I’m Shopping and Cooking Like a Total Millennial and Loving it

I've started the most millennial way of grocery shopping and cooking possible.

I don't live in a place where I have the luxury of getting food delivered to my house. The best I can do is take out at a gas station up the road but even that involves me putting on pants and leaving the house.

I did the Hello Fresh thing for a while but found that I often let time get away from me and not get the meals cooked. Then I'd end up with too much food and too much would go to waste.

Months ago I discovered eMeals. I loved the concept. Similar to food subscription boxes like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron, eMeals releases new recipes each week, but they won't send you the food. What they will do is create a grocery list with exactly what the recipes call for. And get this, they have a BUNCH of meal plans to choose from like Quick & Healthy, 4-Week Keto, Budget Friendly, Kid Friendly, Slow Cooker and more. Don't like your options for your plan for one week? No big deal, switch plans next week. It was very affordable too, I think I paid $60 for the entire year.

It gets better.

They will automatically upload the grocery list to grocery stores that offer a pickup/to-go program! The only one available to me was Walmart, which was fine.

Now despite the upgrades to Walmart in Augusta and various Hannaford locations offering a similar service, I still hadn't jumped on that bandwagon. I just never gave myself the time to sit down ahead of time to do it, but I'd always wished I had by the time I had to put on pants and actually go grocery shopping.

After a few nights of finding nothing desirable in my kitchen, I finally and impulsively decided to use the app that had been going unused on my phone for months. I opted for the Quick & Healthy meal plan because lord knows any meal that requires too much effort will absolutely discourage me, plus I could definitely afford to be healthier.

I picked three meals that seemed doable and all the ingredients synced with my Walmart account. I scheduled my grocery pickup for the next day and hoped for the best.

First of all, I'm convinced that Jane at Walmart is one of the nicest humans ever. She was super helpful to me as a first time user explaining everything to me. She loaded up my trunk and away I went.

It was SO WEIRD putting away groceries I didn't actually go shopping for. I only skimmed the ingredients for things I already had so it was kind of like a really practical Christmas with every bag I opened. I was grateful that I didn't have to go all around the store looking for these items as my meal plan was so far off from items I usually purchased, it would have taken me forever to find everything on my own, especially after a day at work. Not to mention I likely saved money from those sneaky impulse buys.

I then proceeded to cook the 'Flank Steak with Scallion Butter' meal that had 'Charred Cauliflower with Parmesan' as a side. It was so easy! And yummy! And healthy!

Mine definitely wasn't that pretty but it came out better than expected considering the chaos. (I live in a small apartment that smokes up very easily so I was frantically running around trying to cook and air the place out so my smoke alarm would shut up. Another story. Sorry neighbors. I didn't burn it, I promise!)

I'm stoked to cook my next meal!

This post is totally not sponsored by Walmart or eMeals. I'm just pumped that I have a way to eat healthily, save time, and try new dishes!

Not to mention more time that I don't have to wear pants.