Meal Planning via eMeals.com {Part I}

One of the things on my long list to accomplish this summer is getting on board with meal planning. I have tons of recipes pinned, but rarely do I attempt them unless I'm preparing for a get-together or just itching to try something new. Once I decide I want to try, I have to go to the grocery store and often find the recipe being more effort than I'm willing to give. This leaves me with doing the same old thing for dinner and as of late, picking up dinner.

So, I started researching meal planning websites and apps. After reading a few reviews and blogs, I decided to pursue eMeals.com. A one year subscription of $58 for dinner gives you 7 recipes each week, along with prepared shopping lists. This video definitely sums up the need for meal planning in my life!

Anytime I decide to buy something online, I always look for a coupon code and was able to find one for 20% off, but then I decided to search Groupon and was pleasantly surprised that eMeals was one of this week's deals. $29 for a one-year dinner subscription...SCORE!!! Unfortunately, that option was sold out, so I had to go with the $39 option that gives me 7 dinner and 5 lunch menus a week. This option was still less than just the dinner option with 20% off, so I got twice the variety for a great price (63% off the regular price)! And what convinced me further is that it's Dave Ramsey approved and that there is a handy, dandy app for eMeals that allows me to customize my menu by skipping meals I don't want to prepare and it automatically updates my shopping list. I knew there was no way I was cooking seven days a week.

So, here is my menu for the first week. I decided to go down to four meals. eMeals allows me to customize the plan based on a menu type (i.e. low fat, low carb, clean eating, gluten free, slow cooker, etc.), the number of people I'll be feeding and base my shopping list around a preferred grocery store. For the first month, I've chosen the low fat menu for 2 and Walmart pricing. I also love the little notes that let me know if I need to do some prep work.

eMeals estimated the total that I should spend at the grocery store based on the store I chose and their current sales ad. I love how I could just check things off as I found them at the store or at home before I went shopping. I was also able to add items to my list.

And here is my total...less than $4 off...and I imagine that some of that price difference is the staple items I needed to buy that weren't already in my kitchen.

So far, I'm impressed by what eMeals has to offer. The real test, however, will be how the meals taste. I'll be back with an update at the end of the week! In the mean time, you should definitely check out eMeals. I think it's going to be worth it!

Check out the link-up for more meal planning inspiration:

**These are my honest thoughts. I was not contacted by eMeals
to provide a review and have not been compensated in any way.**