A year ago, I never would have thought I’d be excited about weekly meal planning. I was far too cool and spontaneous to be one of those people who actually planned what dinner we would be eating a day in advance. Please. What a silly mama I was!

A year of meal-planning later, I have come to my senses. So I was excited to have a look at e-mealz recently and check out a couple of their family-friendly meal plans. With a variety of
specialty plans available (think gluten-free, low fat, vegetarian) based
on sales prices at the grocery store of your choice, a subscription to this program seems like an
ideal time and money saver.



Living in Canada, I can’t put the store-specific plans to the
test, not having any Krogers or Ralphs around here, but I do love the convenience of the “Any Store” plans on e-mealz. Seven days
of meals include clear shopping lists organized by grocery store aisle,
and laid-out so that it’s simple to eliminate a meal from the plan and
not accidentally purchase an item from that meal.

All for just $1.25 a week.

My only complaint
is that there are a lot of prepared foods in the ingredient lists; things
like salad dressings, canned soups, and stuffing mix. While yes, those can be great shortcuts for busy parents, I prefer homemade
options whenever possible. This is also a plan about frugal shopping above all, meaning expect recipes with frozen vegetables and packs of shredded cheese. If you’re an organic/in season produce/farmer’s market family, this is probably not for you.

That said, I’ll let you in on a little secret, mamas. With a menu
planned each week and recipes at the ready, my husband has stepped up
and started doing most of the prep work the night before. Now if that
doesn’t make life easier, I don’t know what does. –Stephanie

Find great menu planning help with a subscription to e-mealz.