Guest post by Justine Burgess
Wow, the Holiday Season flew by, and our new year has already been packed to the brim with things to do. With such a hectic pace and no time for much of anything (especially meal planning), I'm glad to know that using eMeals, an online menu-planning service, can simplify things for me by having ready-made weekly dinner menus and customized grocery lists.
The Service
I tend to be a very price-conscious consumer, looking for discounts, coupons, or bargains at every opportunity. While eMeals is a paid subscription service, it can actually help save money by cutting back on waste and unnecessary purchases. You have options as to which plan you'd like to sign up for, and from what grocery store (including Ralphs, Target, WalMart, and many others). They are tailored to fit almost any family, budget, or lifestyle. Plans offered include: Classic Meals, Low-carb, Low-fat, Portion Control, Natural and Organic, Simple Gourmet, Gluten-free, Paleo, and Vegetarian. You can also change your plan once a month if you want to try something new. Plans (the menu with recipes and the grocery lists) are posted online every Wednesday (the day most grocery stores update flyers, though retailers like Walmart and Target tend to go Sunday to Saturday), and you may have them emailed to you, or simply download them from the e-Meals website. The current week and the previous week are available. You may also add breakfast or lunch to your dinner plans for an additional fee.
Our Experience
We signed up for the Walmart Classic Family dinner plan (serves 3-6 per meal). Our grocery list included all the ingredients we needed each week. It’s broken down by meal number, grocery item, and current store price. Pantry staples needed appear at the bottom of each weekly grocery list. The first week might wind up being a little more than list price, if you don't have the pantry staples yet, but you will use them throughout the plan.
The menu pages are as simple as the grocery lists. All ingredients are shown for the main dish, along with a side dish, and instructions for preparation. Each menu is quite different than the week before, though many have similar ingredients. You can personalize meals with substitutions and additions, as we did. Choose what you like out of the dinners offered and adjust them to your needs.
One of the meals we chose to make was Chicken Pasta. It seemed fast and simple, and had a short list of ingredients- chicken, bow-tie pasta, milk, broth, flour, onion, bell pepper, and parmesan cheese. I had purchased some turkey on sale, so I substituted that for chicken, but otherwise the recipe was unchanged. I followed the directions precisely. The sauce took longer (way longer, as in 30 minutes longer) than the 5-7 minutes it was supposed to, but other than that the recipe seemed to be fairly on point.
I probably would have added in some fresh herbs and maybe some mushrooms, and used penne pasta instead of farfalle (bow-tie) had I been the test-kitchen chef that thought this up. It would have saved the recipe from looking like a budget dinner. Flavor was decent- not gourmet, but good enough that my 5-year-old finished off his plate, and that does not happen very often around here. The amounts the recipe called for gave us enough food for 6-8 people, so we had enough leftovers to freeze for future meals. I’d give that recipe a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
I can’t wait to try out more- many are slow-cooker recipes (serious time-savers) and I just happened to get a new Crock-Pot around the holidays. My one suggestion to eMeals? Include photos on the menu. It’s nice to have an idea of what your food is supposed to look like. If it’s pictured to be beautiful pasta with pesto and instead looks like Hamburger Helper, you know you did something wrong.
Overall, for a time-crunched person that needs ready recipes and simple ingredients, eMeals works. The grocery lists and menus are well put-together and the price range is reasonable. For the relatively small subscription fee, many people will save time, money, and stress, plus it eliminates the guesswork of what to make each night. If you try it, check out a few of the plans until you find the one that works for you. I think we’ll be switching over to the Natural and Organic plan for next month, since the upcoming spring and summer mean more fresh fruits and veggies. Can’t wait to cook!
About Justine
This is not a sponsored post. I received a complimentary subscription to eMeals in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions remain my own.
