I'm SO Excited!

SO... I'm finally in a very good routine of meal planning at my house... and although it can be a lot of work for a newbie, I've leared that your return is IMMEDIATE! My time in the evenings is so much less hectic and everyone can know what's for dinner without a gian debate!

Although I love dearly staying up until 1 am digging through websites, cookbooks, etc. for new exciting recipes and tired old favorites we've forgotten about... I just don't seem to have the time!! Besides, not all of those recipes have known "nutritionals"...etc. So if you're trying to watch what your'e eating...it can be hard to marry that all together!

SOOO I googled "Weight Watcher Meal Plans"...thinking perhaps I'd get a few websites that gave a couple weeks of ideas I could steal and use to make life a little easier! :)

Google provided me with a....

JACKPOT!!

I've discovered www.e-mealz.com! This is an AWESOME website. It is a SUBSCRIPTION website, but at only $5 a month ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY, WITHOUT A DOUBT WORTH IT! (Atleast this newbie to it thinks so! :)) E-mealz not only gives you 7 days of meals (1 meal a day...complete with side dishes), but it ALSO provides you a shopping list that is organized by aisle with EVERYTHING FILLED IN for those menus! SCCCCCCCORE! There are TONS of different plans you can sign up for, but I went with the "Points Plan"... a no-brainer for someone who continues to try to "weight watch". Then when you chose the type of plan you want, you can chose the store you most shop at. (My only problem with this is the only store around here on the list is Wal-Mart.) It will price each thing on the list and use items on sale at that store for the week. It gives you a grocery total at the bottom of the page! ~VOILA!~ Oh...that sounds wonderful, you think?? WAIT! It gets better!! Lets say you don't like the meal planned for day 3 and want to swap it out for a family favorite... find all of the #3's on the grocery list and eliminate them...and you've eliminated all the unnecessary items from your list! HOW SLICK IS THAT?!

SOO, I'm very excited to try out my e-mealz menus next week. Looks like some fun new recipes, and the simplicity I need!

If you're reading this and decide to try it out... type in "DAVE" as a coupon code to save 20%! It bills you for 3 months at a time, so for 3 months worth of new recipes (all points are figured for you on the "points based plan"!) it's just $12.50! And you can cancel at any time!)

I'll keep you updated on how I'm liking this... how the recipes are, etc.!!! I'm just excited that for $1.05 a WEEK! All this work is done for me! :)

OH Quick Thought

If you are in need of some great new recipes.... go to my June 29th posting... The only one I wouldn't recommend is the "Crockpot Steak & Potatoes"... although it was "O.K." it wasn't anything to write home to mom about!!!

However, the Breakfast Puff Casserole was DIVINE!! Seriously... add this to one of your meal plans and give it a try! It's SOOO good!

All of the others were great, quick, recipes that most everyone at my house enjoyed!!!!

So... How Do I make this a habit??

My friend, Wendy, has gotten really good at keeping up a blog and it's so much fun to read and steal bargain and deal ideas from her... I, on the other hand, have SUCKED it up getting my blog really to become a HABIT! I continue to meal plan... it's gotten to be the ONLY WAY for me! I LOVE not having the rush at 5:00 to hurry up and think up and gather the items for whatever I think we need to be eating for dinner. THUS... I'm eating healthier AND bringing my overall stress level down a bit! YAY!

So... here I am...a day late...and a dollar short! But here's my weekly meal plan for this week!

Monday: BBQ Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches on Sandwich thins! (YUM), sweet corn, baked potatoes
Tuesday: Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff over wild rice with steamer veggies
Wednesday: Creamy Chicken Italiano over noodles with sweet corn and fresh fruit
Thursday: Pizza Wraps, Baked Chips, fresh fruit (My boys LOVE this meal!)
Friday: Shrimp Pasta, veggie, watermelon
Saturday: We'll be gone to Kinze Picnic most of the day...but Brats and Chips and Melon if we get home.
Sunday: Grilled Cowboy Chicken Grillers, potatoes & onions on the grill, Eat up the rest of that fresh fruit!