Here’s the calendar I purchased from govango on Etsy.

In my adventure of learning how to get meals on the table on a semi-regular basis I actually find the biggest roadblock to be knowing what to make.  There are bzillions of recipes out there, but when I ask “what should I make tonight” very few ideas (if any!) come to mind.  So I’ve been working on a meal-planning template that works for me.  This is the second incarnation of such a plan:

The original plan had the days of the week on it, but I need some flexibility to say “I don’t want to make that today”, or to switch to something simpler if our evening suddenly becomes busy.  So this one just has two-week’s worth of meals, both easy and hard (as colour coded with red [hard], orange [medium], or yellow [easy]) and I can select any one from the plan on any day depending on the mood, schedule, or what’s fresh in the kitchen.

The difficulty ratings I give are based on a few variables.  Can I throw it all in the crockpot?  (easy!)  Is it a brand new recipe (harder), Is it coming out of the freeze? (easy!)  Does it take lots of prep work? (harder!)  Can Sean and I cook it together?  (easy!)  Etc…

I also like the running grocery list on the sidebar to make sure I have what I need for the plan.  I colour code that too, according to areas of the store:

Green - fresh produce

Blue - dairy

Yellow - bakery

Orange - canned/drygoods

Red - meats

Purple - Other

That way a quick scan of the list will show everything I need to pick up in that part of the store.  Also, it gives me an excuse to use pencil crayons. :)

Anyone know how I can post the template so others can have it too?  

(It’s a Word document.)

I just got the go-ahead from Sean to buy some art prints.  Wahoo!!  I’ve been pining over this artwork for, honestly, a couple of years.  I love the colour.  I love the French vintage feel.  I love the minimalist design.  (I just can’t do minimalism myself, so I treasure it in the work of others!)  I know they’re not for everybody - including my husband.  But they make me so darn happy.  Do you like it?  You can check out more art here.

And I made a decision about a calendar… going for the vintage-y ones:

The size was right for what I wanted, and I like the design, PLUS…

It was only 5 bucks.

And the designer e-mailed me a file to print off my own which saves on shipping costs and is more environmentally friendly.

And I can print as many as I want.  How cool is that?

A few calendar options from Etsy that I’m considering for the new office area…

I adore the “vintage-y” look of this one.  Would look so sharp hanging from a silver bulldog clip:

I like these little “tags”.  Would be super cute hung all in a row (which would be nice to see all the months at once!)

Love this one!  And I can brush up on mon francais aussi!

This one has a cute shabby-chic look… but I see it more in a great farmhouse kitchen.  Hmmm… keep it in mind for the future!

I like the long and narrow look of this one, and could hang them with a pretty ribbon:

or similarly, this one:

Love this, but I’d prefer it in a big open and airy art studio space:

Another one for an art studio - so fun!

Hmmm… now which one to choose?