have 4 family members, your shopping list will have 8 chicken breasts on it.) The shopping list even goes as far as to tell you how many eggs you need, or what size package of chili powder you'll need.

Now let's say you go on the main menu screen, and none of the featured recipes sound good to you. No problem! Just visit the Menu Archive, and you'll find a ton of other options, or pull up your Past Menus. But let's say, you already have a list of favorite recipes on rotation in your house, and you want to add these recipes in with one or two of the Relish recipes each week. No problem again! If you have a favorite recipe, just submit it to Relish, and they will convert it to a meal and put it up with entrees in your favorites list.

Another part of this website that I found very interesting was the "This & That Section." This section includes a list of special menus. They feature menus for special occasions like Dinner Parties & BBQs, Superbowl, Lunches, Gourmet Potluck, Easter Brunch, Christmas, and Mother's Day. And the section also includes a list of fun menus for kids of all ages. The list included several movie themed menus including Ratatoille, Kung Fu Panda, Ice Age, and even Twilight. Sounds fun, huh? And I think this section could make your party planning a breeze.

I'm excited to be giving away a One Year Membership to Relish! to one Simply Sweet Home reader. This is a $58.80 value!

Giveaway is Now Closed.

Additional Entries:

-Bonus Entry: Tell me something you'd like to see more of on this blog in 2010 (recipes, organizing, crafts, party planning, deals, etc.)

-One entry for following me publicly on blogger.

-One entry for joining my feedblitz mailing list, or 2 entries if you are already a member prior to this giveaway.

-One entry for subscribing in a reader.

-One entry for following or subscribing to my new business blog.

-One entry for following me on twitter and/or becoming a fan on facebook.

-One entry for tweeting about this giveaway.

-Two entries for writing about this giveaway on your blog and linking back to Simply Sweet Home.

(Just leave comments for each additional entry, and please leave a user name/link or something so that I can verify. Thanks!)

Other Rules:

-Don't forget, if you don't have a blog or a profile with a visible email address, please include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you win. (Can't stress this enough!)

-Jerri

Click here to see the entire Giveaway Blog Hop List....

Menu Plan Monday for May 25

Breakfasts: cereal, waffles, french toast sticks, monkey bread
Lunches: chicken fingers, grilled chicken salad, bacon & egg sandwiches, hot dogs

Dinners:
Monday - Cookout
Tuesday -Leftovers from last week
Wednesday - Crispy Chicken Sandwiches
Thursday - Chicken Tortilla from freezer
Friday - Crock Pot Roast Chicken, carrots, potatoes
Saturday -Chicken & Rice w/ broccoli
Sunday - Leftovers



Visit Org Junkie for more menus and recipes.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for May 4

I haven't really given much thought to this week's menu, so this plan is just a tentative one, but then again, I suppose every plan is a tentative one.

Also, for those of you who are interested, I'll be posting my Smokey Mountain Chicken from last week's menu as my recipe of the week. It's very easy to make and very tasty!

Now here's my menu:

Breakfasts: cereal, yogurt, pancakes, bacon & egg sandwiches
Lunches: pork sandwiches, chicken fingers, tuna sandwiches

Dinners:
Monday - Pizza & breadsticks
Tuesday - Italian Chicken, Alfredo Pasta Side, Pinto Beans
Wednesday - Cheeseburger Macaroni, corn, beans
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Eat out
Saturday - possibly Chicken Poulet
Sunday - leftovers

Visit Org Junkie for more menus and recipes.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for April 27

Before getting to this week's menu, I want to tell everyone who may just be stopping in from Org Junkie about my Break Pal Giveaway. I'm giving away 5 memberships to the Break Pal Fitness Website. It's designed specifically for bloggers and people who work at a desk job. So if you use a computer a lot, you should definitely enter to win!

Now for the menu: I'm planning for an easy week this week, because I have a lot of chores and things to do around the house. By the way, in case you tuned in for last week's MPM post, I have to tell you that the Oven Chicken on last week's menu was very good, but the next time I make it I'm going to pour about 1/2 cup of rice into the baking dish so it will cook up more like a casserole with just a little bit of sauce/juice over the actual chicken. I may also try it again without adding water, so that the sauce will be more thick. But anyway, it was good. My hubs really liked it. The pictures I took of the dish didn't turn out so good, so I may have to make it again before I post it to see if I can get some better photos. But one way or another I will post it in the future. (Till then, just see last week's post for a link.)

Breakfast: Cereal, Banana Muffins, Waffles, oatmeal

Lunch: salad, tuna sandwiches, chicken fingers, leftovers

Dinners:

Monday - Pork Sandwiches

Tuesday - Mexican Chicken Casserole

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - Hamburgers & Fries

Friday -Easy Alfredo, salad, garlic bread or biscuits

Saturday -Eat Out

Sunday -Smokey Mountain Chicken

Visit Org Junkie for more menus and recipes.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for April 20

I'm a little late with the menu. It was sort of a busy weekend because my husband started his 7 days off (yay!). And yesterday evening when I tried to get on the computer, the internet was down due to storms in the area.

But I did manage to plan a good menu for this week. I've got a new recipe to try plus an old favorite that we haven't had in a while, and one of our favoirtes Mexican Chicken Casserole.

Hope you're all having a good Monday!

Breakfasts: cereal, chocolate chip muffins, cinnamon toast or monkey bread

Lunches: chicken fingers,tuna sandwich, turkey sandwich, salad, leftovers

Dinners:

Monday - Sloppy Joes

Tuesday - Oven Chicken (new recipe), rice, and Great Northern Beans (from the freezer)

Wednesday - Leftovers from Tuesday

Thursday - Broccoli Cheddar Chicken & Mashed potatoes

Friday - Eat Out

Saturday - Mexican Chicken Casserole

Sunday - Not sure...possibly leftovers

Visit Org Junkie for more menus and recipes.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for April 13

Breakfasts: pancakes, cereal, carnation instant breakfast, yogurt, fruit

Lunches: tuna sandwiches, salad, leftovers

Dinners:
Monday - Roast Beef & Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Biscuits
Tuesday - Hamburgers & Fries
Wednesday - Shrimp Alfredo, salad, & garlic bread
Thursday - Bacon & Egg Sandwiches
Friday - leftovers
Saturday - eat out
Sunday - Cheeseburger Macaroni

Visit Org Junkie for more menus and recipes.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for April 6

Breakfasts: French toast, waffles, yogurt, fruit, Carnation Instant Breakfast

Lunches: Bacon & Egg Sandwiches, Grilled Chicken Salad, leftovers from dinner

Dinners:

Monday -Chicken Mutz - I'm doing a slight variation on this recipe.
Tuesday - Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday - Tacos
Thursday - Chicken Poulet
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Going out for Hubby's Birthday
Sunday - Sloppy Joes or Hamburger Helper (for hubby's birthday)

Visit Org Junkie for more menus and recipes.


-Jerri

Menu Monday for March 30

I'm starting to coordinate my menus around my husband's new ever-changing work schedule a little better. Items that take a while to cook are being prepared on his off days or when he's on day shift, and on the days he's on night shift, I've been fixing leftovers or something that I've made ahead the night before while he was working. It's taking a little more time to plan these days, but I'm adjusting well so far.

And you may have noticed that for the past couple of weeks the number of dinners I'm cooking has decreased. My husband's trying to diet a little. No, we're not totally changing our menus...I'm kind of a picky eater myself, and my husband doesn't go for what he calls....I believe it was "fancy fru-fru" food. So the only major changes that we're making is to add more fruit into his diet and more green vegetables, and we're starting to limit his portion sizes. And the great thing about this is that we have leftovers that I can pack into his lunches or have for another dinner. We've always had some leftovers, but now the casseroles and things that I make seem to be lasting even longer....which is awesome!

Here's our menu for this week:

Breakfasts: fruit, cereal, yogurt, Monkey Bread, English Muffin Sandwiches
Lunches: grilled chicken salad, tuna sandwich, Ravioli, leftovers

Dinners:
Monday - leftovers from last week
Tuesday - Red Beans & Rice, corn, rolls
Wednesday - Meat & Potato Casserole
Thursday - Lemon Pepper Chicken, broccoli, rice
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Roast Chicken, potatoes, and carrots.
Sunday - leftovers

Visit Org Junkie for more menus, recipes, and fun.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for March 23

Breakfasts: waffles, honey buns, cereal, Carnation Instant Breakfast, yogurt
Lunches: Bacon & Egg Sandwich, turkey sandwich, tuna sandwich, leftovers

Dinners:
Monday- Pepper Chicken & Sour Cream Gravy, peas, & rice
Tuesday - Meat Loaf (new recipe), peas, mashed potatoes, biscuits
Wednesday - Chicken Lasagna (new recipe) & Italian Bread
Thursday - Leftovers (from Mon & Tues)
Friday - Chicken Fingers
Saturday - Leftovers (from Wed & Fri)
Sunday - Creamy Chicken Soup & Biscuits

Visit Org Junkie for more menus, recipes, and fun.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for March 16

I'm having a hard time getting organized for this week. First of all, I'm just not in the mood for anything in particular. And also I just went grocery shopping, and I have a ton of stuff to choose from. Plus I already have a fridge full of leftovers. (I know, it's usually a good practice to have the fridge cleaned out before going shopping, but I wanted to get it done today, and there was too much food to clean out in one meal, so....here we are.)

And then my husband is going out of town to an academic tournament this weekend, so that's two days that are basically open. (I don't really plan for anything when it's just me.)

Then my mom had a big cooking day and gave me a whole bunch of pork meat to take home, which sorta compounded the situation. Now the fridge is filled to capacity. (Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the extra food, especially pork. I love pork!) But when I have a lot of stuff to choose from, it makes it harder for me to plan for some reason.

I've placed a bunch of the pork meat in a ziplok and put it in the freezer for later, leaving out enough meat for two or three rounds of sandwiches. So the good news is that I don't have to cook anything for the next two days. Yay! Actually I'll only be cooking two or three times this week.

I love that there's less work...but it's so hard to make a structured plan on weeks like this. Does this make sense to anyone, or am I just strange?

Oh well, here's this weeks tentative plan...

Breakfasts: Carnation Instant Breakfast, cereal, toaster pastries, and muffins

Lunches: chicken & pasta (we have two leftover plates from Applebees), sub sandwiches, pork sandwiches, leftovers from dinner


Dinners:

Monday - Leftover Buffet
Tuesday - Pork Sandwiches, deviled eggs, mac & cheese, pork & beans
Wednesday- Lemon pepper chicken
Thursday - Sloppy Joes
Friday - Husband's out of town, so I'll be having something quick and simple.
Saturday - Ditto.
Sunday - possibly Buffalo Chicken Fingers & fries

Visit Org Junkie for more menus, recipes, and fun.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for March 9

It's menu time again. My mom was nice enough to bring some BBQ ribs by today, which takes care of one of our meals this week. And today I went ahead and made a pot of chicken tortilla soup. I divided it into two bowls and placed the bowls in the freezer. One will be our dinner for Wednesday, and the other be used later on.

My husband just started a new job a few weeks ago, and he's working a rotating shift. It makes meal planning a little harder, because I have to work around his schedule. Off days and day shift are easy to plan, but night shift is a little harder because I have to be able to throw things together fairly quickly. To make those days a little easier, I'm making things that don't take a lot of effort or time to cook, and I'm trying to make things ahead of time (like the soup), or else make those nights our leftover nights. It's taking a little extra planning on my part, but I know I'll adjust soon. Wish me luck!

Breakfasts: french toast sticks, Bagel-Fuls, Toaster Strudel, gravy & biscuit, cereal

Lunches: roast meat sandwich, turkey sandwich, hot dogs, tuna sandwich

Dinners:
Monday - BBQ Ribs, Potatoes Au Gratin, and Baked Beans
Tuesday - Hamburger Steak, biscuits, and leftovers
Wednesday - Chicken Tortilla Soup
Thursday - lasagna & garlic bread
Friday - Chicken Pizza (didn't have last week)
Saturday - Red Beans & Rice, corn, biscuits
Sunday - leftovers

Visit Org Junkie for more menus, recipes, and fun.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for March 2

Breakfasts - banana nut muffins, waffles, oatmeal, yogurt, bacon & eggs

Lunches - Leftovers, Turkey sandwiches, Tuna Sandwiches, Chili Dogs

Dinners
Monday - Roast, Pinto Beans, Deviled Eggs, Slaw
Tuesday - Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday - Cheeseburger Helper
Thursday - Homemade pizza. I'm going to make buffalo chicken pizza and/or barbecue chicken pizza. (These are new. I'll be making them up as I go along.)
Friday - General Tso's Chicken & Egg Rolls (My husband picked these out at the freezer section of the store), in addition I'll probably whip up a little stir-fry to go with it
Saturday - Spaghetti w/ garlic bread
Sunday - leftovers

Visit Org Junkie for more menus, recipes, and fun.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for February 23

Last week's menu totally went out the window, as I was not only sick and not feeling like cooking, but because my sickness kept me from going to the store to get all the supplies I needed. So we ate what we could round up fairly quickly or else ordered out for a few days last week. For that reason, some of the dishes from last week are being moved to this week. (They're not repeats.)

Also, I've had comments and questions about whether I post the recipes from my menu. So I wanted to address that here. I do provide links to the recipes if one exists, and if I use a convenience food, I try to point that out. In recent months, I've begun photographing the things that I cook, and I intend to post a lot of these in due time.

So if an item is listed on the menu, chances are the recipe will be posted in the near future. In fact, I encourage everyone to leave comments about the items that interest them most, because this will effect the order in which I post the recipes in the future.

Also, feel free to ask any questions that you may have. I read all the comments that I get, and I visit everyone who comments. I also try to give as many answers as possible in my comments section.

Now onto this week's menu:

Breakfasts - Cereal, French Toast Sticks, Bacon & Egg Sandwiches
Lunches - Beef Stew, Salad, Mini Pizzas, Turkey Sandwiches, Leftovers

Dinners:
Monday - Shake & Bake Chicken
Tuesday - Tacos
Wednesday - Smokey Mountain Chicken w/ Cheesy Potato Foil Packs
Thursday - Chicken w/ alfredo pasta side, garlic bread, & salad
Friday - Chicken Poulet

Saturday - Chicken Poulet

Sunday - Leftover Buffet

Visit Org Junkie for more menus, recipes, and fun.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for February 16

After a long day, I finally go around to planning my menu. Usually I like to think ahead about a few things that I want to make, and then after I get everything at the store, I finish making the plan, but I didn't get to go to the store yet, so I'm having to use my imagination a little. So this plan is sort of tentative.

By the way, I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day. Ours was pretty good. We went to Cracker Barrel to eat. (I know it's not that romantic, but I love that place!) Then Sunday afternoon we worked at the the annual chocolate festival. It's a very fun event. Representatives from some of the local restaurants come down, set up booths, and hand out coupons/menus and serve samples of their best desserts. They also have musical entertainment and door prizes, as well as prizes for the competing restuarants. Visitors pay $10 at the door to get in to this all you can eat dessert extravaganza, and all the money goes to the The ARC. My mom sets up the O'Charley's booth every year, and for the second year in a row my husband and I have helped her set up and serve. (Last year I wrote a post about the chocolate cake and The ARC. Here's a link if you want to read it: Why Eat Cake When You Can Eat Chocolate Chocolate Cake?)

I wish you could have seen our table! We served chocolate cake, key lime pie, and Magic Fluff (a secret recipe known only to a privileged few and served exclusively at this festival). And the decorations were very pretty. But since SOMEONE (me) forgot to bring her camera, I have no pictures! (urgh) So just imagine, a lovely light green table cloth with a big light green flower arrangement in the middle, some glittery red hearts, red heart garland, a spread of Valentine napkins, and three tiered-trays (two clear glass, and one ruby red) of yummy sweets! It was very nice!

Now onto this week's menu:

Breakfasts: Biscuits, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Bagel-Fuls.

Lunches: Grilled Chicken Salad, Baked Potato, Spinach Dip w/ chips, Spaghetti Os, Leftovers from dinner

Dinners:
Monday - Pepper Fried Chicken w/ leftover sour cream gravy, alfredo pasta sides, peas
Tuesday - Shake & Bake Chicken w/ peas & corn
Wednesday - Red Beans & Rice, corn, & crescent rolls
Thursday - Tacos
Friday - Chicken Stir-Fry with Asian Fried Rice (homestyle bake)
Saturday - Beef Stew
Sunday - Chicken Poulet

To post your weekly menu, head over to Org Junkie.

Reminder: Don't forget to come back later in the week for my 300th post & giveaway!

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for February 9

I'm putting this week's menu together at the last minute. I quickly looked through my recipe binder and picked out some things that I could make with stuff I already have. So today when I went to the store, I only had to pick up few items. It was great to get to go to the store and only spend $36! Yay! The other good news this week is that my husband has now requested Baked Chicken Salad for every lunch. This is going to be a part of his new weight-loss effort. He told me today that he gets excited when he sees all the stuff that I make for him, and the only solution will be for him to have a salad every day for lunch. So being the supportive wife that I am, I am complying with this request. (Besides that, salad is one of the easiest things you can make!) My dinners won't change much, except that I'm supposed to limit the portion sizes. Wish me luck!

Here's my menu for this week:

Breakfasts: cereal, oatmeal, chcocolate chip muffins

Lunches: Baked Chicken Salad, Chicken Salad Sandwich (for me), and leftovers from dinner

Dinners:

Monday - Taco Chicken Foil-Packs (new)

Tuesday - Hamburger Pizza

Wednesday - Chicken Stuffed Potatoes

Thursday - Paprika Chicken w/ Sour Cream Gravy, Chicken Flavored Rice, and English Peas

Friday - Leftover Night

Saturday - Eat Out for Valentine's Day

Sunday - Eating with my Parents

Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to view other great menus.


-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for February 2

Nothing much to banter about tonight, other than to say that things are looking up this week! I'm happy to say that my hubby made it home safely, and I'm happy to say that his team won the Super Bowl. Go Steelers! And best of all, my husband is starting his new job this week, so please join me in wishing him good luck!

And now for this week's menu:

Breakfasts: Cereal, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Fruit, and Honey Buns
Lunches: Chicken Salad, Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwiches, leftovers

Dinners:
Monday - Cheeseburger Macaroni
Tuesday - Smokey Mountain Chicken w/ fries and pork-n-beans
Wednesday - Chicken Tetrazzini & Garlic Bread
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Lemon Pepper Chicken, green beans, corn
Saturday - eat out
Sunday - Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up & Fries

Visit Org Junkie for more MPM.

Reminder: If you'd like to submit a dessert for my February edition of Sweet Thursday, you have until this week to do that. You can send your stuff to: simplysweethome@hotmail.com. For more information, click here.



-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for January 26

As you'll see it's a very easy week for me in the cooking department. I had a whole week planned out, and then my husband reminded me that he's going out of town for a couple of days, so I had to take a couple of menu items off, and I moved the poulet to Monday & Tuesday. On Wednesday we're supposed to go to a business conference. And then he'll be gone Thursday and Friday, so I'll just kind of be winging it those days, grabbing something that's quick to make, or else driving up to Subway. Luckily he's back on Saturday. (I hate it when he's gone!) And then hopefully we can get back into a good routine for next week!

Happy Monday!

Breakfasts: waffles, banana nut muffins, cereal
Lunches: Leftovers from last week, chicken noodle soup, chicken salad sandwiches

Dinners:
Monday - Chicken Poulet
Tuesday - Leftover Poulet
Wednesday - going to a conference, will probably eat out afterwards
Thursday - Husband's out of town---I'll round up something quick.
Friday - Husband's out of town---again something quick.
Saturday - Cheeseburger Macaroni
Sunday - Superbowl; we'll probably have appetizers or order out whatever my husband wants to eat, probably chicken fingers, pizza, or subs

Join us for MPM at over at Org Junkie.

-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for January 19

MPM time again! I had a time picking out all of this week's items. It's so funny how some weeks I struggle to come up with stuff for the entire week, and then other weeks I have so many ideas that I have to narrow it down and postpone some of the ideas till later. Hope you like my final choices for this week! Happy MPM!


Breakfasts: cereal, strawberry muffins, waffles & bacon

Lunches: tuna sandwiches, hot dogs, chunk ham sandwiches, vegetable soup

Dinners:
Monday - Easy Chicken & Dumplins, black eyed peas, and Spoon Bread (new recipe)
Tuesday - Sloppy Joes w/ chips or fries
Wednesday - Crockpot Roast Chicken w/ potatoes & carrots
Thursday -Chicken Stirfry (I'm experimenting) with Asian Fried Rice (banquet homestyle bake)
Friday - 15 Bean Soup
Saturday - Eat out
Sunday - Leftovers

Visit OrgJunkie for more MPM!


-Jerri

Menu Plan Monday for January 12

Breakfasts - cereal, buttered biscuits, Bacon & Egg Sandwiches

Lunches - tuna sandwiches, Spaghetti Os, soup

Dinners -
Monday - Mexican Chicken Casserole (did not make last week)
Tuesday - Ranch Chicken, and I'm experimenting with some Ranch-Rice. I'll post the recipe later.
Wednesday - Buffalo Chicken fingers
Thursday - Pork Potatoes
Friday - Chicken Fettucini Alfredo
Saturday - pizza
Sunday - not sure yet...but it'll probably be something with hamburger meat.

Stop by Org Junkie for more MPM.


-Jerri

Adventures in Shopping: Menu Planning Stuff!

Welcome to my newest feature. Well, actually it's really an old idea reimagined. In the past I've written some posts pertaining to shopping, such as product reviews, money saving tips, etc. And over the Christmas holidays I got this idea to combine these posts under the umbrella of "Adventures in Shopping." In addition to the things listed above, these posts will also include deals that I find. Sometimes I may share something that I got a good deal on (at the thrift store perhaps). Other times it may be a deal at a chain retail store or online that you guys may be able to take advantage of as well. Or it could just be anything that I think might be interesting or helpful to you guys.

I'm going to try to do this once a month. I've got so many different ideas it's hard to schedule everything. For instance, I'd like to do my Sweet Thursday feature once a month too, and then there are just so many other topics to cover in relation to the home plus seasonal topics. I like to get in as many "special features" as I can, but at the same time, I don't like to have a rigid schedule....so I'm conflicted a bit on this. We'll just see what develops.

Anway, for the first Adventures in Shopping post I wanted to share these cute menu planning items that I found a week or two ago. I was at Wal-mart taking advantage of the after Christmas sale when I found them. Perhaps you guys can find them at your local store.

The first item is a notepad, and the second is a flat marker board. Both of these items were $1 each. Great Deal! I guess if you have one, you don't really need the other, but for a dollar, I couldn't pass them up. I had to have both.

The notepad is very cute and colorful. And it has 3 lines for each day of the week. There's also a magnet on the bag so that you can place it on the back of the refrigerator. In addition to using this notepad to write your menu down, I thought it would be good to have one for shopping list purposes. While planning your menu, you could use the notepad to write down extra ingredients that you need at the store. Just a thought.

Or here's another idea. You could use the notepad to write down several menus at a time. Just have one big meal planning sesssion, and then each week, just go to the next page. Your menu will be there, and all you'll have to do is check your inventory and go to the store.

And then there's the board. I love---LOVE this! I thought this was just the cutest! It also has a magnet on the back so you can post your menu on the fridge. And it comes with a dry erase marker, with a little eraser on the end of it and a magnet on the back so that you can place it on the fridge next to your menu board.

All in all, I thought these were excellent deals! Maybe you guys can find them too. I did look online at walmart.com, amazon, and a couple of other places, but I didn't see any notepad or marker boards for meal planning. I guess if all else fails you could make your own!

**Update: I forget to mention that I found these in the lawn & garden (seasonal) section. They were on a four-sided cardboard display, like you might in between two aisles, or out in the middle by itself. It's like the kind where you might see greeting cards, shipping supplies, or calendars. Or you may find them with stationary/school supplies.**

While looking on Amazon I did manage to find this Betty Crocker Cooking Calendar. It's got menu ideas, recipes, and stuff. It's a reprint of an old book I believe, and it looks pretty neat and very retro. I looked at the "preview" of it, and it looks just like an old Betty Crocker cookbook that my mom gave me. I may actually buy this one myself, so itt may be worth your time.

Please tell me what you think of this feature idea. I hope you like it!

(A link to this post, along with tons of other great ideas can be found at WFMW sponsored by Rocks in my Dryer.)


-Jerri