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Now that I’m a business owner (did I mention that?), working 6 days a week and finishing at 7pm most of them, it was starting to get to me that we were eating nothing but crap. We’d pick up takeout 2-3 times a week and the other 3-4, we’d stop at the grocery store get something quick and easy (and usually unhealthy) and because we were hungry on the way home from work, we’d get a lot of crap we didn’t need.

So, we signed up with E-Mealz. We’re not quite through the first week but oh, boy! One full grocery shop (all sorted by section, so no wandering aimlessly around the store trying to find stuff) and all your recipes sorted. This weeks shop was supposed to cost around $81, but we went a little over since we had to buy some staples we didn’t have at home. Even then, we only went over by around $20. The subscription to the site itself is around $1.25 a week and there are several different plans available depending on your dietary requirements, family size and favourite grocery store.

There’s a great variety for each week and you’re not “locked in”. You can change up the order of the meals and in fact, I highly recommend it. The longer-cook options are saved for the days I’m either not working or not working as long and have more time to devote to the 30-45 minute bake time, but for the most part the prep is fast and easy and most meals don’t take nearly that long. Make sure you also look at the sides for each meal so you can change them up for those fussy family members who look at green beans and go “EWWWW!”, or do away with the sides altogether. Regardless of what you decide, you’ll get fast, cheap meal options that your family will love!

I was a little surprised to learn that a song I’ve been hearing on the radio here in the US is from New Zealand band, The Naked and Famous.

Hearing New Zealand music is not new. We occasionally hear Split Enz or Crowded House, and once or twice when I was in San Diego 13 years back, we heard the gorgeous Bic Runga (I believe it was on a Mexican station). But on a mainstream alternative rock station? Not quite so common.