Blog.EmealsForYou

Here are a few testimonials from some of our “happy campers” who are now members of www.emealsforyou.com. We also encourage you to visit their website.

by Miranda1127 on May. 6, 2008 at 12:34 AM

I did my shopping for the month .. and it only cost $150. I usually am a sale shopper. I shop based on sales and cater my plan around the sales. With http://www.emealsforyou.com/ I was able to get a list together for the month (instead of the week) and it really had a big difference on my spending. This way I’m only spending for what we need (no extras…if we have extras we will eat them) so it actually worked out to be less (next month I will work better w/ the sales so I should see a drop as I get better).

So far I have gotten all my meat (except 1), all of my hard goods, breads (I freeze them so they keep), all of my …well basically everything except produce/milk for $150 (and about $50 of this stuff is pantry stuff…spices etc…. b/c my pantry was empty) . I also did this weeks produce/milk run for just over $25, and plan to make the weekly runs for my produce (b/c you really can’t store them, at least I can’t…I wont eat them unless they are fresh…pet peeve…lol.). I’m a little upset w/ the produce market, everything was in bulk. I wanted 4 bananas and got 4 bundles (about 16 or so). Yes it was only $2 but like I said I really can’t store them so it’s more than we needed. I’ll be looking for a new one, and hopefully bring the $25 down to about $15.

Well anyway I’m really excited, if I can do this every month than I’ll wind up saving a ton. We usually spend anywhere from $75-$100 per week ($300-$400 per month). This way we will spend $175 week one and $25 on weeks 2,3, and 4 ($200-$250 per month)…which is a whopping $100-$150 savings. And I feel awesome about this…mostly b/c I know I’ll actually be spending less than $200-$250 a month once I can get a good routine down and find a non bulk produce/farmers market.

Ok so I guess my point is …this site was so worth it for me, and will become more worth it the more I work at my new and improved system.

Julie Elkeshen wrote:

Ok what I think is that I could stay on that site for hours…..an addiction…love it. Thank you for sharing with me. let us talk, I think that moms would love this!!!! Ok I am off to browse more… http://sf.citymommy.com/ http://citymommy.com ( invite code mommy)

Lisa of Cafemom

Hi, Thank you! I’ve signed up and started looking around. What a neat idea.

Elizabeth Edwards www.momcooks.net

I’m looking forward to working with you. If there’s one thing I can definitely get enthusiastic about, it’s other people helping me plan my meals.

Lori http://www.mywoodenspoon.com

I just signed up and man, it does soooo much more than I thought!

The personal world sometimes mimics the business world, when it comes to running the business of our homes this is especially true. In business, when money matters tighten up; businesses revert to a “Retail Mentality”. This simply means they tend to focus on, “What’s it cost” as opposed to, “What’s my return on investment (ROI)?” Well, I don’t have to tell you times are tough in the real world, the world we call home. The cost of living has risen rapidly while our paychecks seem to shrink. So were tend to follow the business world and look at our cost rather then our ROI.

A simple exercise in this theory is our car. Maybe it is getting a little old, maybe it needs some work. Putting Best Business Practices , another business term, to work we should evaluate how much it would cost to bring it back to decent shape versus how much a new car cost. There are many programs designed to help you with this equation. It just may be that all things considered you may have to spend some money to save more money in the long run (ROI).

I know all of you are now sitting on the edge of your seats wondering how this ties into www.emealsforyou.com . Well friends, the wait is over. Meal planning is a lot like looking at something through the ROI glasses. It may require some work on your part, a departure from your normal routine. It may require spending a few bucks to save even more down the line. As with the car decision above there are tools to help you transition from Retail Mentality to ROI. www.emealsforyou.com is one of those tools.

We did a recent survey of moms on another blog. We asked them to tell us how much they spent on Fast Food each month. We further broke this number down by money spent on Pizza, Mc D’s and other (Chinese, ribs, takeout). Our sampling had both ends of the spectrum as to income. Our highest spent each month was $400 and our lowest was $30. The averages are: Total spent per month $98, pizza = $24, Mc D’s = $46 and other came in at $29. Most of the respondents mentioned that they thought they were spending too much on take out and should try to be better in the future; many saying they should be making better food decisions for their families.

So it all comes back to ROI. If I spend $36 on a 1-year membership to www.emealsforyou.com ( $31if you use the promo code on the right) how much will I save in the long run? I think the more important question is,” How much better will I be feeding my family?”

Now that we know what is in our freezer and pantry (see Why Meal Planning - The First Step) it is time to begin to put together our weekly meal plan. A quick note: not all budgets are equal. Some have tighter budgets than others. This Sample Meal Plan is meant only to give you an idea of how all this goes together. Realizing that many are really squeezed financially we are making efforts to get more low cost recipes on the www.emealsforyou.com site.

Grocery shopping with a shopping list has two great effects: you know you will have what you need when you are preparing the meal and you will save money as you only buy what is on the list. Working with the local grocery sales sheets I have put together the meal plan for 7 dinner; using the techniques mentioned in Feel the Power - Weekly Meal Planning- Save Time and $$$ choosing meals that are fairly easy to make and pleasing to your family. In the interest of space on this blog I have created a separate file:Feel the Power - Meal Planning - How to Step-2 - using the emealsforyoucom site to show you the meal plan and the shopping list created by www.emealsforyou.com so that your trip to the grocery is both quick and economical. You will also see that it is possible to add items to the shopping list not called for in the recipes but needed around the house. The entire process took roughly 15 minutes to complete. You may do this same function without using emealsforyou.com. You just need to gather your recipes, compile a list of all the ingredients to include amounts and then off to the store.

Remember the reason we are meal planning is to save money: buy just what you need, not all the costly extras and feed your families better meals. Better being better tasting, better for them and maybe more, “this is good mom” for you.

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Fish Entrees/Angelhair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp)

Angelhair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp

What do you want for dinner honey? I don’t know what do you feel like? How many of us hear this all the time? So Capt. Jim, from next door, and my wife are sitting there trying to figure out what they have a taste for. How about some shrimp? Okay, with what? Can’t you just make something, we know it will be good. Make something new!

This is the genesis of the Angelhair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp recipe. A little of this and a little of that; throw it in the pan and viola! Dinner is Served. Some of my best recipes have come from this method. I think the important part here is trust your instincts. You know what you like. A little shrimp here; a lot of garlic there. Finish with some lemon zest to, as they say” make it pop” whatever the hell that means.

Bottom line is this is a really good, fast and if you buy the shrimp on sale, inexpensive meal. One that fits perfectly into the Sunday night slot or even a neighborly get-together. Final conversation with the diners, how is it? mmm. what? mmm, don’t talk with your mouth full.

Angel Hair Pasta with Garlic Shrimp

Heat oil in pan; add 1/2 the zest, all the scallions, garlic, and shrimp. Reduce heat and simmer until shrimp are done,( about 3-4 minutes) add lemon juice, tomato, and milk. Simmer 3 more minutes. Cook pasta in boiling water with 2 Tb salt. Add pasta to pan, mix well, plate. Sprinkle top with parsley flakes, black pepper, remaining lemon zest and romano.

Serve with garlic bread.
* See note

If your pasta is too dry add a little of the pasta water.

From the Happy Birthday Meal Plan at emealsforyou.com

Cookbooks are like arm chairs; sounds crazy but let me explain. Cookbooks are a collection of recipes; kind of like the arm chair selection in a furniture store. To see whether we “like” the chair, whether it is comfortable or not, we have to sample it. Sit in it, move to the left, move to the right, maybe put our feet up to fully evaluate it. We have to take into consideration the quality of the store we are in. Now let’s look at color and material; lots to do here.

So how does that equate to cookbooks? We have many avenues for cookbooks and recipes. There is the old fashion book, and the new fashion Internet search. We pick up the book, look at the pictures, do a quick scan of the recipes and take it to the cashier. Now, at home with our feet up in our favorite chair, we open that cookbook and find exactly two recipes we think we like. Over the next few days we make these recipes and guess what? We find we like only one. So the end result is one good recipe for the cost of the cookbook, plus not just a little disappointment on our mindset. Each of us has that supposed “special” cookbook. I bought a Charlie Trotter, world-class Chicago chef, cookbook; impressed my friends. I quickly found out that Tuna-Wrapped Oysters with Saffron Infused Tomato Water just wasn’t me. Fifty bucks well spent, not.

Now let’s look at those favorite recipes and cookbooks, the ones with the smudges of chocolate and egg on the pages. The one where you can quickly find the recipe you always cook when you have to have something that works, mainly ’cause the book has so much “crud” on the page that it opens itself to the recipe. Ooohhh! This is my favorite chair, this is my comfort zone.

So what’s your point, you say. My point is you can buy all the cookbooks in the world. You can download all those recipes from the Internet. I am betting in the long run you will return to those old favorites, those recipes from chefs, and friends and maybe your mom that always work and bring back good memories. Sure it is okay; in fact you should be seeking out new “favorites”, just don’t think that more is better. Sit back in that comfy old chair and enjoy your recipe comfort zone. That’s my rant and I am sticking to it.

So you know you should plan a little better; for a couple of reasons. First there is the, ” I really should give my family better meals” thing. Then, and this should not be minimalized, there is the, “times are tough and I should try to save money where I can” thought. Using www.emealsforyou.com will help you plan better, feed your family better and feel better about yourself. From picking recipes and meals your family will love; to printing the shopping list designed to help you get through the grocery faster and with fewer unneeded items in the cart, we give you that “warm fuzzy” that you are doing something to help. Think how easy it would be to save just $3 per month, that’s the cost of a membership to emeals and as they say, “the rest is gravy”.

Okay, enough of the sales pitch; let’s move on to the First Step in Meal Planning. this one will take a little work but it will pay off in the long run.

Step 1 - Get to know the bottom of the freezer and the back shelf of the pantry. Sounds easy enough. Take a piece of paper and write down what is, or what you think it is, in that frosty baggie way back there. Make a note of what spices you have, what can goods have been sitting there waiting anxiously to please your family. Side note: now would be an excellent time to clean out all those jars of salad dressing with 1 inch of dressing in the bottom on the fridge door, you know, the ones with an expiration date of 3/2004.

Step 2 - On another sheet of paper write down all the pre-prepared foods you consume in the next two weeks. Include all the snacks the kids eat as well. These are NOT GOOD for you, don’t believe me, take a peek at the ingredients; plus they are consuming your budget. Don’t go “cold turkey” on the kids stuff, but see where you can cut back; where you can change some eating habits for the better.

Pat yourself on the back, you have started the process. Now that you know what you have you can start to figure out what you need. One final thing: start an “on sale” fund. We will use this to stock up on food, when it is on sale, that you will build your meal plans around. We help you with this as well. Our Recipe Finder let’s you plug in ingredients and see what you can make with them. Once you get the hang of all of this your will find how easy it really is.

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Cooking on a Budget/entree - Shells and Sausage)

Shells and Sausage

So we are walking around Findlay Market, the nation’s oldest outdoor farmers’ market, and I see a great basil plant for $1.25. I love to have fresh herbs growing in our yard and basil is one of those that I always plant, well my wife plants them, I cook I don’t plant. Now I am thinking, “what can we have to eat using some of this basil?”. Nudging around the kitchen I find a couple of sweet Italian sausages in the freezer and start the pot of water on the stove for some pasta. About 12 minutes later we are having this wonderful lunch that was both quick and cost effective.

For those of you operating on a tight budget you have to learn to use the ingredients found in your pantry and frig and avoid that trip to the store to pick up just a few things that turns out to be $65 worth of things you didn’t know you needed. Let’s look at the total cost for this lunch:

the basil - $1.25 and now I have it for the entire summer

1Tb oil - $?

2 sweet sausages - about $.75 (6 for $2.25 on sale)

1 medium onion - $.15

2 cloves garlic - $.10

1 can dices tomatoes - $1

.5 tsp hot pepper flakes - about $1.50 but you will have lots leftover

2 Tb grated cheese - $.25

1/2 lb pasta - $.50

Total = $5.50 for a great lunch or casual dinner. Add more pasta, there will be plenty of sauce and make this even more frugal feeding 4.

Now that we know the why and have determined who we will share this party with; let’s move on to the all important “food” decisions. Many factors go into deciding what kinds of foods you will be serving, or if you will be serving food at all. First and foremost is the budget. Unless money is not a factor in your life it is important to set a limit on how much you want to spend on this party. While limiting, this will also help to focus you better on the decisions you make moving forward.

“What can I bring?”, this statement usually is spoken by those invited when you inform them of the party. Decide in advance if you want to have some help with the food or not. I personally prefer to “do” the party myself, thus keeping my party theme clean and not having to find a place for the wonderful nachos someone brought to my Julia Child revisited Paris Bistro meal. If you decide to let your guest bring food; have an answer ready as to just what they can bring. I find that asking them to bring a bottle of wine usually works in this situation.

So now let’s decide on the menu. Based on the number of people coming, the time of day or night and how many plates and flatware you have; you can begin to set the menu. My wife and I are currently planning a small gathering of the new neighbors for a cocktail party. Our theme is the Kentucky Derby. Based around mint julips, we have chosen to have a couple of hors d’oeuvres , four to be precise. As it is a cocktail party we don’t have to consider seating arrangements. If you are planning a sit down meal, how many can you get comfortably around your table? Think also about serving pieces, once you make the food you have to get it to the table and present it in an attractive manner. If you are planning a rather large group event take the time before the big day to set all the serving pieces out on the table to make sure they fit or you have a plan “B” to handle this. For the large formal buffet we had in NJ a few months ago, my wife, my good friend, Jean, and my mother-in-law planned the table setting. I was strictly in charge of the food. It was extremely important that I know what went where; as I was responsible for getting it all out, quickly and in the right spot. We actually drew a template with the serving pieces and the food that went on them specified. I know, it sounds really anal but when crunch time came I was able to get all the food in the right place in a very short time.

A few do’s and don’t’s to consider. Do write your menu down, in fact print it and put it on the frig. When our kids would come home from college for a holiday the first question they always asked was, “is the menu posted?”. To them this signified that we were looking forward to their arrival and a good time was at hand. Do try to stay within budget both on the food and number of guest, a very crowded room and a “screaming” wallet don’t make for a good time. Do plan on enjoying your own party; after all this is why you are going through all this planning. Do plan on how all this will get cleaned up; DO say yes to a friend who offers to help clean up.

Don’t “try” new dishes when 20 people are coming; most of us can’t pull this off, stay with what you are comfortable with. Don’t make this into a competition. Don’t worry if you run out of something, “stuff” happens and probably if you don’t make a big deal out of it no one will notice.

One final Do, Do try to keep your sense of humor throughout, it just may save the day!

Feel the Power - . As an added benefit for those who are members of the emealsforyou clan we have included a guide to using our emealsforyou.com site to make planning and executing the party easier in the category section called “Feel the Power”.

(from www.emealsforyou.com Meal Plans/Theme Meal/Veggie - 14 Across…Healthy)

Black Bean Burritos

Warning, this post gets close to being a Rant. Beyond the cost savings of planning and cooking meals for your family there is the “healthier food” aspect to consider. Take for instance the Black Bean Burrito shown at the bottom left side of this post. Even if you don’t like or think you don’t like black beans you have to give me it looks pretty appetizing. This is especially true when you compare it to the “Taco Hell” burrito above the made-at-home burrito. Is this, the one on the top, what you want your family eating a couple of days a week? Think of all the time you will save on “wash day” not having to get the grease stains out of the kids’ shirts, ’cause you know it is impossible to eat a greasy taco in the car without a little spillage.

I knew the “Taco Hell” burrito was going to be bad for me; knew it like you know it is going to rain just after washing your car. What I didn’t expect was just how bad. Here are the numbers: The bean burrito has 350 calories but more importantly 1190mg of Sodium, just under half your daily recommended amount. If you step up to the plate to the Grilled Stuft Burrito- Chicken, as I did; then you are looking at 640 calories with 2160 mg Sodium; add a diet coke and you are over the limit.

The made-at-home bean burrito comes in at 192 calories with only 293 mg of Sodium.

Planning and cooking at home allows you to take charge of what you are eating. You can control the ingredients; want less salt, just read the label on the beans and buy the no or low sodium brand. Want low fat, get the low or non-fat sour cream. Don’t like white flour buy the whole wheat tortillas. See, it is about just re-directing your hand in the grocery store to foods that are better for you; and if it is better for you, you will feel better about feeding it to your family.

Planning meals for your family takes time. The upside is that if you plan your meals you will benefit many times over in time savings down the line and more importantly save money. An adjunct to this is your family will really appreciate the food you are serving them. We all have gone to the grocery with little forethought on what we need to buy; the result of this is a cart stacked to the gills with “stuff”. Upon arriving home we find that we didn’t really buy anything that made sense from a “feed the family for a week” mindset. So now it is back to the store, more time and money wasted.

www.emealsforyou.com has the solution for you. We provide hundreds of recipes and meal plans for you, complete with an engine that will scale these to the number you are feeding. Once you have made your choices we will print the all important shopping list, designed to follow the flow of your grocery sections.

Want to take advantage of the weekly sales at your grocery; no problem. Get the sales fliers from the groceries in your area. Go through them and see what food appeals to you. Log on to www.emealsforyou.com and go to Recipe Finder. Choose those foods that appealed to you and see the recipes associated with them. Choose those recipes, send them to your favorites box, scale them, and using our easy shopping list function, print the list. This allows much more freedom of choice; easing your mind and saving you money.  Think how easy it would be to save just $3 per month, that’s the cost of a membership to emeals and as they say, “the rest is gravy”.