E-Mealz is an online company which helps you plan your suppers each night. For a small subscription fee ($15 for three months), you can choose a meal plan based on your diet preferences, the size of your family, and your favorite grocery store. E-Mealz supplies you with a plan for seven meals, the recipes, and the shopping list. The meal plan for the week is based on the sales at your particular store that week, an extra bonus.

I had purchased a subscription some time ago, but cooking just isn’t my favorite thing to do, though we don’t eat out very often either. Instead, the meals I fixed often consisted of frozen chicken nuggets or patties, salads, and maybe a meatloaf every now and then. If my husband wasn’t coming home for dinner, the kids were satisfied with pancakes or cereal, so I was satisfied with that too.

This week, though, I was determined to give E-Mealz a fair try. I took my E-Mealz shopping list to my grocery store and got started. The amount I spent was very close to the estimated amount E-Mealz provided. That was a good sign!

Then came the real test: fixing the meals. I’ve followed the plan all week — mixing up the schedule a little, depending on what we were doing — and it has been great!  In the past, I usually make my way to the kitchen around 5:00, then scour the cabinets for about 20 minutes until I figure out what I’m going to cook. This week, though, I didn’t have to do that. I pulled out my copy of the plan, picked out a meal, and was ready to go. We’ve eaten something different every night this week and tried three new dishes that everyone liked. Wow!

So, next week I’ll try again. Now I’m looking forward to establishing better habits in the kitchen, and my family’s looking forward to better meals!