Ya’ll do work.
Whether it’s inside the home or outside, you, my readers, work every single day on something that (I hope) you’re passionate about – and I do too!
The best part of my day is when I get home from work. I open the fridge and try to piece together some semblance of a meal, whilst my daughter pulls the condiment bottles out and all over the floor.
And my favorite: When I ask The Big Guy (who incidentally is a SAHD) what he was thinking for dinner and he responds with a “I haven’t really thought about it yet.”
Well, dear, it’s 5pm so you should really start thinking about it.
Seriously, I’m kidding…..
My husband’s homemaking skills aside (he’s a fantastic father :-), one of the last things either of us wants to do each night is come up with ideas for dinner.
We don’t want to have to come up with endless dinner suggestions. We really don’t want to have to compile a shopping list from that meal plan. And we most certainly don’t want to come home to no meal ideas! Is your family like mine? (If it isn’t, I suggest a speedy mental health evaluation!)
That’s why we use eMeals
Now, you all know by now how I feel about Dave Ramsey. We don’t exactly get along. (If you haven’t read the articles, you can read them here, here, and here)
But on this, we agree!
At $5.00 a month, eMeals saves you from having to spend 3 hours meal planning, compiling a list, and then trying to stick to a budget in grocery store. It’s completely worth it!
$5.00 a Month = Cheap = Poor Quality, Right?
Wrong. While I was compensated for this post with a free 1-year subscription to eMeals, I paid for my own subscription for about 9 months before this, and I can assure you that eMeals
is one of the easiest, most flexible, and tastiest meal plans on the market. Let’s break it down, shall we?
How Does eMeals Work?
eMeals does more than just plan your meals. You can choose which type of meal plan you want (and change the plan at any time!), tell them your family size, and your favorite grocery store. Then, each week, you get your meal plan delivered straight to your inbox (or you can download it from the eMeals
website). This meal plan is not just main dishes either. Included in your meal plan are main dishes, coordinating side dishes, a detailed grocery listed organized by section AND coordinated with your grocery store’s weekly sales!
{Need to drastically cut your grocery spending? Check this out}
The only way to make it easier would be to send a chef to your house :-)
…..And There’s an App for That!
For me, it’s a tie between two of their meal plans: 30-Minute Meals and Crockpot! Both are for when I have no time, but the crockpot meal plan requires ZERO time! eMeals offers more than just those two meal plans, though:
Both at work and at home, I have to be flexible with whatever I had planned. I have to roll with the punches every single day – and I’m sure you do too! That’s why it’s so awesome that you not only can choose from all of these different plans, but that you can change your plan at any time! Seriously cool!
Some Background on eMeals:
“Both Jane and Jenny are active moms, devoted wives, and very, very busy. Jane was frazzled over trying to pull off dinner for the family week after week. Her meal plans were scribbled on napkins and lost in her purse. So she went to work creating a better way to make meals happen. Along the way, Jane recruited Jenny, who is not only a fabulous cook, but also happens to be her sister.
Working with a talented team of professional meal planners, experienced home cooks and technical gurus, they developed eMeals to feed their families and preserve their sanity. Hundreds of thousands of relationships later, Jane and Jenny built a way to make moms’ lives easier — and to bring families together at mealtime.”
How Does it Work?
First, you pick your eating plan and your family size. There are many different meal plans to choose from including Classic, Gourmet, Slow Cooker, and Portion Control. Under some of the plans, you can even choose your favorite grocery store! Personally, I love ALDI, so I chose that. What is amazing about eMeals is that when you choose your grocery store, it puts that store’s prices on your grocery list, giving you a good idea of how much you are going to spend. I have found this price list – at least at ALDI – to be fairly accurate. If anything, the prices are lower because an item went on sale!
Second, each week a full meal plan as well as shopping list arrives in your inbox. You can also log in and print it from you eMeals account. While in your account you can also change your meal plan – anytime you want!
Third, shop according to the included shopping list. The ingredients are divided into sections of the grocery store, and the list even includes “pantry staples” along one side that the recipes assume you have. A quick glance at the staples tells you which ones you need to pick up and which ones you have on hand.
eMeals has some amazing meal plan options, and offers unmatched flexbility, but my favorite part by far is the grocery list. Each week your grocery list is delivered to your inbox, categorized by grocery store section, and even has columns denoting which meal the items are to be used for, as well as pantry items you may already have on hand. In addition, the meal plan is created with your store’s weekly sales in mind.
For example, I love shopping at Aldi, therefore I have my store in eMeals set to Aldi. When I get my Aldi sale flyer in the mail and see that green pepper are discounted this week, I know that chances are they’re going to show up on my meal plan from eMeals
!
{Don’t have an Aldi nearby? Here are 6 ways to save on groceries without clipping coupons}
eMeals recipes are fairly simple (even the gourmet plans) but my whole family agree that they’re no less delicious because they’re simple. My husband can even cook dinner off off of our eMeals
meal plans – and that’s saying something!
The meals come numbered on the meal plan, but of course, you don’t have to make them in that order. Each recipe is based on your family size, and lists any prep work as well as the total time to make so that you can switch from a longer-cooking meal to a shorter one if you’re particularly busy that night. Each meal also tells you if it’s a quick weeknight meal, so if you need to throw something in the crockpot before heading out for the day, you have a heads up. Also, eMeals has options to add breakfast, lunch, or dessert menus to your plan.
You can get started with eMeals for as little as $5.00 a month, and as awesome as that sounds, I have something even better for you!
Are you ready for the freebie?
eMeals is offering 2 weeks free
If you’re not quite ready to pull to trigger on paying for meal planning ( I get it, I really do) right now, you can try two full weeks of their service absolutely free to see if you like it. If you decide to stick with it after the two weeks, you can enjoy your choice of over 60 meal plan options including breakfast, lunch and dinner – Just click the banner above or below to get started!
You’ve (hopefully) read about how I’m Going Back to My Roots – In Finances & Health, to help me lose weight and get our budget under control, and I’ve found that eMeals helps me with both! Not only does eMeals
help keep our grocery budget on track with their awesome meal plans, it helps me to eat cleaner because they have so many tasty, healthy, meal options.
No more do I eat like crap at night because I don’t know what to cook. No more do I run to the grocery store “to just grab some lettuce and chicken for salads” and then end up with Moose Tracks and brownies.
Could This Deal Get Any Sweeter?
Yes, yes it could. When you sign up for your free 2-week trial of eMeals (that ONE TOOL that saves me $1,400 a year), eMeals
will throw in a FREE Comfort Foods Menu, chock full of all your favorite fall foods!
What Are You Waiting For? Take advantage of eMeals Free for 2 weeks at their website: eMeals.com
*This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosures for more information
You May Also Like:
The eMeals Experiment
Make the Holidays Easy with eMeals + a Recipe!
How To Meal Plan When You Don’t Have Time (Or Hate It)
How We Finally Started Eating Clean On a Budget
Feed Your Family on $300 a Month – The Healthy Way! Part 1
$5 Meal Plan Review
1 Year of Free Baby Wipes
How to Save $1,000’s with Meal Planning
9 Reasons Why I ALWAYS Choose Aldi – Introducing Ten Minute Savings
Hate Using Coupons? Here Are 6 Great Ways To Save Money Buying Groceries Without Them
Never heard of it. I like the idea if they had a vegetarian version =)
They do! They even have paleo – not that I could do it, but at least they’re keeping up with trends :-)
I wish it was more customizable. I’ve been getting the veggie version but there are lots of egg dishes and dishes that aren’t super calorie friendly. It would be cool if you could set a whole list of preferences.
Interesting! I’ve never tried the vegetarian one, but I could see how the calories could get out of control!
I’ve been wanting to look into this. Thanks for the details!
I’m just wondering how customizable it is. I am a very picky eater :(
I’m picky too, and I’ve found that 1 or 2 meals a week I don’t want to eat them. But, the cool thing about the shopping list is that every ingredient you need to buy lists which meals it’s for, so if you’re not making a meal (or two), you can just not buy that item.
That looks like a really great resource. We plan our meals, but we’re both so picky (or at least I’m picky) that it’s difficult to always be thinking of new meals to make. Thanks for sharing!
It’s definitely worth the money, at least to us! They just switch to the free trial, so at the very least, you try it for 2 weeks and decide you don’t like it, you’re not out anything :-)
That sounds really interesting. I’ve only heard good things about emeals. Maybe it’s time I checked it out. We tend to eat the same things over and over, so some new variety would be nice.
We love it – and you an try for two weeks completely free! ….And I second needing some variety :-)
Can you choose 2 meal plans such as Crockpot and Paleo?
I’ve never heard of this before! This sounds like such a great idea, but I’m curious if 1) there’s a way to choose say the 30 minute meals option and choose to exclude seafood recipes (no one in our family will eat seafood minus shrimp & crab). And 2) I’m guessing the meal plan is for 7 days a week, but is there a way to change it to 5 or 6 days a week instead (to account for eating out and/or making make our own family favorite meals)?
Hi Lyndsey,
We love it, but to answer your questions: 1) No, unfortunately not, sorry! 2) It comes for 7 days, but there is usually a meal or 2 that we won’t like (or that has seafood in your case ;-) and we just don’t make that meal (s). The grocery list makes it easy to exclude buying the groceries for that meal too, since each item has which meal it is for on it :-) hope that answers your questions!
Super cool idea! Plus it saves you $ sounds like a no brainer:)
It saves us so much stress and money :-)
Sounds simple and very easy. Would be perfect for busy families!
definitely!
I’ve never heard of this before but I like the sound of it!!
We love it, and though it’s not perfect, it really saves us a ton of money and simplifies our lives!
Things are so tight that $5 a month isn’t doable for us, but I can see how this is an inexpensive and wonderful option for those who can. Getting dinner on the table after a long day is a challenge for all of us. Thanks so much for sharing this.