Get Cooking with Mealime

Yall, I have discovered a game changing app/ Website for those of us who are shall-we-say "challenged" in the kitchen.  Or even those of you who struggle to come up with new meal ideas.  It's called Mealime, and it coins itself as the app for simple and healthy meal plans.  This app has literally converted me from someone who knew nothing in the kitchen to someone who is cooking up fabulous and healthy meals for my family every night.  I am so excited to fill my grocery cart with fresh produce and meats each week, and know that they will turn into yummy meals that we all enjoy!  Read on for lots more...

So, I discovered this app only after I had tried a couple of meal prep services.  You knows the ones- where you pick your meals for the week and the service then ships you pre-measured ingredients and full instructions for how to complete each meal.  I LOVE these plans.  They are so simple and the recipes are yummy and easy to complete.  However, the prices on some of these services is probably more than I would normally spend if I were just buying my own groceries.  And I have the time to grocery shop so that's not really an issue.  I just needed the step-by-step instructions and a great arsenal of recipe options.  Enter Mealime to the rescue!

I literally went from someone who had maybe two go-to meals to having a world of fun and new and different meal plans at my fingertips.  Oh, and these meal plans are an entire meal, not just a main dish or a side that leaves you wondering what to put with it.  It's all pre-planned out and the foods are so different and so good! Not only that, but this app prepares your entire grocery list for you, allowing you to edit it by removing items that you already have in your kitchen or by adding other items to your grocery list that may not be a part of the recipes you have chosen for the week.  So I can still add my coffee, milk, bread, and all the other usual stuff to the shopping list I created in my Mealime app.

So, here's how it works.  You log into the Mealime app, and it pulls up hundreds of recipes for you.  You can filter your results if you are looking for or avoiding specific types of foods.  Most recipes take between 30-40 minutes to complete from beginning to end.  And as someone who has tried lots of them over the past month or so, I can vouch that they are all really good. You can click on individual recipes to check them out but once you decide to add one (or more) to your meal plan for the coming week, you simply click on the button that says "Add to Meal Plan."  I usually do this at some point on Sunday afternoon.

Once I have all my meals added to my plan for the coming week, the app shows me all of my recipes in my meal plan for the week, as well as a complete grocery list.  I go through the grocery list and then take out items that I already have in my pantry, and add any other items I need to pick up while I'm at the store.  The grocery list in the Mealime app is sorted by produce, bakery, meats/ seafood, dairy/ cheese/ eggs, and so forth which keeps it super easy to navigate through your list while you are shopping.  You simply click on the items on your list to cross them off.  I typically do my grocery shopping on Monday each week.

Once I'm ready to prepare one of the meals, I pull my app back up, and click on that meal.  It provides step-by-step instructions on how to complete the recipe.  Mealime gets bonus points from me for making sure that all components of my meal finish cooking at the same time so everything is hot and ready to serve at the end of about 40 minutes.  Once I've finished making one of the meals, I can "favorite" it if I really liked it so I can come back to it again.  I also check it off in the app, that that meal is complete for the week, and it grays it out, showing only the other active meals remaining in my meal plan.

Here's a look at some of what I've been cooking up...

Shrimp Stirfry

Grilled Chicken with Mango and Red Pepper Salad

I'm so not kidding.  This app has changed my life!  And I'm sure my family is thankful for this little tool too.  :)  The basic app is free of charge to use.  However, there is an option to upgrade the service to Mealime Pro which unlocks a bunch of additional recipes and allows you to do things like make notes in the app about the recipes you made. Currently, the Pro service costs $5.99 per month or $49.99 for an annual subscription.  So far, I am doing great with just the free app.  There appear to be lots of new recipes added each time I use the app.  I might consider upgrading to Mealime Pro at some point, but for now, I'm cruising along just fine.

NY Strip with Homemade Mashed Potatoes and the BEST Wilted Spinach EVER

Caprese Salad

What else?  Let's see. You can customize your experience by choosing the types of food you like or things that you dislike.  For example, in my app I checked off things like capers, lamb, olives, and tofu for ingredients that I dislike.  I also selected a meal size of 2 servings, which I have found is more than a plenty for me and my husband with some left for our 4 year old to try things as well.  There is also an option for 4 serving meal sizes.  There is a support center and a ton of articles submitted by the online community (which are all housed in the app).  You can also email Mealime directly through the app with any questions you have.  But honestly, it is so easy to use that even a kitchen novice like me can figure it out.  So I will be willing to bet that most of you would find it super easy peasy too.

Strip Steak Fajitas on Lettuce Wraps with Homemade Guacamole

To find the Mealime app, just go to your App Store and download it to your device.  I actually put the app on my iPad first because I usually use the iPad in the kitchen to reference my recipes.  But I quickly figured out I needed the app on my phone too when I am at the grocery store to reference the grocery lists it creates for me.  As I said, the basic app is free, and totally where I would start with Mealime.  If you decide you love it as much as I do, you might consider upgrading to the Pro version down the road.  You can actually also access all your information, including your recipes, meal plans, grocery lists, and your preferences from Mealime.com.  So if you have a computer or laptop in your kitchen, you can use the website to get cooking too. I hope you will give this tool a try.  It's the best thing I've found lately, and I'm loving it.