e-mealz rock!

My friend Dorothy and I were chatting one Sunday morning a few weeks ago. I love our chats. I can't ever remember having a throw-away conversation with her. There's always a nugget of Truth or encouragement or inspiration deposited into the treasure chest when we talk. Usually they are parenting or marriage nuggets, but this time there was a homemaking nugget that has transformed our family's dinnertime.

You see, I hate cooking. By hate I don't mean prefer-not-to-do-it. I mean with-the-white-hot-passion-of-a-thousand-suns. Nothing shoots down my "happy"more than hunting down recipes and shopping for ingredients and then cooking the meal only to have at least one person in the family go, "Ew... is THAT what we're having for dinner?" Sigh...

So when Dorothy casually mentioned that she's been doing e-mealz, she had my attention in a major way.

On e-mealz.com, two amazingly brave women have founded a system that puts together menus for those of us too busy/tired/clueless to do it for ourselves. They base the meal plans on size... serves 2 or serves 6-ish. On diet... low carb, low fat, points plan, regular everyday healthy eating. On stores ... Kroger, Wal-Mart, Aldi and any store (around here, but also Ralph's and Publix in other parts of the country). Once you subscribe, you can print the meal plan you choose, complete with recipes and cooking instructions. And you also get the shopping list, divided nicely according to the different sections of the grocery store (meat, produce, bakery, frozen foods, dairy, etc). They even remind you of the staples you need to have on hand. If you choose a particular store, the menus are planned according to that store's specials. Family plans average anywhere from $70-$85 per week. Meals for two are significantly less. It depends a lot on where you shop and whether you subscribe to a plan that follows the specials.

A three-month subscription is only $15.00. That's just $1.25 per week. Or $5.00 a month. Both Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard recommend e-mealz.com to their listeners. And now we are recommending it to our friends! I can't even begin to tell you how many women there are where I work now who are walking around with the web address written on post-its. I'm telling everybody!

We've finally gotten our grocery budget under control. We've successfully avoided fast food. Not one night have we defaulted and gone to Mickey D's or Chick-fil-A or Pizza Hut. I haven't over- or under-bought at the grocery store. We usually have one serving left over, which means the portion sizes are accurate, as we have five in our lovely little family. Jimmy usually eats the leftover portion for lunch the next day, while I have my soup and salad. And you know what? Now... I sorta kinda don't mind cooking anymore. e-mealz rock!