I've tried it twice. The first time was 10-15 years ago, when I had lots of small/medium sized children. I vaguely remember it being a headache in the grocery store and expensive. A few months ago, with only two adults regularly home, and getting into a slump with meals I decided to try it again. The second time around seems to be a slight improvement. The pros: the recipes are better than I remember them being; we will probably keep a few of them around (I wouldn't have done that before) and I think we eat much healthier than before. The portions are very reasonable and filling for two smaller adults and we usually have lots of leftovers, even when I don't double the recipe. Also I got the plan on a new years sale for 90% off, so it was under 20$ for a year. I don't mind that at all, though I certainly wouldn't have paid much more.The cons: It's clunky. Really really clunky. Clunky as in both awkward, time consuming, and wasteful. I purchased the "budget" plan for two people. These recipes are clearly written for at least a family of 4. They just cut the amounts in half. Which sort of works (I can certainly forgive them for saying "1/2 of an avocado")... until you realize that the store only sells ricotta (or something else) in a tub of a certain size and you have nothing to use the extra for. I've been doubling the recipes to cut back on food waste, but that utterly defeats the purpose of a plan for two. The shopping list does not save time unless you use their partner grocery stores (Walmart is the only one in my area), who apparently may have exactly the right thing and may be able to fill your basket for you. I have to spend a lot of time working out substitutions and appropriate quantities or just figuring out what they mean. When it comes to things like produce, etc. the list often over estimates by a lot and does not really coordinate recipes: the list will say "a bunch of of celery" or a "head of lettuce," the recipe says 1/2 cup chopped. Or a specialty salad dressing that will only be used once... That is a LOT of waste, even if you incorporate the rest into snacks or other dinners. Also it would be much better if the shopping list was an excel sheet that I could modify instead of an inflexible PDF. My time in the grocery store has probably doubled. It isn't saving me money. I'm spending 300$ to 400$ a month on groceries for two people on the "budget" plan. While that isn't a big deal to some people, it is a big deal to me when I know I could easily do it for half of that. I'm only picking out maybe 4 meals from one week, doubling those recipes, skipping the next week entirely, and trying to figure out what to do with the leftovers for most of the rest of the time. I don't think I could afford to do more. Overall I would say if you are a seasoned cook/budgeter/planner, you can probably do much better with some minor help. This service might be helpful if you are trying to learn these skills, but the 2-person plan is not really worth it.The main benefit has been the recipes themselves, but it isn't worth it for me in the long run. After this year I am probably going to try a grocery list/recipe app instead.
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