Color Coding your Weekly Menus

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PilotYourLife #CollectiveBias

So being a dual engineer I’m pretty much a perfectionist.  Things have to be in their place, I have to keep things organized and I live by my lists. Ever since middle school, yes middle school, I’ve always had at least one notebook that I kept my ‘life’ in; my schedule.  Whether it was plans I had, things I had to get done or ideas of mine it was kept in a notebook.  So being how I am, I’m extremely particular of the types of notebooks and pens I use.  I prefer sketchbooks to be honest.  I hate college-ruled paper – sorry but I write ‘girly’.  I dot my ‘I’s with hearts and draw on my paper.  And pens – yes pens.  I am SUPER picky on what I use.  I personally LOVE Pilot G2 pens!  They write smooth and HELLO the colors to choose from… OMG!  When the opportunity to work with them and show how I keep my life organized came up, I was super excited.

PLUS the timing couldn’t be any better.  I heart back to school shopping.  Yes I know I don’t have any kids but that doesn’t meant I still don’t buy new pens and paper.  I’m a kid at heart.  Plus these PENS rock!  And for one of the best selections, head over to Target to pick up a bunch of these. Plus HELLO… you can save $0.75 on any ONE 4-pack (or larger) of G2 Gel Ink pens with this coupon!  SCORE!!!  The school and office supplies aisle is marked so you can pretty much see it from any point in the store.  And once you hit up that section…well, if you see me there, you’ll see me with one HUGE smile on my face as the selection is awesome!

For me, with writing a blog and creating recipe I keep one of these notebooks in my purse/bag at all times.  You never know when brilliance will strike.  I can remember once I was sitting in the chair at the salon, foil on my head, dye dripping down the side of my head and I rushed to grab my purse to get my notebook.  I drew up a vision of an end result of a recipe in my head (I’m not showing that picture as I cannot draw AT ALL!  Trust me, you’d never be able to decipher the drawings but to me it made sense).  And since I carry the multi-color Pilot G2 Pens in my purse I could draw up the layers in the colors representing the foods.  My stylist looked over my shoulder asking what I was drawing.  Granted he couldn’t figure out but then I wrote up the recipe, even without ever making it with approximate measurements.  Once I was done and showed him the recipe the image made sense and he was in awe.

See what I love about these pens is that they write smooth and have a super comfy grip.  They come in all different types of colors and 4 tips to choose from. What’s cool is they come in collections – G2 Premium, G2 Fashion Collection and G2 Metallics which allows me to choose the style that matches my tastes.  No wonder they are America’s #1 selling Gel Pen! And what is really cool is Shonda Rhimes partnered up with Pilot G2 to share information about the Overachievers Grant. Check it out!

So how do I use these pens to keep my weekly menus and meal planning in order?  Simple.

1. Every week I set aside an hour to write down menu ideas for things I’d like to make the following week.  I try to write down 8-10 choices (one of which is always dessert).
   
2. Next I check to see what’s on sale at the stores. I’m all about saving money!
3. Thursday or Friday night I sit down and make up my final menu.
   
4. I then go through the menu, color coding the food items/groups I need – bread, cheese, dessert, dairy, veggies, protein, baking, rice/grains, fruits.  A dot represents something from that food group.
5. Finally I make up a supplies list of the items I need based off of my color coding.
6. I’ll check to see what I have on hand versus what I have to buy.
7. I’ll hit the store, check off what I bought and make notes along the way.

Now one other thing I do is I’ll flip the notebook over and start at the back of that book on new recipes ideas.  These I’ll think of when I’m at the salon, in a meeting (shhhh don’t tell my boss *wink*), or even when I wake up in the middle of the night because I’m dreaming of something delicious.

Sure I know we have technology and apps that could do this but this, this keeps me more in touch with my menu planning and it makes it more personal.  To me it shows that I’m taking the time and effort to truly think about what I want to make or buy versus just pressing keys.

If you’re a foodie or even someone who needs to keep their thoughts organized I HIGHLY recommend buying a notebook and these Pilot G2 Pens!  And if you ask for my personal choice, go for the metallic and bright colors.  It just makes me happy when I see them on stark white paper!

So now you know my tip and secret for staying organized as a blogger. What are some of your tricks?

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