Years and years (and years and years) ago, I created a unique and “revolutionary” meal planning system called The Magnetic Menu Board. Henry was just about a year old, and my blog was even younger. It was my very first project that ever went “viral,” with lots of features and re-pins; in fact, it’s still my highest viewed post of all time. (This project might even be the very reason you found me and are reading my blog right now!) Soon after my menu board project became “famous, ” I received many requests for the templates. So without knowing ANYTHING about printables or online business, I released a few sets of basic templates in an Etsy shop so readers could make their own version of the Magnetic Menu Board. In the years since, I have received countless requests to expand these kits, change the colors, and more than anything else…make the kits changeable and editable so they could be fully customized. Well…it’s taken me a very long time to get around to updating these kits, but I am thrilled to announce that three all-new, fully expanded Magnetic Menu Board Printable Kits are now in The Organization Toolbox, ready and waiting to help you conquer meal planning and create a system that will truly work for you!
Below is the original Magnetic Menu Board I created in 2012. The system may look fairly complex, but really, it’s quite simple. Recipes are organized into 6 (now changeable) categories and then loaded into recipe books or one all-inclusive recipe binder. Recipes are then typed onto color-coordinated magnets to be used on any magnetic surface (like a calendar) to quickly and easy create a weekly or monthly meal plan. The color variations allow you to quickly and easily plan for a variety of meals across a week/month; and extra symbols such as side dishes (below in red), plus signs (a signal to double recipes), and Out/Leftovers/New help provide as much or as little detail as you need. You can see a lot more details about the Magnetic Menu Board in these two posts: Part I and Part II.
Beyond making the Magnetic Menu Board files fully editable (so you can type in your recipes) and changeable (so you canfinally use different recipe categories than what I’ve included), I wanted to add to the original 12 pages in order to make the Magnetic Menu Board a truly comprehensive meal planning and recipe organization system. What was once 12 pages of colored blocks is now a 68-page kit, including all the original pages plus recipe cards, binder dividers, stickers and more.
For this new release, I chose to re-create my Magnetic Menu Board in the same Cools color scheme as The Ultimate Kitchen Printable Pack (so it would match all the other kitchen resources I already have pulled together and use daily). While all the pictures in this post will show the blue/green scheme, this newly expanded kit is also available in the Original color scheme, as well as a highly requested Rainbow Brights scheme. Everything I am going to show you today is included in all three kits!
Supplies Needed
To create your own Magnetic Menu Board in order to easily plan meals for your family, you need a few basic supplies:
- Magnetic Surface. A dry erase board, dry erase calendar, or even the front of your refrigerator will do…your surface just needs to be magnetic (this is the magnetic calendar I use).
- Glossy magnetic paper. I very much prefer Staple’s brand of magnetic paper because it produces really lovely, highly-saturated, professional-looking magnets; this paper only works on inkjet printers. (NOTE: While this kit is 68 pages, only ~4-13 pages need to be printed on magnetic paper; the rest of the pages can be printed on printer paper or cardstock.)
- Scissors or paper trimmer.
- Magnetic Menu Board templates.These new templates are only available in The Organization Toolbox.
- Additional/optional supplies: binder(s), page protectors, white cardstock, Avery 6450 1″ circle labels (for recipe stickers)
Creating Your Unique Magnetic Menu Board
Sort and Organize Your Recipes
Creating your Magnetic Menu Board is not entirely difficult or time intensive…however, getting your recipes in order may be! Start by collecting your recipes…yes, all of them…and spend the necessary time to sort, purge and categorize them into 6 categories that make sense to you. I highly recommend using the following categories…Poultry, Beef & Pork, Vegetarian, Sides and Salads, Seafood, and Dessert…as they are simple and intuitive when you try to remember which recipe is where. However, since these kits are now fully changeable, you can choose whatever 6 categories you like. Once your recipes are sorted and organized, load them into notebooks or page protectors so you can access them efficiently.
Once your recipes are sorted and your categories are identified, you are ready to make your recipe magnets!
Customize the Magnetic Menu Board Files
The next step is to customize the Magnetic Menu Board files for your unique recipe categories and recipe names. Although I believe the files are easy and intuitive to use, I’ve created a quick video tutorial to demonstrate exactly how to update these files for your use!
With the files ready, it’s time to print out exactly what you need and assemble your board! Pages 1 and 3-13 should be printed onto magnetic paper, while the rest of the kit can be printed onto paper, cardstock, or stickers. (NOTE: The magnetic paper isn’t cheap, so take care to only print the pages you need!)
Cut Out the Menu Magnets
Beyond the glossy sheen of this magnetic paper, I’ve always been impressed with how easily this paper cuts. Seriously, it’s like butter! With either a paper trimmer and/or a scissors, trim down the templates into individual recipe magnets.
I personally find it easiest to use a paper trimmer for longer cuts and then a scissors for shorter cuts.
Like the original files, these newly updated kits also include smaller magnets to use as various symbols on your board. Side dish symbols (PA = Pasta, BR = Bread, etc) and Plus symbols not only allow for added detail in your meal planning, but can also be edited to represent anything you need!
With the magnets cut down (which admittedly, can take a little bit of patience!), all that is left to do put your meal plan together! Whether you use the magnets on a weekly or monthly basis, employ the color-coding to guarantee day-to-day and week-to-week variety! (For more details on how to plan your month using the magnets, see this post).
Coordinating Printables
Sorting your recipes and creating your magnets is only half of this project. In order to truly make your meal planning efficient, it’s also helpful to assemble your recipes into a color-corresponding binder(s) so you can quickly find the right recipe come meal time. So that you can organize your recipes to perfectly match your menu magnets, I included most of the Recipe Organization pages from The Ultimate Kitchen Printable Pack into these kits!
The Magnetic Menu Board kits now include recipe category divider pages (2 versions) and printable tabs that color-coordinate with the magnets. So when your menu board show’s that you are having Lasagna on a blue magnet, you can flip to the blue tab to find the recipe! (See how to assemble your dividers and tabs in this post.)
If you’re ever uncertain which recipe you placed into each category, an editable Recipe Inventory is helpful to have on hand!
Each of the 6 recipe categories also has corresponding recipe cards that can be printed 1/page or 2/page.
So from the Menu Board magnets to the page dividers/tabs to the recipe cards, everything is color-coded by the categories of your choosing!
A Few Fun Extras
While these Magnetic Menu Board kits don’t include everything you might want to organize your kitchen, they do provide everything you need for one-stop-recipe organization, including a handy measurements/equivalents worksheets…
…recipe stickers and labels…
…and 3 versions of a fully editable/changeable/color-coordinated grocery list! (Did you catch that? Changeable! For the first time EVER, these 3 kits feature customizable grocery lists so you can input any store categories you want!)
Over the years since launching both the original Magnetic Menu Board files and The Ultimate Kitchen Printable Pack, I have received countless requests for editable recipe magnets, different colored recipe organization printables, changeable recipe categories, and customizable grocery lists. I am beyond thrilled to be able to (finally!!!) deliver on all these requests with these three expanded Magnetic Menu Board Kits!
If you have been…
- Waiting for my Recipe Organization materials in new, different colors
- Waiting for additional printables to match the Orginal Magnetic Menu Board kits
- Loving my recipe organization concept but wanting different recipe categories
- Looking for a simple, pretty and effective way to organize your recipes
- Wanting to rejuvenateyour meal planning practices
…these are the kits for you!
Get These Kits!
All three fully expanded Magnetic Menu Board Printable Kits are now available from The Organization Toolbox! Click HERE to learn more or download them immediately below!
Have anAll Access Passto The Organization Toolbox? LoginHEREto get this download!
68 pages in three different color schemes + all editable, changeable, printable = countless options for recipe organization and meal planning to truly meet your needs!
I have been wanting to update these kits for FOREVER, and I am so excited to have three truly comprehensive meal planning and recipe organization kits now available for you.Making these files completely changeable is really a game changer. Not only can you customize them to your liking, but you can now use two or three color schemes together in order to expand and customize this system even beyond what I’ve shown here. Oh – and since you can type ANYTHING into these printables, they can now be used for so much more than meal planning. (I’ll show you what I mean next month!)
For those who have been waiting for these updated materials, thank you for your patience! And for everyone else, log in and snag your sets to start updating and changing your meal planning routines forever!
See You Soon!
Megan
