Our first week working the menu planning plan from E-Mealz has been pretty darn successful! I love looking at the plan to see what's for supper tonight or tomorrow and knowing it's all (or most of it!) is in the frig or freezer and ready to go! I already knew that part would be lovely. I was just a little concerned about having so many new recipes all at once - and the percentage of which we would like.
Yay! They've been good. While we find we can live without Chicken Divan again (kids and curry, not so much) we LOVED the Chinese Chicken Salad:
1 rotisserie chicken, deboned, shredded
1 bag slaw
4 green onions, chopped
2 oz bag slivered almonds, toasted
2 bag ramen noodles, noodles only
Asian salad dressing (All Seasons Asian Sesame salad dressing)
Mix shredded cabbage, green onion, chicken and almonds. Right before serving, pour dressing over all and sprinkle with noodles. Serve immediately.
Serving suggestion: serve with fresh bakery bread, (make it garlic or not as you like) Jamie wanted fortune cookies too which we bought but forgot to serve!
It was quick and yummy and a nice twist on that ramen noodle salad you've maybe already had or made. The rotisserie chicken makes this one nice for summer time not-cooking in the kitchen season. If your family won't eat that whole bag of slaw, cut this recipe in half because it doesn't really keep after the dressing is on, though Jeff insisted it was "just fine" two days later.
We had "Ben's Tostadas" tonight and are ready to make "Sweet 'n Sour Pork Roast with Jasmine Rice and Sauteed Asparagus" for tomorrow night, which should be a good choice for another rainy day. I'm looking forward to trying "Pepperoni Loaf" with the kids Saturday. "London Broil with Company Potatoes and Peas" for Sunday. Doesn't that sound yummy?
I picked up next week's menu plan on the website today - we'll work on our modifications this weekend and go again. I think E-Mealz will be a good menu planning solution for our family right now. yay! a win!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
wordless wednesday on thursday: chalk art
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sometimes when jamie comes home she just sits down in the middle of the driveway with chalk and this is what happens. It's been happening to her since she was very small. It's only now I have to take the picture from the 2nd story window! [and no, it doesn't matter where the driveway crack happens to be. I really should get that fixed anyway!] |
Monday, April 26, 2010
menu monday
So I started doing my own menu plans and shopping lists a couple weeks ago and while I was procrastinating around the interweb: BAM! I ran into E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families. Menu plans and shopping lists all ready for me each week for just $1.25 each. Hmmmmm...
I believe it was a Sunday night and I was tired and probably cranky so "Sign me up, ma'am!!" I chose the "Wal-Mart" lists for 4-6 people. The shopping lists even include prices with an approximate total for each week. We shopped yesterday afternoon and found the prices to be very, very accurate.
As I'm reviewing the week and planning what we'll eat when I'm realizing that I will have to do a little modification as seven (7) meals is likely more than we'll really need for each week. I usually plan to cook 4 or 5 times. And I'm a little overwhelmed with 7 new recipes although they are all pretty simple with quick and easy prep. The shopping list has the recipe number listed beside each item so it would be very easy to just eliminate some recipes each week and still use the shopping list very effectively.
I'm thinking it's probably not a "forever" solution for us since I'm such a control freak, but with Jamie's graduation ahead, Jeff's changing work schedule and my aggressive Mary Kay business goals for the next several months - this looks like a helpful tool for the feed-the-gang thing we have to do day in and day out.
They also offer quite a variety of menu plans including couples menus, point-system plans, low-carb, vegetarian and many different specific store plans. If you're interested, E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families has a referral program and I get "credit" if you click through from a link on my blog. (magic!)
Let me know what you think - I'll post my first review of the recipes back here next Monday!
~L
I believe it was a Sunday night and I was tired and probably cranky so "Sign me up, ma'am!!" I chose the "Wal-Mart" lists for 4-6 people. The shopping lists even include prices with an approximate total for each week. We shopped yesterday afternoon and found the prices to be very, very accurate.
As I'm reviewing the week and planning what we'll eat when I'm realizing that I will have to do a little modification as seven (7) meals is likely more than we'll really need for each week. I usually plan to cook 4 or 5 times. And I'm a little overwhelmed with 7 new recipes although they are all pretty simple with quick and easy prep. The shopping list has the recipe number listed beside each item so it would be very easy to just eliminate some recipes each week and still use the shopping list very effectively.
I'm thinking it's probably not a "forever" solution for us since I'm such a control freak, but with Jamie's graduation ahead, Jeff's changing work schedule and my aggressive Mary Kay business goals for the next several months - this looks like a helpful tool for the feed-the-gang thing we have to do day in and day out.
They also offer quite a variety of menu plans including couples menus, point-system plans, low-carb, vegetarian and many different specific store plans. If you're interested, E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families has a referral program and I get "credit" if you click through from a link on my blog. (magic!)
Let me know what you think - I'll post my first review of the recipes back here next Monday!
~L
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