Dinner: Time Saving Tips

While this blog is about money saving tips, there is also the need for time saving tips. In our day and age "time is money" can seem like a very applicable statement so in light of this, let me offer some tips that are working out well in our household:

Last week I mentioned that we would actually begin using eMeals, and we have. We've been using their Family Plan meal plan and making it stretch over a two week span, rather than their 2 person meal plan. We only shop for half of the meals on the eMeals list this week, and next week we finish the others. Three to four different meals per week, leftovers the other times. This is an attempt to save time, more than to save money because we only have to cook half the time. Normally I would freeze the leftovers so we could cook one week and relax the week after, however my husband is not a fan of the freezing leftovers concept. So, we have reached a compromise.

So far we have been cooking one night, and eating the leftovers the very next day. Some people may not like the repetition being right in a row, but it works for us. Since our dishwasher still hasn't been installed yet it's been working out to cook one day, wash dishes the next. And may i say, if you don't have a dishwasher I so HIGHLY recommend this system. Dishes no longer pile up like crazy, nor do we feel like dinner prep/eat/cleanup time lasts forever.

Last night, for example, was our 'wash the dishes' night because Wednesdays are our busy nights. However the recipe for our dinner tonight called for marinating the chicken overnight. Instead of having to have cooked two meals in one night, my husband washed the dishes while I cooked the chicken and made the marinade. And tonight, we get a free lazy day. How wonderful!


Other eMeals Benefits:
-every meal plan comes with 7 dinner menus (sides included) and recipes, as well as a grocery list ordered by store department...saving time even in the grocery store
- not only do you have a meal plan but you also have the recipe available to anyone so either my husband or I can cook dinner, depending on who gets home first. (whereas when I made the meal plan, I cooked because I knew where the recipes were)
-the meals a wonderfully planned to make use of all the items you buy. For instance one recipe only calls for half a pineapple...good thing recipe number 7 calls for the other half of that pineapple!


I can't comment on the saving money part as we're only on the first week of the month, but I can say we spent only $75 this week on groceries, and about $15 of that was for groceries that will last us the month or will go towards next week's grocery list. To us, that's right about on target with our budget...I'll let you know how it goes come the end of the month.

All in all, eMeals is so much easier. It may take the joy and accomplishment from coming up with your own recipe or meal plan, but there's always room for tweaking it to feel accomplished, and room for making your own ingredients (dressings, marinade, sauces...) instead of just buying it because it's on the grocery list. Basically, it leaves the creativity up to what time you have available, and for me...the best creativity comes when I do it because I want to, not because I feel like I have to. :)