A Wife Loved Like The Church

Posts Tagged ‘Food

I first heard about eMeals from Amanda. The idea was intriguing, but I held fast to my own meal ideas. In the last year, I’ve been hit or miss on whether I make a weekly menu, or, frankly, even get all the items I need from the store {I tend to forget what I don’t write down}.

Two weeks ago, I waved my menu planning white flag and bought a 3 month subscription to eMeals.

There are tons of great options, ranging from gluten free to vegetarian; portion control to family favorites. They have seven meals planed out {as shown above} and then give you a list of what you need from the store ::

Since joining, we’ve been doing the natural and organic plan. But we just switched over to the clean eating plan. Based on the sample menu, the clean eating plan more closely matched our family’s eating habits {more produce, fresh foods versus pre-package foods, even the organic ones}.

So far I’ve loved the service. We don’t usually make all seven meals, because weekends tend to lend to eating out, with friends, or lighter meals than during the week. But, we consistently have four to five of the preplanned meals a week. Having everything laid out for me has been such a relief. I grab what I need and don’t think about it again until it’s time to make dinner. Love that!

However, there has been some draw backs – some weeks have been meat heavy, which isn’t really budget friendly. Another week relied a lot on prepackaged foods {though “organic”} which I really don’t like {so made things fresh instead}. But, eMeals just introduced their clean eating plan, so I’m hopeful that this will solve any issues I have. We are in the middle of our week, so won’t try out the new plan until next week.

Even with some minor draw backs, I highly recommend eMeals. It’s easy, fast and has given us some yummy meals {hello chicken curry soup!}. I love not putting so much effort into meal planning and not worrying about what’s for dinner each night.

The cost is $17 for a 3-month subscription. Because you can download each week’s menu, I’m saving them on my computer as we go for future reference – in case we cancel in the future.

*UPDATED INFORMATION* 5/17/12

As I mentioned, we were switching to the Cleaning Eating Menu. We are entering our second week of that menu and I LOVE IT! So far, all the meals have proven to abide by the rule of shopping the perimeter of the store, so we are eating a lot of fresh foods {asparagus, corn, broccoli, etc}. If you’re looking for a healthy option, I’d recommend the cleaning eating over the natural and organic!

Have you ever tried eMeals or any other meal planning service?

Visit Kristen at We are THAT Family for more Works for Me Wednesday.

I don’t know why certain foods seem so complicated and difficult to make. Maybe it’s the fancy smancy name. Or the fact that I’m convinced I can’t make food better than a restaurant. Whatever the case may be, I’ve always wanted to make tomato bisque soup but have been too scared to try it.


Jonathan and I went for a date to La Madeleine a few weeks back. I ordered a side of tomato basil soup. It was divine. Over dinner I mentioned how I’ve always wanted to make tomato bisque but was too scared to try. So Jonathan challenged me – make it by the end of the week.

I did some research and found this delicious and easy number::

Tomato Bisque

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 (14.5 ounce) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
  • 3 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.
  2. Stir in the tomato paste, chicken broth, tomatoes, sugar, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.
  3. Pour half to three-quarters of the soup into a blender-depending on how chunky you want it-filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in the saucepan.
  4. Return the pureed soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Cook over medium heat until the soup is hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Aside from the very unusual, but thankfully short, protest of dislike from Julia, the meal was a hit. The recipe made enough that Jonathan and I both had seconds and there were still some leftovers. Double score!

Bon Appetit!

Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday.

Pregnancy and cravings go hand in hand. It’s like peanut butter and jelly. Or peanut butter and chocolate. Or peanut butter and bananas. Or peanut butter and well, anything.

With all of my kids I have some crazy strong craving at some point in my pregnancy. A couple of months ago, all I wanted was eggs. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs. The weird part? I’m not a big fan of eggs {though all this egg talk does make me want an egg and cheese muffin}. Currently, I’m going through a fun rotation of cravings.

1. Cereal – Any cereal really. Cheerios. Raisin Bran. Rice Chex. But mostly, Lucky Charms. What is it about dried marshmallows soaked in milk that makes me fight the urge to eat an entire box in one sitting?

{photo credit}

2. Tuna fish – Tuna fish sandwiches, tuna fish on my salad. Tuna fish straight from the can with a little salt and pepper. Strange, but oh so good {and hello protein!}.

3. Pasta – There’s not much better than pasta and pasta sauce. And when paired with some buttery garlic bread? Big time score.

4. Green smoothies I’ve continued perfecting my green smoothie. Added some broccoli and carrots. Talk about goodness in a cup. Seriously.


 5. Pita chips and hummus – Specifically spicy hummus. And multigran pita chips.

6. Hamburgers – From anywhere. With anything. Major bonus points if smothered in a fatty dressing, topped with bacon and avocado.

7. Tomatoes – Beefsteak. Big Boy. Early girl. You name it. If I can slice it up and eat it, I will.

8. Pancakes – Preferably with blueberries. Or chocolate chips. Ohh… or slices of banana. Dipped in pure maple syrup. With a cup of coffee. *drool*

{photo credit}

9. Eggs – Like I mentioned already, I’ve had some crazy strong cravings for eggs. Especially our at home recreation of McDonald’s Egg McMuffin.

10. Cake – Chocolate. With chocolate frosting. And sprinkles. With a mint chocolate ice cream. Though, I’ve been pretty good and haven’t had any cake since Hannah’s birthday party and have taken to making my own low-fat ice cream. But boy, could I go for a slice of cake…

Anyone else starving now? No? Just Me? Ok, I guess it’s time to whip up another batch of pancakes.

Visit Amanda at Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday.