meal planning Archives - Sweet Frugal Life

Honest Review of eMeals

March 4, 2021 By: Sweet Frugal Lifecomment

Is eMeals worth the money and is it right for you?

Are you looking for an honest review of eMeals? I’m excited to share my experience with this amazing meal subscription service with you today.

A few weeks ago I decided to try out eMeals when I ran into a major meal planning rut (have you ever had one of those???). My meal plan was feeling stale, and I felt as if I made the exact same dinners over, and over again. I was tired of cooking, and tired of trying to come up with fresh cooking ideas.

For years I have been hearing about a meal subscription service called eMeals. I finally decided to try it out. My hope was that eMeals would give me some fresh ideas and help me get out of my meal planning rut.

I am a member of online affiliate programs. I will be compensated for purchases made through links in this post.

What Is eMeals?

If you haven’t heard about eMeals yet, then I’ll give you a quick run down! eMeals is a meal subscription service that will send you fresh, new meal plans and dinner recipes each week.

These meal plans are catered to your family size, needs, diets, and food preferences. The goal is to save you time, money and to make it easier for you to get dinner on the table each night.

In addition to the meal plans and recipes, eMeals will also send you a shopping list for the meals you choose to make that week, which is so awesome! Plus! If you enjoy shopping for groceries online (hello, Walmart Grocery Pickup, my BFF) eMeals gives you the option to send your grocery list straight to your preferred store (Walmart, Amazon, Kroger, Instacart or Shipt), making online grocery shopping even easier than it already was!

How Does eMeals Work?

Signing up for eMeals is so easy! First, just head over to their website and make an account.

During this process you will be asked to choose your family size between two options:

1-2 servings
3-6 servings

And then next you will choose the food style your family prefers. The current options are:

30 Minute Meals
Budget Friendly
Clean Eating
Diabetic
Gluten Free
Heart Healthy
Keto
Kid Friendly
Low Calorie
Low Carb
Mediterranean
Paleo
Quick and Healthy
Slow Cooker
Vegan
Vegetarian

I chose the Budget Friendly option for my family (no surprise there, amiright????).

After you have your account you will then have access to the current recipes eMeals offers. When a new plan comes available each week you will be alerted through e-mail.

I loved using the eMeals app to browse the recipes and make my shopping list. It was so user friendly and easy to use!

When you have picked the recipes you want to make for the week just click “Add to List.” The ingredients you will need for that recipe will be added to your shopping list, easy peasy!

Take this list with you to the store to do your grocery shopping. Or! If you prefer to use an online grocery system, just send that list right over to one of eMeals grocery partners (Walmart, Amazon, Kroger, Instacart or Shipt) and done!

Now all that’s left to do is cook and enjoy the delicious eMeals recipes at home.

Click here to try eMeals FREE for 14 days.

What Type Of Recipes Does eMeals Provide?

Honestly, one of my biggest surprises when using eMeals was the huge variety of recipes available. There really is something for everyone, and I wasn’t expecting that.

You can choose the meal plan that works best for you and then you will be given 7 dinner recipes each week, including side dish ideas for each recipe, which I LOVED!

But, you do not have to stick to the same meal plan that you originally choose! I switched my meal plan category a couple of times, and it was SO easy to do! All you have to do is go into your Account, and where your Dinner Plan is listed, just click “Change”. You can then easily select the new plan you want. I started with Budget Friendly, and then switched to Clean Eating, and then to 30 Minute Meals.

Each of the plans I tried provided my family with delicious and easy to fix recipes.

We definitely tried a few recipes that we didn’t enjoy, but most of them have become new family favorites and will be going into my regular meal planning routine.

Related: How To Make A Meal Plan For Beginners

How Much Does eMeals Cost?

There is a price to using eMeals, but good news, you can try eMeals out for FREE for 14 days when signing up through this link. This is a great way to become familiar with the app, try out a few recipes, and help you decide if this is the right meal subscription plan for you or not.

If you decide to keep using eMeals you can get a 12 month subscription for just $4.99/month or a 3 month subscription for only $9.99/month.

My Honest Opinion

Now, that I have shared all of the eMeals details with you it’s time to give you my honest opinion.

Truthfully, my expectations were low when I first signed up for eMeals….but I ended up enjoying eMeals much more than I thought I would. I was worried that the recipes would require a lot of expensive ingredients and a lot of effort, but they really didn’t.

The meals I chose were all simple, basic, and quick to fix. Plus, I had most of the ingredients already in my pantry, which made these recipes great for my wallet.

Who Is eMeals For?

Although I think eMeals is a great service, it is not for everyone, but I do think it can be beneficial for many people. eMeals might be for your if:

You struggle finding time to Meal Plan.
You want to cook at home, but aren’t sure where to start.
You are looking for an easy way to try new recipes.

Who Is eMeals Not For?

I don’t recommend eMeals for you if:

You feel confident meal planning.
You have time to research new recipes to try.
Your budget is to tight to add an extra subscription plan to.

I enjoyed trying eMeals and the new recipes I received. However, I have decided that I will not be continuing using eMeals. I am very comfortable with meal planning and cooking, so I don’t think this is something worth spending my money on.

However, if you have been struggling cooking at home and making your meal plans, I do suggest trying this subscription service to see if it helps you or not.

In Conclusion

I really enjoyed trying this program and was so happy to find it not only useful and helpful, but a great resource for those looking for fresh meal ideas. My favorite part of the service is that it caters to your family specific needs and eating preferences, and it really did make meal planning a lot easier!

Let me know if you try eMeals. I would love to hear your thoughts about it in the comments!

Want New Recipes?

Are you looking for some fresh new recipes to add to your collection?

Make sure to check out my Mel’s Home Cooking Recipe eBook. These tried and true recipes are easy to make, cheap to fix, and delicious to eat!

Grab your copy here!

Pin For Later Reference:

I hope you enjoyed my honest review of emeals meals subscription service.

Free Recipe Binder Printables

October 28, 2020 By: Sweet Frugal Lifecomment

How to make a recipe binder.

You want to know what the biggest game changing with Meal Planning has been for me??? My Recipe Binder! I made my first recipe binder a few years ago and I still use it every single day. This article is all about teaching you how to make a recipe binder for painless meal planning, and includes some free recipe binder printables to help you make your own binder! Yay!

What is a Recipe Binder?

A recipe binder is a binder where all of your recipes are organized into one simple spot. Instead of having 5 cookbooks and hundreds of recipe pins saved, you can print off all of your tried and true recipes and keep them organized in one simple spot.

The recipes that you put into this binder should be ones that you have tried multiple times. These are the recipes that you want in your regular cooking routine.

“We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”

How Does a Recipe Binder Help With Meal Planning?

Meal Planning can be made so much easier when you use your binder.

Here’s how I Meal Plan using my Recipe Binder:

Pull out my Binder and look at the Meal Ideas I have previously written down.
Choose a few meals to make throughout the week, writing them down on my Meal Planning worksheet (free meal planing printable below).
Look through the recipes in my binder to find the ingredients I will need to buy at the store that work.
Jot the ingredients down on the shopping list.
And done!

See how easy that was?????

When you meal plan with a recipe binder it takes out the stress of wondering:

What should I make this week?
What foods do we like?
What do I need to buy at the store?

Supplies Needed

You can make your own recipe binder using my free recipe binder printables! To make a recipe binder you will need:

A Binder. I recommend a binder between 1″ to 2″, depending on how many recipes you will be putting in it.
Page protectors. Don’t skip this step! Page protectors will keep your recipes fresh for a long time and can be wiped clean. (when I cook, it gets real messy, real fast!)
Pocket Dividers. Dividers in the binder are great, they will help you find all of your food sections quickly. I also love having dividers with pockets, as a place to put all of my random recipes when I don’t have time to organize them into page protectors.
Recipes. Spend a few hours finding all of your favorite recipes. Don’t forget to look through cookbooks, pinterest, or magazines. Just make sure to only choose the recipes you have tried multiple times and love. The point of the recipe binder is to have one spot for your favorite recipes. You want to be able to open it up and know every recipe inside is a good one.
Recipe Binder Printables. You can grab these for free by signing up for my newsletter below.

Putting The Recipe Binder Together

Now, for the fun part, putting the recipe binder together! Fortunately this is so easy to do too!

First off, slide the Favorite Recipes cover into the front of your binder. It’s always fun to see something pretty from the beginning.

Next, search through all of your cook books and favorite recipes and collect the recipes you want in your binder. You can print these out from the internet, make a copy from your favorite cookbook, or reuse recipes you already have printed. Feel free to grab my favorite recipes here.

Once you have found all of your most loved recipes take some time to put them and your Recipe Binder printables into page protectors. This is a great activity to have your kids help with or to do while watching a movie!

Next, take out your pocket dividers and write the different categories you want in your binder onto each tab. A few of the categories I have in my binder are:

Breakfast
Lunch
Appetizers
Salad
Soup
Chicken
Meatless
Drinks
Veggies
Bread
Side Dish
Snacks
Crock Pot
Seafood
Pasta
Pork
Cakes
Pies
Cookies
Dessert

Lastly, put all of your recipes, recipe binder printables, and dividers into your binder. Organize them in the way that will make the most sense to you! I included a blank category so that you can personalize it for the recipes you use most.

Don’t forget to use the Meal Ideas printables. These are really the secret sauce to quick meal planning.

Write down all of the recipes that you chose to include in your binder (remember, these should all be recipes you have already tried and loved) and put these papers at the front of your recipe binder. The next time you can’t think of what to make for dinner, just look at the Meal Ideas in your binder!

Finishing Up

That’s it! Your recipe binder is complete! Now, it’s time to use it regularly. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your recipe binder:

Put it somewhere you will see it often. I keep mine on my cookbook shelf, right next to the kitchen. This makes it easy to grab, and also helps me remember to actually pull it out and use it (which is important….for obvious reasons…..)
Set a specific day each week when you will pull out your recipe binder and meal plan. The day I have chosen is on Sunday afternoons. I am almost always home this day and it’s a great way for me to start the week organized.
Update your binder regularly. As the years go by you will hopefully find new recipes you enjoy, and maybe a few you tire off. Make sure you pull out your binder every now and then, throw out the recipes you don’t enjoy anymore, and add your new favorites.

Need more help meal planning? Check out my article, Start Meal Planning For The Complete Beginner, where I share all of my best tips for beginners to make a successful meal plan.

Alright! It’s your turn! Grab your free Recipe Binder printables below to make your own Recipe Binder today!

Need recipes for your binder????

Are you needing some new, fresh recipes to try? Something easy to make that your family will be sure to love??

Check out my recipe ebook! Mel’s Home Cooking contains over 60 of my favorite, easy, and family friendly recipes.

Want to make rolls, but don’t have time to roll them out??? Try the fairy rolls!

Looking for something different, yet easy, to make your family for breakfast? You will love the Hootenany pancakes!

Are you tired of the same old dinners, but don’t like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen? Try my chicken pesto pasta recipe!

These recipes have all been in my kitchen for decades and I am so excited to share them with you! You can learn more about Mel’s Home Cooking ebook here.

Pin For Future Reference:

Enjoy these free recipe binder printables!

How To Make A Meal Plan For Beginners

November 21, 2019 By: Sweet Frugal Life2 Comments

Easy tips to start meal planning.

“How do I make a meal plan?” is a question I receive regularly. Meal planning is something I have been doing for over 15 years, and it has become second nature to me. I meal plan every single week, without fail. But…

I actually hate meal planning. There, I said it! I really don’t like to meal plan. I feel like I plan the same things every week. It feels impossible to ever find something that everyone in the family will be happy with (there is always a complaint from someone). Meal planning feels like a chore, trying to come up with quick meals for the nights we are busy, cheap meals to help our pocketbook, and everything else in between. It’s a hassle.

But, I continue to plan our meals regularly, and I will keep doing so probably until the day I die.

So, if you are new to meal planning or feel like it is stressful, you are not alone! I get it! Let me teach you the tricks I have learned to help make meal planning a little easier.

This article contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through links in this post.

How Does Meal Planning Save Money?

It’s no secret that if you want to save money on food, cooking at home is the way to do it.

However, cooking at home does not mean you randomly put food in your grocery cart and then come up with a new recipe each day. Cooking at home takes thought, planning and some prep work. When you meal plan correctly you will find you save money in multiple ways.

Need more at home recipes? Grab my easy, frugal, family friendly cook book here!

1. Meal Planning Prevents Impulse Shopping at the Grocery Store

When you plan ahead each week you are able to know exactly what you need to buy at the grocery store. This prevents buying “this” or “that” completely on impulse….just because it looks good in the moment.

2. Meal Planning Prevents Stops for Take Out Food

If you have already planned your meals for the week and you know that you have ingredients at home waiting to be cooked you will be much less likely to stop on your way home from work to grab quick take out food. Cooking at home is much cheaper than eating out and the less you stop at a restaurant the more money you will save.

3. Meal Planning Reduces Waste

A good meal plan will help you eat up the food you already have in your home to prevent any food going to waste. When food is thrown out, it’s the equivalent of throwing money out and meal planning will help you reduce this waste.

Related: 10 Quick Ways to Lower your Grocery Bill

How Do I Begin Planning Meals?

When you are new to meal planning, it might feel a little stressful or confusing. Don’t worry! This is normal! Follow these simple steps for a successful meal plan.

Step #1: Shop Your Pantry First

Before you sit down to plan out your weekly menu, take a quick inventory of your pantry, your fridge, your freezer and your cupboards. Take note of what foods you already have in your house. Figure out a few meals you can make with the foods you already own.

For example: If I see chicken, rice and beans in my freezer and pantry than I might plan chicken and rice casserole one night and chicken and bean burritos the other night.

Related: How a Pantry Challenge Will Save You Money

Step #2: Look Through Weekly Ads To Find the Best Deals

Use the free Flipp App to browse the weekly ads in your area. Plan a few meals based on what is on sale for the week. For example: if I find Zucchini on sale than I might plan to make zoodles sometime during the week.

This might require you to stop by a few different stores, which I once avoided because it felt to time consuming. Now that I take the time to shop sales at multiple stores I have found a huge decrease in the amount of money I spend on groceries.

Step #3: Make The Plan

Now that you have a few meals based on your own food inventory and the current sales, it’s time to fill in the blanks. Look through pinterest or your favorite cook books to plan the rest of your meals for the week. To decrease your weekly expenses even more try to choose recipes needing ingredients that you already have at home.

If you are struggling finding the time or motivation to begin meal planning consider subscribing to Emeals. With a very affordable small fee Emeals will do all of your weekly meal planning for you! I tried it last year and was seriously impressed, you can read my full emeals review here.

Their service is complete with shopping lists, recipes and instructions. They offer a variety of plans so you can choose the diet and taste preference that works best for you! Subscribers have been able to save over $100 each month and at least an hour weekly in not having to sit down and plan. Try the Free 14 Day Trial to see if Emeals is right for you!

Step #4: Make The Grocery List

The next step is to make your grocery list. Look through what you planned for each day and make a grocery shopping list based on the meals you will be cooking throughout the week. Don’t forget to include any snacks your family will want!

I personally do my grocery shopping at the same time that I make my shopping list. This is done by using Walmarts Free Grocery Pickup. I simply open the app, type in what I need for the week and then press check out! All that’s left is to pick it up the next day. It is a huge time saver!

BONUS: Sign up through this link for $10 off your first purchase of $50 or more.

Step #5: Grocery Shop While Sticking To Your List

If you choose not to use Walmart’s Free Grocery Pickup your next step will be to go shopping at the grocery store. This is an important part of meal planning.

As you shop make sure you are sticking to the shopping list that you made in step #4. Do not buy items just because they look good or are on sale. You have made your meal plan and only need to buy the items that fit into the plan.

Step #6: Implement Your Meal Plan

Now it’s time to put your plan into action! When you are new to meal planning you might feel tempted to stray from your original plan. As life gets busy, you get tired, it’s easy to fall into old habits. I encourage you not to do this! Especially not when you are new to planning your meals. This is an important time to form a new habit!

You will find some trial and error as you are adjusting to meal planning, this is normal, don’t let it discourage you! Maybe you forget to buy a few important ingredients, perhaps you are to busy to fix what you planned. This happens to us all! Be willing to learn from each mistake, adjust each week and through time you will find what works best for you, and what doesn’t work.

Related: 5 Ways to Earn CASHBACK on Purchases

Meal Planning Struggles and Solutions

I asked Instagram today what a few of their Meal Planning struggles were. Below are a few of those problems and my tips for overcoming them.

Struggle #1: “Too Much Repetitiveness”

It is normal to feel like you are making the same thing over and over again in your meal plan. We have all felt this way from time to time! Here are a few ways to keep variety in your meal plan:

Daily Theme Nights

Choose a theme for each day of the week. This ensures you are making something different every night and keeping a variety in your menu. Your themes could be:

Meatless Monday: A lot of times this might revolve around pasta.

Taco Tuesday: It doesn’t have to be tacos, fajitas, enchiladas or a big taco salad works too!

Soup Wednesday: Try a new soup recipe until you find a few favorites.

Rice Thursday: Make something with rice today. Perhaps a chicken and rice casserole, sweet and sour chicken with rice….you get the idea!

Pizza Friday: Make a homemade pizza using this recipe or try a few different pizza hacks.

Easy Saturday: Plan an easy meal for Saturday; such as breakfast for dinner, a can of soup or a frozen lasagna.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Put your slow cooker to use on Sundays, or maybe try a few instant pot recipes.

Try a New Recipe Regularly

Pick one day each week to try a new recipe. Perhaps Monday will be your New Recipe Day. Some of these recipes you will probably dislike, but over time you will find a few new favorites to add to your regular rotation.

I have a couple of different pinterest boards dedicated to helping me find new recipes. One board is called “Food To Try” and the other board labeled “Food We Loved.” When I want to try a new recipe I simply look through my Food to Try board and pick one for the week. If we love it I will move it over to the Food We Loved board until I am ready to print it out and add it to my recipe binder.

Plan Meals Well in Advance

Plan your meals 4-6 weeks in advance to guarantee you won’t have any duplicate dinners during that time. A 6 week rotation should give you plenty of variety.

Struggle #2: Sticking to the Plan

Some days you might plan to make a big and fancy dinner, and then the day comes and you just don’t feel like making it anymore. Been there…so many many times I have been there! Here are a few solutions that have helped me to stick to the plan.

Meal Prep in Advance

Do as much meal prep in advance as you can. If you have a day off from work or a free evening, spend time chopping veggies and cook your meat ahead of time. You can keep these already prepped foods in the fridge until it’s time to prepare the meal. This saves a lot of time and will make cooking so much easier after a long day.

Be Flexible

It’s ok to change up the plan every now and then. If you are having a hard day and just don’t feel like cooking what you planned, feel free to cook something else! If you planned sandwiches for Friday, make sandwiches on the day you are feeling tired and make the more involved meal on Friday.

It’s helpful to have a few staples in your home at all times so if you need to cook something different that night, you can. Breakfast for dinner is one that I do regularly when I don’t feel like cooking. I am able to make pancakes using the ingredients I already have at home and call it a meal.

Related: 25 Items You Must Have In A Frugal Pantry

Struggle #3: Planning for Different Tastes/Diets

It’s hard planning a menu for people who all have different palates and taste preferences. I get it! Maybe he doesn’t eat gluten, she hates red meat, and the little one refuses to eat anything healthy. This makes meal planning even more stressful than it already was! Here are a few suggestions to help this struggle:

Provide a Variety of Sides

Instead of trying to find a dinner that everyone in your family will like, provide a variety of sides so that there is something for everyone. If you make chicken and you know your daughter won’t eat it, make a few healthy foods to go along with the chicken so that you know she will be filling up on something good.

Rotate The Meals

Rotate the meals that you cook throughout the week so that everyone will get a favorite at least once or twice during the week. I usually ask each of my kids for one dinner request for the week. They are always excited for the night when I cook their specific request. This ensures everyone is always looking forward to something!

You Can Meal Plan!

You can read as many articles as you want, but honestly the best way to learn how to meal plan and to find what works best for you is to just begin and never quit. Keep trying, keep planning, keep staying focused on the goal of saving money on food and you will find a way to make it work! Feel free to reach out in the comments or my inbox with any questions! I am always happy to help!

How To Make A Recipe Binder

10 Quick Ways to Save Money on Groceries