Has anyone tried Dream Dinners?

[Radosti]

So, I went to a demonstration last night for Dream Dinners www.dreamdinners.com and I am intrigued. It's a big kitchen with stations where you go once a month and make up 12 meals. Each meal is 4-6 servings and it's so simple (and everything is provided) that it takes 2 hours to put together these 12 meals. The meals go into Ziploc bags or aluminum trays and come with cooking intructions. You take them home and freeze them. Then, every other day, you can thaw a meal, place it in the oven and have it done in 30 minutes.

The 12 meals a month cost around 200 dollars. But it's a month's worth of dinners. I was really interested, but looking at the December menu, I didn't think that hubby would eat a lot of that stuff. The november menu looked awesome, but I missed all the sessions.

Soooo.... I was wondering if anyone had tried doing this and if they thought it was worth it. I might sign up for february or something like that. I really wanted to do december as I wanted to have ready to cook meals in the freezer for hubby to make after I have the baby (so we don't starve). Maybe I can still do that myself. Just get a bunch of recipes, put everything together and then freeze it.

[kelly ann]

Yes...three times already!

My first time was last spring to prepare for baby #2. The food is really good and healthy compared to eating out or regular frozen meals. I tried a different company a couple of weeks ago and so far the food is good, but I am leaning toward the Dream Dinners food for taste.

I just love the concept though. I was a big cook before, but I just don't have the time these days. It is actually fun to go prepare the meals (but tiring) - everything is already cut up for you and you don't have to clean one thing :)

Also, DH is loving the dinners as well. I don't stress about dinner and he has less dishes to clean. Plus, I get to spend more time with the kids in the evening when I come home from work.

If you decide to go to a session, I would try to split up as many dishes as possible unless y'all are huge eaters and don't mind leftovers for a day or two.

[daniele_ut]

I've gone to a local place called My Girlfriend's Kitchen that is basically the same concept. With tax, I spent $200, and I came home with 12 meals (each divided in half, except for the crockpot roast) so that we had about 22 meals that served 3 people - one for every weeknight of the month. We really enjoyed most of the meals. The only exception was the meatloaf dish (and we had 4 of them!), but they will give me a free dish for the meals that I didn't enjoy next time around. The per serving cost was about $2.77. You can't even eat at McDonalds for that anymore and the food was certainly much better.

I highly recommend it, and had planned to do it before Logan came, but he showed up a month early! I would do it NOW, before the baby comes. It will be a lifesaver.

[jillmk]

Thanks for asking about this! I've been wondering too. It sounds great. Does anyone know how long the meals can be frozen for? I'm pregnant with twins and was hoping to have the meals for after the babies are born, as well. I just don't know how early I can go!

Jill

[Radosti]

I'm sure they can be frozen for a couple of months. My issue is that they already closed out the november menu (which looked delicious) and the december menu is not something my hubby would like. Well, at least not 12 meals' worth.

Soooo.... now I need to get creative and put together meals like that myself. My last day at work is tomorrow and the house is being worked on on Thursday. So, Friday I will look around for stuff that I could easily put together and freeze.

[Marisa6826]

Not Dream Dinners, but Super Suppers. The food is really quite good.

If you do a search, there are some old threads about these places.

-m

[tarabenet]

We have one called "What's For Dinner" and love it! We do this for ourselves from time to time (because one month's worth lasts us longer than that), and did it for a big family vacation this summer. Six of us spent a week in two condos with kitchens, dined together for almost every meal, but only did the expensive restaurants a few times. We will be packing up some of this business frozen entrees for the big Christmas gatherng, too, because it means more time visiting, less time in the kitchen.
We love it. Great stuff, easy preparation, and not only the entrees but also the full menu suggestion is included with the cooking instructions.

"What's for Dinner" will also assemble the meals for you, if you don't have the time, for $30 for the month's worth. Any chance "Dream Dinners" has a preparation option? Maybe the January menu will be appealing, even though gettting there to do the cooking wouldn't be (to say the least!).

[cvharris]

We've done it a few times. I like most of the meals and agree with a previous poster that splitting the meals into two portions while you put them together is ideal. We always have enough for me, DH and DS and sometimes leftovers - this is with the half portion!

We went the first time and did a 12 meal package. The one close to me has a deal where you can sign up at your session for the next month and get a free meal. So, I signed up for the 6 meal package and got 7 for the next two months. I've since stopped, because we have enough in the freezer.

I think the meals last 3 months in the freezer, if I am not mistaken.

Carolee
Mama to Ben (6/03)
It's a BOY! Baby brother due 12/18/05

[tarabenet]

We have one called "What's For Dinner" and love it! We do this for ourselves from time to time (because one month's worth lasts us longer than that), and did it for a big family vacation this summer. Six of us spent a week in two condos with kitchens, dined together for almost every meal, but only did the expensive restaurants a few times. We will be packing up some of this business's frozen entrees for the big Christmas gatherng, too, because it means more time visiting, less time in the kitchen.

We love it. Great stuff, easy preparation, and not only the entrees but also the full menu suggestion is included with the cooking instructions.

"What's for Dinner" will also assemble the meals for you, if you don't have the time, for $30 for the month's worth. Any chance "Dream Dinners" has a preparation option? Maybe the January menu will be appealing, even though gettting there to do the cooking wouldn't be (to say the least!).

[marcywench]

Did it six weeks before Isabella was born. (Wore me out but worth it!)

We love it. I just pulled out three dinners for the week.

You can always make more than one of something, too, if it looks good. If you are doing the 12 package, it has to be 12 dinners, but some can be duplicates. You order it all ahead of time. :)

[kelly ann]

Are there any other similar companies where you live? Maybe another company has a December menu that appeals to you or will let you sign up during these last couple days for their November menu.

Check this website out to find what is available in your state...

http://www.easymealprep.com/main/direct02.php

[phirey]

Has anybody tried more than one of these places and can post a comparison? Looks like they all cost about the same, but maybe one tases better while another provides larger portions while another is more healthy?

[cmo]

For my first time at Super Suppers (a Dream Dinners competitor), I chose the 6 meal option instead of 12, since I wasn't crazy about all the choices on the menu. (It turned out to be a good decision, too, because I was so slow and finished last, even though I was only at 6 stations!) I ended up dividing 5 of them in half, so I ended up with 11 meals altogether, which fed our family of 4 (2 kids under 3) just fine. I think you pay a little premium for doing 6 instead of 12, but you could also get more variety that way, say do 6 meals in December and 6 in January. Have fun!

[MarisaSF]

A group of parents from one of our playgroups did this together. They said it was great!

[Lynnie]

So, if you don't think you'll like something, can you switch, and make more of something else ?? Or would it depend on the cost - cause I can't imagine being able to trade a swedish meatball dish for a prime rib or something.

Looks good though. If only they had a child care room too !!

[MegND95]

There are two places near me like this and I am dying to try! Some friends and I plan to go after the holidays. But a neighbor down the street did Dream Dinners before her third baby, and has raved about it.

Maybe there is another place like Dream Dinners near you? I live near Chicago, and there is one in Naperville, and a brand new place (whose name escapes me) in St. Charles. Seems like this idea is becoming more and more popular, and your area might have more than one? Offering meal options that are better suited to your tastes??

[kelly ann]

I did the one in Naperville and I recently tried another company in Naperville. I think the one in St. Charles is Dinner by Design - this one seems to be really expanding across the midwest.

By the way, you can bring a bottle of wine to drink while preparing your meals. Not that I have done this, but it would make it harder to figure out measurements when splitting meals :)

[Twin Mom]

My twins club has done Super Suppers multiple times and a couple of other friends have done it so I've heard good things.

I did it once too, but haven't actually eaten any of the food yet. LOL. My DH is almost never home for dinner during the week, DS is too picky and the food is too much for just me and DD to share without having a ton of leftovers (and I split each entree into 2 pans.)

Something else to check into and I'm not sure if Dream Dinners does this, but my Super Suppers does a walk in day at the end of the month if they have a lot of food leftover for that month where you can make as many of the entrees as you want. That way you don't have to commit to 6 or 12. The cost for each entree is the same as the cost per entree when you do 6 together. I did 3 the day I did it. That way I could try it out before committing to too much food!

[littleme2]

I was thinking of trying the Dream Dinners in Albany, NY, which would be about an hour's drive for me.

Is it worth it?

Thanks.

[daniele_ut]

Lynnie,
When I did it, you could choose up to two of each dish out of the 14 selections available. There was no difference in price, it was $189 + tax for any 12 meals. You couldn't choose more than 2 of anything, so I think that makes up for price differences in the costs of ingredients in different dishes.

[ribbit1019]

Thank you for the link Kelly Ann!

I was bummed when there wasn't any Dream Dinners by me, but I was able to find another company that is only a half hour away!

I am asking for this for Christmas, is that wrong??

Christy
"My Mommy" to Maddy born 06/09/04
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and soon to Little Man due 03/02/06
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Join the BBB Preggo Pals!!
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[kboyle]

It's good to know that you guys like these places. There are a few by me and i'm dying to try one out. I'm the only picky one in the house so if I like it i'm sure everyone else will. Plus, it's cheaper than Micky Ds!

[kep]

I would looove to do this, but only if they will actually fit in my freezer. Lol!

(Sorry for the highjack.)

Kelli
Mommy to my beautiful little boy, Luke (April 2003)

Before you were conceived I wanted you.
Before you were born I loved you.
Before you were here an hour I would die for you.
This is the miracle of life.
Maureen Hawkins

[daniele_ut]

Kelli - I just have a standard feezer on top fridge and I had no trouble fitting my 12 meals (most split into 2). I had 2 quiches, 4 freezer bags and the rest were trays about 6" x 9" or so. The full size meals are obviously in larger trays. Everything stacked up nicely, and the freezer was full once I got everything in there, but it all fit! My freezer was about 1/3 full to begin with.

[ribbit1019]

So, if I have an average sized side by side then I should empty it out pretty well before I go? I think I am going to go in January. Right now it is too crazy to even think about doing this with the holidays. Also, I can't find any menus but appetizers on the place that is near me. Is this a common theme for December, or do all the other places have actual dinners and the place near me just bites??

Christy
"My Mommy" to Maddy born 06/09/04
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040609/3/4/0/-5/.png
and soon to Little Man due 03/02/06
http://bd.lilypie.com/cKLom4/.png

Join the BBB Preggo Pals!!
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[kep]

Perfect. Thanks!

Kelli
Mommy to my beautiful little boy, Luke (April 2003)

Before you were conceived I wanted you.
Before you were born I loved you.
Before you were here an hour I would die for you.
This is the miracle of life.
Maureen Hawkins

[kelly ann]

Christy-

I wouldn't be surprised if they have several special sessions this month for appetizers/cookies, but the place should have a dinner menu as well for this month (Dec) and next month. Just try searching their website for links to other menus. Maybe the link for the menu is hidden at the bottom of the page or something???

I would empty of your freezer quite a bit before you go though. It is a good way to discover stuff you have been keeping on hand in the back of the freezer...at least it is for me :)

[Radosti]

Since I didn't like the december menu, I ordered a bunch of food from Omaha Steaks and thought I'd get a bunch of freeze-before-cooking recipes online. I've been having a tough time finding too many good recipes like that. Oh well, Omaha Steaks food tastes great whatever way you cook it, so we'll be fine for december. Those "Sole Stuffed with Crabmeat" meals are to die for and I ordered 6 servings :)

I will try to go to the Dream Dinners thing in February. See how that goes. I'm sure it'll be really good for me to get away for a couple of hours by then.