Kitchen Menu Board

Over the past four years of marriage to my husband, I have learned many, many things about myself.  I've learned I am even more introverted than my college self knew, "slow reader" doesn't do me justice, my crafting ideas will inevitably surface near bedtime, I hate dishes, Pepsi-addiction is a real thing and homemaking does NOT come naturally to me.  Plus:  I actually like to cook!

Growing up with a super-woman stay-at-home-mom did not give me the chance to experiment in the kitchen much.  She was the goddess of the food and she did not need (nor did I offer) much help.  I always assumed I didn't care for it like she did.  Turns out:  I like to cook!

Now, we live on a small budget and our kitchen is even smaller.  Both of these things can make meal planning and shopping a bit tricky.  My money saving techniques have been all over the place:  coupon clipping, off-brands, Mperks, shopping at 3 different groceries, receipt uploading, etc.  But one of the staples in my routine is meal planning.  If I write out our dinners for about a week and a half or two weeks at a time, I can then better plan meals that will use similar ingredients or ways that we can stretch a meal to two or three.  I normally do my meal planning on a boring ole piece of notebook paper.  Nothing special.

I buy groceries.  (Read: all day event after which I need a nap).

I come home and put away said groceries.

And in the craziness of unloading and napping that little not-so-special-list gets lost and sometimes I forget what I was going to make two weeks from now.

So, thank you, Pinterest, for inspiring me to create this kitchen menu board and do away with silly little easy-to-lose lists.

So:  I got a spare piece of particle board from my grandpa. I bought a can of spray paint in a color I liked (with sparkles?!) and I bought chalk board paint when it was on sale. I bought plenty of painter's tape and used my sewing measuring tape to make my boxes even.  Then, I got out my old acrylic paints from furniture painting back in the day and added some fun little details. 

Note to self: Always lay down newspaper before spray painting in your side yard.

My favorite part of this board is the quote:  My grandpa (not wood-workin, particle-board-donating grandpa...other grandpa) always used to sing it to us as kids, so I was happy to try to freehand it for this occasion!

The colors match the curtains I made last year that hang close by (what? your laundry isn't hidden behind a curtain in your kitchen?!) and bring out some of the colors in our placements from the nearby dining room.

Nowadays, upon my return from marathon shopping and after a little rejuvenating snooze, I wipe down my menu board with a damp washcloth, write in our main dishes for the week (or sometimes two weeks if I add a diagonal chalk line) and then Hubs can see what's coming up as well!

You should try it.  I pinned dozens of different versions and decided I like this one the best because it sort of made a statement on an otherwise unused wall.  What do you think?  Do you have a menu board in your kitchen?