E-Mealz Review

Website: http://www.e-mealz.com/
Cost: 3 months/$21, 6 months/$35, 1 year/$58, renews automatically.

E-Mealz's big idea is shopping on a budget and they do budget well.  Each week, in their shopping list, they include the estimated price for each item at the store you've selected.  Their meals almost never come in over budget.  The stores include Aldi, Kroger, Publix, Ralph's, Whole Foods, and Wal-mart.  They also have an "any store" option so that you can still use their meal plans if none of the listed stores are convenient.  That's the case here in Virginia.  I opted for the any store choice, as I usually shop at Trader Joe's, Food Lion, or Harris Teeter.  The cost estimates were pretty close to what they said they would be, but I know that if we were still in Hawaii, there's no way the prices would match up.  Just remember that if you live in a more expensive part of the country, the prices are estimates and you'll be paying more.

When you select a menu, you pick based on the store, and then you select the number of people you'll be cooking for, and then the type of menu you want.  Since it's just the Sailor and me, I usually cook for 2 people.  However, the E-mealz menus for 1 or 2 only have 5 recipes, whereas the family meals have 7.  I don't understand this concept at all.  If I'm paying the same price for the menu, how come I don't get the same number of recipes?  When I menu plan, I usually only plan for 5 meals.  We eat out once a week and have leftovers or something the other night.  But I'm also a picky eater, I like being able to choose the 5 I want and leave out 2.  Most menu plans indicate on the shopping list which meal an item will be used in, so it isn't hard to go through the list and cross off ingredients for the meals I won't be making.  I do this when I go through the kitchen to see what items I already have, and it doesn't add any extra time.  But if they only provide 5 meals, I don't have that option.  For that reason, I picked the family meals and halve the recipes myself.  It's more unnecessary work, and I don't see why E-Mealz does it that way.

You also have to select your meal plan based on dietary needs.  You can pick the regular meal plan, gluten free, low carb, low fat, portion control, vegetarian, and natural & organic.  There are lots of different choices so your needs should be covered by one of the menus, but there's no concession for multiple needs or different preferences from family members.  I originally signed up for the vegetarian meal plan, but changed to the regular menu shortly thereafter.  They allow you to change your menu once during your subscription.

The meals themselves are ok.  A few were really good, most were ok, and one or two were flops.  The format is concise, but sometimes a little too short.  If you don't cook regularly, you may have issues following the directions.  Their meals aren't overly complicated though, and almost never gourmet.  They do have simple side dish suggestions.  They're fairly healthy, and even better if you choose the vegetarian or natural and organic plans.

E-Mealz is definitely a good budget friendly choice and if I hadn't tried a few other menu plans, I think it would definitely suffice.  The cost is a little high for what you get.  With Saving Dinner and Relish!, you get a lot more for your money.  With E-Mealz, you're forced to choose a specific store, serving size, and type of menu with your subscription.  There's not much room for flexibility.  In order to save money on your subscription, look for coupon codes, sales, or offers on sites like Groupon.com.  Menu plans are posted on their website each week, and remain up for an additional week.  There is no archive, so make sure you save your menus!