You’ve done all this hard work choosing recipes, scheduling meals, and creating grocery lists.  Now, I suggest one more step: assembling a meal plan notebook.

What you will need:

• The cookbooks and recipe cards for all the recipes included in your meal plan
• Copier
• 3-ring notebook
• Page protectors
• Page protectors with section tabs (like these)
• Label maker

The Process:

1. Print out your weekly meal plans (Week 1 on one sheet, Week 2 on a separate sheet, etc.)
2. Slip each meal plan into a page protector with a section tab.  Label that tab “Week 1,” etc. with your label maker.
3. Make a photocopy of each recipe included in your meal plan for that week.
4. Slip each recipe into a regular page protector.
5. Put the page protectors into the 3-ring notebook.  Week 1’s recipes following Week 1’s meal plan, etc.  (I put my weekly recipes in the same order that I listed them on the meal plan, even if I might not really make them in that order every time.)

The Result:

Now, your recipes are consolidated and filed with your weekly meal plans.  No more hunting for the recipe in your collection of cook books!  Plus, your recipes are protected by plastic and can be easily cleaned off if you drip on them while cooking.  My Meal Plan Notebook is the only thing on my kitchen counter now!