Hi. How are those resolutions coming?
Or … should we not talk about it? : )
One common goal for many of us at the start of a New Year is of course, better health. Betting eating habits. Less sugar. More exercise. Less take-out. More water. Something along those lines … right?
One thing that has helped our family in the past is e-Mealz. I’ve talked about it here before. Many of you heard of it long before I ever did and some of you are already using the service. I’m bringing it up again now for two reasons:
1. Because in our little family, we’ve totally gotten off-track lately with consistently homemade dinners. Holidays, wacky schedules, stress, feeling slammed with so much to do. Excuses, excuses, excuses. We’re so ready to get back on-track.
2. There is an e-Mealz promotion going on right now that will knock off $2.50 from the already-cheap subscription price. Click HERE to learn more and if you sign up, enter ORGANIZE. This code expires January 31, 2011.
We’re so getting back on e-Mealz. If you’re not familiar with how it works, you’ll learn all about it on their site. For me (and anyone else who uses it), it helps in several areas – budget, weight management, simplifying, and organization.
I know you guys well enough to know you’re going to ask me for this recipe. It was an e-Mealz recipe we made this past Fall but I’m afraid I don’t remember which one, sorry. It involved stir-frying rotisserie chicken and zucchini and red peppers in a little olive oil and we added pine nuts. That’s all I remember. It was delicious.
I also know you’re going to ask me if the kids like the food. Mostly, yes. Our kids are picky eaters like most kids. Yes, they say “ewww” and “ugh!” more than once a week when they see a pile of vegetables on their plate. We’re over it. As we say over and over and over again – You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.
Here’s to more consistently homemade meals. Here’s to sitting around the table each night as a family. Here’s to better health and stronger family ties. Wishing each of you the very best with whatever your goals and resolutions may be.
Tags: e-Mealz
I use ez meals. It’s very useful for moms like me. Busy, busy…
We love E-Mealz too….which plan do you subscribe to?
WalMart Low Carb.
Oh I love that response – “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” I’m so using that. My son has suddenly decided anything but chicken nuggets, hot dogs, corn, peas, and green beans are toxic poison. My response has been – you must try everything and I’m not a short order cook. Eat. Kids.
And yes, definitely need to get back into the routine of actually cooking. I don’t use E-Mealz, I just have 5 huge binders of recipes. On Saturday I decide what recipes to cook, pull them out and clip them to the inside of one of my cabinets. Right now I’m working to reduce the abundance we have in our freezer. I foresee some creative meals in the near future! : )
thanks for the link…i’m up for any help in the cooking for my family category!
This is FABULOUS!! I’ve never heard of E-Mealz before, but the kids and I are signing up!! We’re vegetarian so coming up with meals that are healthy, delicious AND kid-friendly is sometimes hard. Thank you for bringing this to my attention!!!
It’ll be nice to make something new and healthy every day
I absolutely love it! Pre-current-pregnancy emealz was our life saver. It was a single change that immediately impacted our family from budget, healthy meals and sitting together for our dinner!
I just started Dream Dinners in October and it has changed our life for the better! More home cooked meals, sitting down together more often! Perfect for sports, running around. All real food I prepare….it’s just that I prepare 12 meals in 2 hours and I’m done. No shopping, cutting, cleaning. LOVE IT!
Thanks for the recommendation on this… I signed up last fall based on your recommendation. Its totally helped the ‘whats for dinner this week’ problem I have… having a plan to follow makes things so much easier.
Love, love, love my e-mealz account! And, yes, my kids don’t like everything, but for the most part it’s been a hit. We also have a “you get what you get” policy, my kitchen is not a diner. I even go so far as to shop 3 wks out for non-perishables since I live an hour away from my major grocery store and Costco. I just purchase my fresh veggies, fruit and some dairy at my little town’s market. I’ve also been thinking of doing a OAMC version of the plan, too. As it is now, I love that I can switch from a quick meal on a day I don’t really want to cook, to a Crock-Pot meal on a day when I have to go to town or I’m just really busy and need to come home to a meal already done. Now if I can just get some of my other friends and family members to jump on the e-mealz wagon…
OMGosh Becky- we say the same thing at our house “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit!” I laughed so hard when I saw that, I always thought I was a bit tough on my 4 kids (and my childcare kids too) when I would recite that but they seem to try more things this way, especially when they are hungry!! I am a firm believer in menu planning. It just helps with the budget and with our busy schedule I always know what’s for dinner! I’m always on the look out for new recipes so I appreciate the links to other sites. I love your blog and I am patiently waiting for Project Life to be back in stock- I’ve been good so far (crossing fingers) with my POTD. . .
Love the “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit comment.” I saw that all the time. As a substitute teacher, girl scout leader, and a parent, I find it is very appropriate in a variety of settings. Glad to see I am not the only one using that expression.
Becky- Which plan do you use at E-mealz? I love the idea and concept of meal planning, and I use E-mealz, but not sure I’ve tweaked it to the right plan. That photo you showed looked delicious!! Thanks for all your tips on so many different things. You’re the best!
Becky uses Walmart low carb (see second post).
VERY cool! I just signed up. The kids are soooo gonna hate this. YAY!
I think you should make the “you get what you get…” quote in a FREE PRINTABLE!!!
It is awesome~thanks for sharing
Amy, seriously great idea. I might just have to get on that one.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve signed up and hopefully it’ll help me with cooking dinner more often.
Just got back on that horse today. Love knowing I have all I need to make 5 meals in my kitchen.
I just downed a handful of Hershey’s kisses before I read this….ugh I’m already slacking on my resolutions! I definitely need to get back on track as far as cooking/meals. I might just have to try this E-Mealz.
Love your post, I’m going to check it out for sure! I quote that to my kids at least weekly! It makes me feel good to realize I’m not the only one quoting that for a variety of situations! ha!
I signed up for e-mealz last fall when you first found it and told us about it and I love it! I have the worst time planning meals…you’d think it was rocket science! My kids are ridiculously picky and they seriously go to bed hungry some nights because I refuse to be a short order cook. That has been a hard place for me to arrive at, but my kids are sometimes so naughty about dinner (rude and whiney), they’ve driven me to it.
I wanted to tell you that my only resolution this year is to take a photo EVERY SINGLE DAY! I’ve never been good about taking photos, even on “special” occasions but you’ve really inspired me. Thanks for that and here’s to everyone here sticking with their resolutions! Yipee!
One last thing…I’m currently doing the digital PL but I’ve decided to order the kit when it becomes available again. My 9 year old daughter keeps begging to scrapbook with me and I think it would be a wonderful family activity each Sunday before church! I know you hear it all the time, but thanks again so much for such a wonderful product!
love e-mealz!
Becky,
Thanks for the great blogs!!
I just started reading your blog and have thoroughly enjoyed myself but today I believe we are kizmet. By this I mean, “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit” is something I have said for YEARS!! I have an 8 and 10 year old and when they were about 5 and 7 I realized that I wasn’t going to stand for this picky eating fickle at the table behavior and started saying that (I am totally unsure of where I even heard it first) and now this many years later they aren’t picky eaters. They have certain foods they get to opt out of but I only allow one food. (Broccoli for my son and red meat for my daughter). The saying was a godsend and my unwavering stance on eating what I make for dinner no matter what has become more natural. I think it really opened up their palate and I never have to worry that they aren’t getting enough veggies!! Anyway, I wanted to share that with you.
We’ve been using that line “Get what you get…” for a while and it works wonders. Doesn’t mean that kids won’t whine but it usually stops them mid-whine.
Oh. My. GOSH!!!! Where has e-mealz been all my life?!?!?! Seriously!!!! Thank you SOOOOOOO much. Already joined, printed my week’s recipe’s and shopping list, and I’m off! This is so genius, and I love supporting a “homegrown” product with REAL people manning it (maybe that’s why I love PL too!). Again, THANK YOU!!!!!
Good for you! I am going to check out eMealz to see what they are about. That chicken stir fry sure looked tasty.
I found eMealz here in November–and I LOVE it! My three boys are all picky, yet I have never heard so many “Ooohh! This is the best meal yet!’s” as I have since starting eMealz. There is rarely a meal they really don’t like. And my stress level has gone down so much because the guesswork is gone for me. Thank you for the tip!
I love the ‘get what you get’ comment. I have no idea what I used to say – with our youngest being 18, it’s been awhile since we’ve had to invoke the implied threat.
When our daughter was 2 and fussy about food, we allowed her to make her own PBJ sandwich. Completely on her own – getting things from the cabinet to putting everything away. The novelty wore off within a month. Same happened with our twin sons. Each decided that ‘suffering’ through whatever was served was better than making PBJ sandwiches! (Hey they are hard to make when you’re only two years old.)
I am soo excited about this idea! I am signing up right now! Thanks for the suggestion!
I signed up for e-mealz back in September after you mentioned it on your blog. I love the system! I love coming home from work and not scrambling to figure out what to make for dinner.
I love the idea behind EMealz. However, with all my allergies, they don’t have a plan that would work for me. I would need a gluten, dairy, nut, yeast, and sugar free menu. So I write my own menu weekly and shop every other week for nonperishables and weekly for perishables. It works for me and my family.
I love this line: “We’re over it.” I’ve been lucky with happy eaters here but am with you in making (healthy) family meals a life staple. It’s one of my favorite things about being a mom … even though I often whine that it feels like mostly cooking, cleaning up from cooking and eating … and then more cooking – putting a little love into it helps a lot. And humor. When my husband calls from work and wonders “what’s for dinner?” I say: “Dinner? Is that tonight?”
Becky uses “Walmart low carb” (see second post).
I had to laugh at this too! We say that quote to my 7 and 4 year old kids too…all the time! Especially at dinner
They like saying it to each other too…would love to see your creativity if you do make that into a printable! Thanks, Becky!
On the topic of meals and meal planning, I just recently discovered MacGourmet a few months ago and LOVE it. It’s a recipe software. The best part is when I’m on All Recipes or Food.com I can just click one button in Safari and it imports the whole recipe (photo and all) into the software. It’s really helped me organize and plan my meals.
Does Emealz repeat meals occasionally? Or do you sometimes repeat favorites instead of doing the meal scheduled?
I also am hoping to cook more at home and get my entire family eating healthier. It always seems that after about a week of consistently eating healthy meals at home, they don’t complain about the veggies anymore. But as soon as we break that and go out to eat, the next plate of veggies, we get “ewwww…..”
Thank you so much for posting this Becky. I just signed up and it looks awesome…now if someone could just go get all the groceries, put them away, and cook all the meals
Becky—I have two girls who are out of the house—waaaaaaaah!, and a sweet son-4th grade (can you say—SURPRISE!!! blessing). My husband is working out of town right now, so I’ve gone from cooking nightly for four to suddenly trying to find SOMETHING for two people. I still want to have the “family dinner”–even if it’s just the two of us most of the time. Thanks for pointing me to emealz—I just signed up. I’m hoping it will help me preserve this precious family tradition we have of eating dinner together AND propel me forward in my weight loss goals. Thank you so much for knowing what busy moms need—
[...] of you know that we’ve become fans of e-mealz, which I recently discussed (again) in this blog post. Well this is just one of the recipes I’ve snagged from our low carb plan. I think it makes a [...]