Hello Mutineers! If you’ve followed us here on the website or on social media sites like Instagram and Facebook, you know that I like to share the things we actually use around Mutiny Ranch. Since our interests are diverse these items range from animal care to gardening implements but also footwear and kitchen gadgets. No matter what the item is though if we recommend it here then we personally own and use it or have researched it enough to have it on our “wishlist”.
Mutiny Ranch Item of the Day (3/22/2021) is emeals! Okay, so emeals is really a service and not an item but it’s so useful that I think it deserves to be shared.
Pretty much everyone will agree that meal planning can save people a substantial amount of money and reduce food waste. Those are two things I find important. But I’ve come to the realization that I’m not very good at meal planning on my own. Part of the issue is that Clark and I eat vastly different foods. He also doesn’t really care for leftovers. I, on the other hand, can make a big pot of hearty bean soup and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week. With a busy lifestyle full of caring for animals and digging around the garden the last thing I want to do is try to figure out what to make for dinner.
In the past, we tried several different meal services like Hello Fresh and Green Chef. Neither of us was thrilled with the amount of packaging that came with those. We try to reuse or recycle what we can but getting a box a week adds up fast. There were also times when the produce just didn’t seem all that fresh and the cuts of meat (according to Clark) weren’t that great. A lot of the meals started to seem redundant with a big emphasis on balsamic-type glazes. Needless to say, they got old fast.
Then last year I came across something more useful…emeals.
Emeals is a meal planning app that makes the whole process kinda fun. You don’t have to choose just one of their meal plans, your membership gives you access to all sixteen!
30 Minute Low Calorie
Budget-Friendly Low Carb
Clean Eating Mediterranian
Diabetic Paleo
Gluten-Free Quick & Healthy
Heart-Healthy Slow Cooker
Keto Vegan
Kid-Approved Vegetarian
That’s right, you can change your meal category anytime you want…so if one family member is doing Keto and the other is doing the Mediterranean Diet you’re both covered.
Once you select your diet category it will show you several meal options. When you see one you like you can click on it to check out the ingredients and method of cooking. Then simply click to add it to your list and all of the ingredients needed will automatically populate a new grocery list. Keep adding meals for the week (you can even look through previous weeks or different meal plans for more recipes). After your grocery list is created you can scan through it and remove anything you already have on hand.
The grocery list is fantastic. It separates items by type (frozen, produce, meat & seafood) to make it a breeze to grab what you need as you go through the grocery store. It also shows you what recipe the item goes to so you can click on it while shopping…handy if the store is out of something and you need to substitute or have forgotten why you need to get a particular item. Here’s a screenshot of one of my lists…as you can see, it also lets you know if an ingredient is needed for more than one meal.
The app is synced with several grocery store chains (Walmart, Kroger, Amazon, Safeway, HEB, etc) so, if available you can have your groceries shipped to you or made ready for pickup. Otherwise, just head to any grocery store with your list and pick out your necessary ingredients. Then, all you have to do is open your app and pull up one of the meals you selected for the week and get to cooking.
Another nice feature of emeals is that you can save your favorite meals so they’re easy to put on repeat. There are also recipe sections for things like Taco Tuesday, Easy Instant Pot Meals, Game Day Favorites, and Rotisserie Chicken which gives you specific recipe ideas for those occasions. That feature has really come in handy after I grabbed a rotisserie chicken for an easy dinner one night and then didn’t know what to make with all the leftovers.
Emeals has been a lifesaver for me. There’s a huge potential to save money on your regular grocery bill and to reduce your food waste. And, if you’re like me, you’ll save time and frustration (which is even more valuable to me).
You can try it out for free for 14 days. If you decide to join and use my referral link to sign up then you’ll get a $10 credit! The best pricing is the 12-month membership…it’s $59.99 which breaks down to just $5 per month. Emeals saves me way more than that in groceries. Take the stress out of dinner and sign up with me!
As always, we sincerely appreciate it when you use our links to make purchases. This emeals referral link will give us a $10 credit on our account at no cost to you. This savings allows us to spend more on our rescue animals’ upkeep as well as to help assist the rescues of other animals.
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