A few months ago, I signed up for a 1-year membership to Build A Menu.
Build A Menu is a meal planning site designed to save you time and money, but I quickly discovered it’s so much more than that. Build A Menu is one of the best tools any homemaker can have. Here’s a little story about how it helped me!
Charity gives the Chicken Divan (from Build A Menu’s Trim Healthy Mama category) a big thumbs up! Judah (3) actually ate his broccoli, so this recipe is a win in my books.
I was in a cooking rut for a long time. We rotated the same 8-10 meals for months. Hubby and the kids didn’t seem to mind, but I did. It was getting boring, and I knew a better variety would equal better nutrition too.
Plus, our grocery bills were getting a bit high. I’d buy our usual staples and then throw in a few expensive snacks because I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to know what I was going to bake that week.
We were eating lots of take-out, too. Almost once-a-week. 5 o’clock would come around and I wouldn’t have a clue about what I was going to make for dinner. I was pregnant and exhausted – that was my excuse – but it was happening far too regularly.
I was trying to come up with the right words to describe what is probably the best muffin I have EVER had, but I think our 4 year-old can illustrate it much better. I caught her chewing on the muffin liner and said, “Oh, Charity! You’re not supposed to eat the wrapper!” “I know. I’m just trying to get all the taste out of it before I put it in the garbage.”
Then the first trimester nausea kicked in and there’s was no way in this world I could eat the same thing after getting sick from it before.
Around the same time, I had the urge to jump back on the Trim Healthy Mama bandwagon again (minus the sweeteners). I typically gain 50-60lbs with each pregnancy, and didn’t want to do that to myself this time. But the energy to make THM meal plans? I just don’t have it!
Something need to happen.
And that something is Build A Menu.
This is a picture of the gluten-free chicken nuggets I made this week by using the GF Oven Fried Chicken recipe from Build A Menu and cutting the breasts into strips instead of leaving them whole. I am no gourmet chef and I usually shy away from attempting new gluten-free recipes because so many have been flops. But so far with Build A Menu, every GF recipe I’ve tried has turned out perfectly and my husband got to eat chicken nuggets for the first time in almost 3 years of being gluten-free!
Things I love about Build A Menu:
- It was designed and is run by two homeschooling mom with larger than average families. They understand “busy” and the need for quick nutritious meals!
- It has menu plans for almost every way of eating you can think of. We typically stick to the “Clean-eating,” “Trim Healthy Mama,” and “Gluten-free” menu plans, but the whole array of options include:-Dine on a Dime
-Family Friendly
-Low Carb
-Low Fat/Sensible Portions (Points Based)
-Gluten Free
-Allergy Friendly (No Gluten, Dairy or Nuts)
-Vegetarian
-Clean Eating
-Slow Cooker
-Grill-A-Meal
-Your Choice of Side Dishes
-Trim Healthy Mama - It is extremely versatile. Do you only need supper ideas? No problem. Do you want recipe for everything from Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, to Snacks and Dessert? They’ve got you covered!
- You are given a shopping list to your specified grocery store so you know what your bill will be before you reach the checkout! For Canadians (like myself), we have the option of choosing “Wal-Mart” or “Any Store” (my preference) and I’ve found the totals to be fairly accurate estimations.
- The meals are delicious! We have yet to try something we don’t like! The pictures you see here are a few of our favorites from Build A Menu.
Growing up, I *hated* meatloaves. I would shudder each time my Mom made it, but we all had to eat a “thank-you portion.” I vowed never to make it when I got married. A few weeks ago I broke my vow. These mini Mexican-style Trim Healthy Mama meatloaves were part of Build A Menu’s dinner selection. The ingredient list looked amazing, so I took the risk and made them. A winner! This recipe anyway. I’ll eat meatloaf from now on as long as it tastes just like these ones!
We’re back to eating a great variety of healthy meals (except for the days when I’m still feeling too icky to cook), saving money and time – with no extra work for me!
In 5 minutes, I can log into my Build A Menu account, select all of our meals for the week, print off each recipe and my shopping list, and know how much I’ll be spending before I get to the store!
This soup alone was worth the membership!
I’ve been sharing pictures of the meals we’ve made from Build A Menu for weeks on my Facebook page, but here’s why now is the best time to get your own 1-year membership.
Consider treating yourself (it could be considered one of life’s essentials…), sharing this link with your children (you know how hard it is to buy for Moms!), or purchasing a membership for your own mother this Mother’s Day!
It’s a menu planning membership price that can’t be beat from a menu planning resource that can’t be outdone. Join Build A Menu today and watch yourself transform into that menu-planning, healthy-food-serving, relaxed-at-dinner-hour homemaker you always wanted to be!