Loving E-Mealz

I haven't blogged about E-Mealz in a few weeks because its been a little busy around my house lately, plus we were on vacation and Matt was gone another week, so I wasn't able to truly stick to the plan. But we're back now and I went back to work this week so E-Mealz has proven invaluable to me! Here are some more pictures of the really yummy meals I've made from my E-Mealz plan!

I know some of you have signed up for an E-Mealz plan...what are your thoughts? Are you enjoying the meals? Matt seems to be enjoying the variety of foods that we're eating now. :)

Rilyn's 1st Vacation

We got home last Sunday from our vacation, but I still feel in vacation mode. I didn't have the drive to do much of anything this week :)

Rilyn did GREAT on the drive down and back. Of course, she was very tired of her car seat by the end of the week, but she was a trooper.

Here are some pictures from the week:

E-Mealz actually came in really handy for our vacation. We had a very tight budget for this trip so we couldn't spend more than what we had. Before we left, I made an envelope for every day we were gone and put a specific amount in each. We could only spend what was in the envelope. So, we ended up making alot of our meals...using our favorites from past E-Mealz weeks. Dave Ramsey is so right when he says, "The best kind of vacation is the kind that doesn't follow you home (on the credit card bill)". We paid for everything completely in cash which allowed for us to truly enjoy our vacation!

Any end-of-the-summer plans for you out there?

E-Mealz - Sausage Lasagna

I just had to start today's post with this cute picture of Rilyn. She had fallen asleep during "Belly Time". The Dr told us that we needed to do more belly time because her head was a little misshapen.

Wednesday's E-Mealz meal was a Sausage Lasagna. Rilyn and I had a good time preparing dinner and some of the other elements for meals later in the week. For instance, I'm making Chicken Enchiladas on Saturday, so while I was preparing the lasagna I went ahead and boiled all of the chicken so it is already done. I've been making notes on each meal to remember in the future what I liked and what element I would change in the future -- I was not a fan of the Italian Sausage that the lasagna recipe called for, so next time I'll just use regular Sausage.

I just downloaded next week's Meal plan. I'm a little nervous because there are some things that we don't normally enjoy (curry, Thai peanut sauce) but I'm determined to try it at least once. Maybe if I make it, I'll enjoy it. :) However, Matt will be gone again next week so I'm not sure how many full meals I'll be making. Matt loved all of the meals this week -- success! Anyway, here is a picture of the Sausage Lasagna.

A Sports Fan Is Born

I walked into the room last night to find Matt and Rilyn watching the All-Star baseball game. Yes...Rilyn was watching the TV! A friend of mine stopped by and we had to actually turn the TV off to get Rilyn to look at anything else. My friend actually said "Wow, your baby is really watching TV!" A sports fan (well...maybe a TV fan) was born.

Last night's E-Mealz was another success! It was a chicken casserole dish that I slightly edited to include more vegetables and I used biscuits instead of the onion crunchies it called for. In talking with my Mom, she brought up a good point with E-Mealz -- the ladies who create the E-Mealz plans are based in Alabama, so the deals that they find aren't necessarily the same at our stores here in Illinois. However, I'm not just paying for them to find the good deals...I'm also paying for the time saving plan. I've gone ahead and edited some of the meals based on what is on sale at my Wal-mart and what we will eat.

E-Mealz Day 1

I went to the store yesterday with my E-Mealz grocery list and additional items that I needed. I loved having everything prepared for me! Unfortunately, I didn't save much on this trip because I was out of a lot of staple items since we've been gone (like milk, eggs, cheese, etc). But I also didn't over-spend or over-buy. I am definitely guilty of over-buying fresh food and then it goes bad because we don't eat it -- mostly because I don't have a plan to eat it.

The one thing about E-Mealz is that it only lays out one meal a day and only 5 meals per week for a family of 2 plan. This means, I need to think about lunch items and weekends when shopping for food. However, last night's meal was really good and we had enough leftovers for lunch today. I'm thinking about changing my plan to the "Family plan" and then freezing or using leftovers for lunch. The Family Plan includes 7 meals per week but averages between $70-80. But before I switch, I'm going to give the Family of 2 plan a little more time.

The dishes that I've seen so far are foods that we will actually eat. I really appreciate that and its a major reason why I decided to purchase a subscription. I also decided to switch around the meals based on what night we'll have more time and I wanted to start with a meal that I thought Matt would like (he's kind of picky). Last night's meal was a success -- Portabella Pot Roast. Yummy! I would have never thought of this recipe on my own and it was so easy!

If you don't have a lot of time and aren't creative in the kitchen like me or just want to start saving money and time, I would definitely suggest looking into E-Mealz!

PS...I recently discovered a coupon code "Dave" which takes $2.50 off your first 3-month subscription. I discovered E-Mealz through Dave Ramsey. Which if you haven't taken a Financial Peace class, I would strongly suggest it! :)

Savage Family Vacation and E-Mealz

I feel like I have been and will continue to live out of a suitcase for the month of July! Matt was gone for a week on a high school youth trip, so I went to Bloomington to be with my family. We were home for 2 days and then left for a Savage family vacation, which we just got home from last night. Although we were once again using a suitcase, it was a great three days of some much needed R&R. We stayed at a cabin in Indiana and had a good time with my family (missed you Erica and Kendall!)

Next week, Matt will once again be gone for the week on a Jr High trip. So, I'm trying to decide if I want to pack a suit case once again or just try to forge ahead on my own.

This is the first week we have been home in several weeks, so our fridge is completely bare. Last week, we were only home two days, so I didn't want to go grocery shopping for just that, so we've been eating out alot.

Well, we're back for the whole week and I'm really excited, because I'm starting my E-Mealz plan for the first time! For the month of June, I tried to plan out all of my meals and stick to fresh food. It was exhausting! I did not enjoy - nor did this new mom have the time - to devote to doing that each week. I happened across E-Mealz and decided I would give it a 3-month trial (you have to sign up for 3 months at a time).

For $1.25/week ($5/month) you can sign up for the type of plan you would like AND choose which store you most frequent. I chose the Meal Plan for 2 at Walmart. They've done all the work for planning out my week, INCLUDING my grocery list. The cost for groceries on this plan averages $30-40 per week. I will be saving about $40-50 per week (yes...we ate out alot...and can't resist starbucks) YAY! This new mom is very excited and very happy. I think its well worth the $1.25 per week. I printed off my list for the week and will head to the store in the morning. I'll keep you posted on how my first week goes and how my picky hubby likes the meals...