With the new year and wanting to try to eat better, I recently tried a new service. It's called $5 Meal Plans. For $5 a month, you receive menus and shopping lists for six main dishes a week (plus some extras). I really like it so far! Especially the shopping list. I don't buy everything, only items for those dishes that I plan to make (it's coded so you can figure out which items go with which recipes). I also love that the recipes are healthy, and they're not expensive. They say that each meal costs about $2 or less per person. (Note, I do NOT receive compensation for telling you about this. :))
The first menu item I tried making was the White Chicken Chili. I loved it! Here's my adaptation.
White Chicken Chili
Adapted from $5 Meal Plans
15 oz can Great Northern white beans (or make using dried beans by soaking ahead of time)
2 large boneless chicken breasts
1 small white onion (I used a sweet onion), chopped
4 oz can green chilies
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)
½ cup heavy cream or whole milk (I used light half-and-half)
Heat onions in soup pot in a little bit of olive oil until softened. (The original recipe has you start out by just dumping most of the ingredients into the pot. But I always like to cook my onions a little first.)
Add the chicken, broth, chilies, and spices. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
Use two forks to shred the meat. I pulled out the chicken to do this so I wouldn't splatter hot broth all over the place.
Add the chicken back to the pot. Stir in the half-and-half and sour cream and serve immediately.
This was so simple and delicious! I've also made an amazing Thai Curry Salmon. I think I'm going to really enjoy $5 Meal Plans!
I've never heard of this and it sounds so good! I get stuck in the same meals over and over. This sounds like it would give you a list and enough time to get ingredients, rather than that last minute rush to find something to cook.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love green chiles. My husband prefers those red arbol chiles but they have a really different flavor, in my opinion. :) Looks YUMMY
Virginia, I'm the same way. Get stuck in my rut--and that usually means pulling a pound of ground beef out of the freezer to make spaghetti. I really need to eat less beef, so this has been great for me! (BTW, I make spaghetti so often I burned my kids out on it.)
DeleteWhat a neat service. Brilliant really. A great way to get creative in the kitchen without pouring over cookbooks or googling for recipes (that always takes me ages.) And do be so organized that they give you a shopping list too. Someone was very, very clever to create that.
ReplyDeleteKav, it has been great for having the ingredients on hand to try something new during the week (without a last minute run to the grocery store--which I usually refuse to do). :)
DeleteThe chili looks so good! Perfect for a cold winter day!
ReplyDeleteI used to subscribe to a service similar to this one. It's called "Saving Dinner," and I heard about it on the Flylady website.
The pros? Delicious recipes, and I didn't feel like I was stuck in a rut of cooking the same meals over and over.
The cons? My dear husband LIKES the same meals over and over. :)
So my Saving Dinner menus are in a binder. I occasionally pull them out - and I did add several of the recipes to our "same meals over and over" rotation.
But I enjoyed the new ideas for that age-old question, "What's for dinner?" :)
I just signed up for the free 14-day trial - what a deal!
DeleteI'll get to see if we like the meal plans before spending any money. :)
But why try to improve on perfection?
DeleteBecause I don't like spending an hour every week coming up with the menu and shopping list! LOL!
DeleteI read Tina's archive post on Seekerville this morning - why am I spending so much time on the menu and grocery list? It should be a no-brainer. :)
BTW - You all know which "anonymous" person thinks the same meals over and over is the definition of "perfection", right?
DeleteLOL, Jan (and Jan's hubby)! :) Jan, I'm glad you're trying it! You'll love the shopping list. I open the file and just print the last two pages (onto one sheet, front and back).
DeleteOh Jan, I have the same problem. If it's Monday - hamburger; Tuesday - chicken, etc. I never eat what he's eating - except for the fish on Friday and sometimes pasta on Saturday. Not very time or cost-efficient, but there's no changing him now.
DeleteThis looks delicious and easy and wonderful. And I run into the same thing Jan does, a man who likes the tried and true! But he's had to do a little improv if he wants to eat, because Mama's been busy.... so stuff like this is man-friendly!
ReplyDeleteRuthy, he could definitely make this, especially if he uses the "dump it all in at once" version. :)
DeleteMindy, if you read this… I have to apologize for never believing how mild these chilies are! You said it, and I doubted you since I'm such a wimp. But they really do just add flavor and not really heat!
ReplyDeleteAren't they delicious? I love those mild chilies.
DeleteI'm with Jan. It takes me forever to figure out a menu plan so we eat the same ole same ole as well. I think I'm gonna give this a try. Thanks for the info Missy! BTW.... The chili looks yummy!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds intriguing Missy. I'll look forward to hearing about more of these recipes.
ReplyDeleteMe again. Does this really work for under $5 other places in the country? I looked at the sample menu and there is no way I could purchase those ingredients for under $5. The hamburger alone in one of the recipes would be between $5 and $6. Just curious what it's like for others.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that, too, and we have pretty good prices in the PNW. Just tonight, a few lbs of hamburger (local, so can be a lot cheaper than anything imported or shipped from CA) was 7.99. The rest of the meal was also cheap (spaghetti, sauce, mozzerella) but all together it was definitely about $20, and that's a very "cheap" meal. $5 would be cereal and milk. :) Or homemade pancakes (not a mix).
DeleteIt's not $5 for the meal. It's $5 for the service. For $5 they give you a full week's meal plan. The meals themselves are supposed to cost about $2 per person. :)
DeleteBTW, it's $5 a month for the meal plans. NOT per week. :)
DeleteMissy, this is one of my favorite meals! I haven't tried it with the half & half. I'm going to try it!
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to let me know how it turns out, Donna!
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