I am pretty excited about the new menu plan we’ve been using at our house! It’s no secret that meal planning and prep is not my strong suit. I do it because my family needs to eat, but I don’t enjoy it. A few months ago, several ladies in my Mom2Mom group shared that they were using a new service called
Fresh 20 that emailed them their menu plans every week, along with their grocery list. They offered to send me a couple sample weeks to see if I liked them. I loved it. I simply printed my list, went shopping and knew that I had what I need for the next 5 dinners. Out of the 10 dinners we tried, 8 were hits. I love that they use only 20 fresh ingredients and a few pantry staples.
I went to buy a year's subscription when I found out the current
groupon (my referral link) going on was for
EMeals. (here’s the direct link to the
groupon) It’s the exact same premise as Fresh 20 just a different service. I also enjoyed that it was Dave Ramsey endorsed. I was blown away that you can choose from 10 different plans - classic, clean eating, simple gourmet, paleo, low carb, low fat, portion control, natural and organic, gluten free, and vegetarian. We are currently in week 3 of the portion control plan and I’m very happy!!
We have really liked the meals and Owen is actually eating them! I mean seriously, he ate curried chicken and broccoli tonight. And didn't even ask for yogurt. :) I feel like all the hard work of hunting down new recipes is done for me and I simply print my grocery list and go. I like that EMeals gives me 7 meals a week instead of 5 like Fresh 20, although it usually takes us a week and half to 2 weeks to get through one menu plan. I like to add in a few of our old favorites, a leftover night, and a fend for yourself night or 2. Here’s a
sample of a week if you want to take a peek.
I would say this idea is great for you if you don’t love menu planning. And if you don’t have a super picky eaters as your spouse. :) But I’m a big fan. Let me know if you have any questions or want to try a week before committing!
Happy 11 Months Ellison Jakeh! It’s pretty hard to believe that we are knee deep (pun intended) in her first birthday party planning. It literally feels like yesterday when we had the amazing experience of meeting her. 
We have no stats from this month, but the poor thing got skinny during her 2 weeks with the dreaded flu. Now she looks really long and thin.
Thankfully, she is back to eating a ton this week! She’s finally getting braver with textures and enjoying more table food along with her purees. Still a great nurser although she moves around a ton until my milk lets down and that drives me batty. :)
Her big personality is such a joy to watch! She loves to wave, hold her hands up for “so big” and has a great wiggle when she dances. She claps all the time and gives the best kisses. She says ma-ma and da-da and ba-ba for brother or baby. She’ll say "uh” when I say uh-oh. We’ve been signing with her for awhile, but she has yet to be really interested in doing any of the signs for more, milk, or all done. 
She definitely knows what she wants and doesn’t have much patience when she doesn’t get it. She loves Owen’s micro-machines (really tiny cars) and won’t have anything to do with the bigger ones she can’t swallow. She loves to hold my phone, but prefers the screen to be on, not black. Once in her high chair you better have food ready that instant for her.
Look at all that hair! Haha. Ok, there’s not much yet but the back is finally starting to fill in. There’s hope that she won’t be bald forever!
I thought she might be walking by her birthday. But with the 2 week stint of not much moving, that might not be the case. She loves to walk with her walker toy or pushing Owen’s big truck. And when holding our fingers, she doesn’t lean on them nearly as much. But she hasn’t attempted to take any steps yet away from the furniture. 
I think she’s getting ready to drop her morning nap. I was not ready for this as Owen didn’t drop his until around 18 months. But a few mornings this week she’s gone without it and been fine. It would be nicer to get a slightly longer afternoon nap out of her and to have freedom to do things all morning, but I’ll miss my alone time with Owen.
She adores her pink monkey, Mimi and cuddles and gives it kisses while in bed. She’s definitely not a cuddler though and prefers to be put right into bed instead of any rocking.
Praise Jesus! 
Such a fun month getting to know this sweet little girl even more. Cannot wait to celebrate her soon!
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