Free PR for EMeals.Com

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the kind words/happy thoughts towards my grad school decision! 
No, the mailman did not deliver it today. Yes, I went cray, had a breakdown, and finally just CALLED admissions. I then waited for an e-mail version of an app decision... It took what seemed like ETERNITY but I finally got this:

Needless to say I feel blessed beyond belief! I am still in shock that I got accepted into BOTH schools that I applied to and mostly that I get to be a SPARTAN twice over :) Going back to MSU is honestly the BEST option for our family and John is thrilled (...and a little jealous) that I will be back on campus come fall :) 
I'm thinking a post on my career goals and WHY I am getting my MSW, what I plan to do with it, and how this whole dream came to be is in order! For now I am basking in PURE bliss - NO MORE WAITING :)

Bubba is excited too because Grandma gets to babysit twice a week!! Yay!!

Now- Onto business. Lets talk emeals.com. I first heard about this website from a post Molly did a week or so ago. I know that I have talked about meal planning and organized grocery lists before, and how important they are for time saving purposes. Well this website was EVERYTHING I could have hoped for and more! They give you a new meal plan each week from the grocery store of our choice. You can pick what kind of meal plan you want (low carb, organic, portion control) and for how many people (family size vs. for two!). This is beyond amazing. So often I find recipes from Pinterest or blogs that are for 6-10 people - this just ends up being wasteful in our home! Recipes MADE for two?! SIGN ME UP! And sign up I did. it cost around $21 for 3 months worth of meal plans for 2 at Whole Foods. Please and thank you! 
The meal plans come with 2 sheets:
1) The meals for the week with quick and easy directions... all on ONE page. 
2) Your grocery list! Organized by store section. There are even extra spaces for misc. items you may need and spaces to put check marks once you have the item! There are prices listed next to every item and the meal plans are tailored towards what coupons the stores are offering that week (Pretty much the definition of AMAZEBALLS). 
This is our first week using the plan and so far we are LOVING it. The recipes are delicious and so easy (or so my husband says... homegirl is taking a break from the kitchen these days). 
Now the site offers you the ability to look at last weeks plan as well as the current week. Therefore I already have a stockpile of 3 weeks worth of plans. This is awesome because after 3 months we are hoping to have a stockpile of recipes that we can just remake! BUT we took our grocery list with us to the store on Monday and it got trashed (I love to cross things off).. 

this got me thinking! Remember my treasured family recipe book?! Well it has extra room. I also have extra page protectors! I slipped both sheets (back to back) into one page protector. Leaving the meals/recipes on the front and the grocery lists on the back.

Now when I go to the store I can pop out the sheet that I need and cross things off with a dry erase marker.. leaving the grocery list good as new for next time I want to use it!

At some point I might buy a separate binder just for emeals, but for now this works (and keeps my kitchen less cluttered) I also want to get a little pouch to keep all of my Whole Foods coupons organized by their lists!)

Now excuse me as I go enjoy this tasty meal! It's ready to come out of the crock pot ANY minute :)

 

Meal Planning & The Efficient Grocery List!

Can we first discuss that yesterday, on my THIRD meetup.com attempt, I finally made it to one (semi) on time and was SUCCESSFUL! The organizer of the "park day meetup" recognized me right away and introduced herself (yay for not awkwardly introducing myself). Then I made a friend. She asked for my number and everything.. seriously, we're besties now. But in reality I am so relieved to be making progress in the "mom friend" department.. it's stressful business!

To bring you up-to-speed on today... things started off with a lot of promise:

Adorable right?

I'm all confident this morning about how we will trek over to Trader Joe's (it's 20 min away) and grocery shop amongst the beautiful healthy food and then play outside blah blah blah WRONG. Teething monster strikes again! Now that Jack is FINALLY napping I have had to reevaluate my whole plan! Like go to Meijer instead of Trader Joe's (WOMP WOMP)

Now, I have been in a HUGE cooking slump lately.. like not excited about it at all because we are trying to be "healthy". I have been "attempting" to follow this SUPER bland meal plan for like 3 months now that doesn't ever work out and so it is time to find some cooking inspiration again! 

I headed over to skinnytaste.com and picked FIVE recipes I want to try over the next week. MEAL PLANNING PEOPLE! It takes work/time but it's important to sticking with a healthy lifestyle and EVENTUALLY it saves time AND $$$$ (da moneys). 

So here's my guide to creating the EFFICIENT grocery list:

-When you are trying lots of new recipes I'm thinking it is pretty normal to write down ALL of the ingredients for each recipe (or is this just me?) I usually end up with pages of notebook paper that look like this

Then I get to the grocery store and spend about 2 HOURS going back and forth up and down the aisles gathering the ingredients for each recipe one at a time. Pre-Jack this was fine, whatever, I can spend 2 hours at the grocery store because, who cares? Well now, Jack cares, he cares A LOT.

So now.. 

1. I write down every recipe I want to try

2. I start a NEW list and categorize the ingredients by things like produce, spices, dairy, etc. 

3. I first put down the things I need just in general (daily staples) 

4. THEN I got through each recipe and add the ingredients under their designated category (There are apps for phones that do this too but I am a CROSS IT OFF WITH A PEN kind of girl)

5. When I get to the store I BREEZE through the aisles checking things off like cray cray and we are out of there in no time! 

It takes a bit more time and forethought but the end result is worth it! I'm sure there are other methods, even ones that are maybe even MORE efficient?? I'm open to suggestions!

I also like to bring my groceries home to a clean and organize kitchen. This means clearing off the shelves of expired/half eaten/leftover items in the fridge. Last night there were a few things in the fridge and cupboards that hadn't been used or that were left over from other recipes so I whipped up a makeshift casserole. I am SO uncertain if this will actually taste good.. but it's what's for dinner tonight.. hahaha

chicken, spinach, tomatoes, garlic, cream of chicken soup.. 

Recipes I am TRYING this week:

1. Crock Pot Asian Pork with Mushrooms

2. Cilantro Lime Tilapia Tacos

3. Skinny Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

4. Chicken with Leeks, Sun Dried Tomatoes in White Wine Sauce

5. Stuffed Pepper Soup

Now this little naked napper just woke up so it's time to head to the store.. don't let that cute face fool you - there are teeth in those gums that are causing all hell to break loose in this household!

Wish me luck!