Emeals Review
SUMMER VACATION…aka the time when you realize that you will have your kids with you 24 hours a day for 3 months and that you do not have enough food or patience or energy to keep them all entertained…oh the joys…haha. Lucky for me a little ad popped up on my instagram that has changed the way I prep for dinner-time at my house. I started using Emeals with Walmart grocery pick-up and thought I would share my thoughts with you.
First off, what is Emeals??? It is a meal planning site that provides a variety of ideas and recipes each week to help you plan out your dinners. THEN it links up with your favorite grocery service (mine is Walmart Grocery Pick Up) and creates a grocery list for you. So in a nutshell, I get on to my Emeals app, click the weekly recipes that look good and fit my families lifestyle, connect the shopping list to my WM grocery app, fill my cart, and then go pick up all of the ingredients for my week’s meals and have them delivered to my car. It is like the Jetsen’s or something…except it is real life and REALLY simple.
I have been using Emeals for a couple months now and thought it was time to share the details. So in typical review fashion, let’s take a look at the pros and cons SHALL WE??
Pros:
Meal Variety: Each week a new batch of recipes is loaded to the app. So I can choose the recipes that my family will like and skip the ones that do not work…like fish….barf:( I tend to get into a food rut and make the same 10 meals on rotation each week…tacos, spaghetti, breakfast, chicken, repeat. But with Emeals I have been able to try new foods and make a wider variety of meals for my kids. They even tried coldslaw on their BBQ sandwiches the other day…which was WAY out of the norm for my semi picky eaters.
Numerous Meal Plans: There is basically a meal plan for ANY family. I tend to always use Family Friendly, Budget Friendly, 30 Minute Meals, and Quick and Healthy, but there are SOOO many other plans. There is Paleo, Diabetic, Low Carb, Vegan, Heart Healthy, Gluten Free…the list goes on and on. And you do not have to lock in to ONE plan. I switch back and forth and choose meals from my favorites to get a weeks worth of meals my kiddos will eat.
Easy to use App: Everything you need is all on one VERY easy to use app. So I just hop on my phone, scan the weeks meals, add the ones I like to my “cart”, and the app does the rest. After I choose my meals, it makes a grocery list for me. Then I can go through and eliminate items from the list that I already have, so I do not have extra ingredients I do not need or want and then shoot that list RIGHT over to my meal delivery app. I love this part because then I can pick the EXACT ingredients I want from Walmart…for example a cheaper generic brand, a specific name brand I enjoy, or an already cooked option, etc. Also, I can add all of the other grocery items I need NOT from Emeals and buy them all in ONE shot. If you do not do grocery pick up, you can always just create the shopping list and head to the store for yourself too…but it is less fun than having someone do it all for you:)
Extras: There is also an option to subscribe to a lunch and breakfast plan. I cannot vouch for this one because I only use the dinner plans, but it might be fun to try out some new breakfast recipes. Additionally, there are dessert and special occasion meal plans. These just popped up in my app recently, so I have not fully scoped them out. But the one dessert we tried was easy and we have now made it 3 times because my kids went crazy over it.
Easy: I am not a chef by any stretch of the imagination. I cook pretty basic stuff and in this phase of my life VERY kid friendly. And I LOVE the recipes that have been in the family friendly plans. They are not complicated, do not require expensive ingredients, and do not scare my kids. They are mostly a different take on old favorites. For example we have had Taco Joes (think Sloppy Joe had a kid with Rosarita), Shepherds Pie baked potatoes, cheesburger pizza, beef and bean tostadas, teriyaki ramen noodle bowls, and mexican haystacks. The meals are all easily prepared, the directions are step by step, and the food is good but not too gourmet for my kiddos.
Ok…now for the cons…
Cost: The only real con that I can see, is that this service DOES come with a price tag. I paid for a one year subscription, which was $60, but if you divide that up per month it comes out to only $5 per month…not bad at all. You can also choose to pay 3 months at a time if you do not want to commit, but the price goes up a bit. My suggestion, try the 2 week free trial and see if you like it. I was in love after the first week and KNEW I wanted to continue!!
I have nothing but good things to say about emeals really. It works perfectly with my lifestyle and makes everything simple and I do not have to THINK about what to make for dinner!!! It works seamlessly with my Walmart pick up too…which if you have not tried it is also LIFE CHANGING all on its own!! I have wanted to try meal services for soooo long, but the food looked too fancy for my kids (and for me if we are being honest) PLUS the cost seemed outrageous when they are sending all of the special foods along too. I love that with Emeals I can still shop at Walmart (although they work with other grocery stores as well) and pick the food that I want to buy…Easy Peasy. Comment if you have questions or if you are a Emeals lover too. Happy Meal Making!!!
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