Dream Dinners or similar?

[gate_pourri]

Has anyone used Dream Dinners or a similar service? How are the food? How much space does it take to store it? Is it worth it?

Today's Chicago based Groupon is for Dream Dinners the price seems right. I don't think I could cook 7 meals with leftovers (so 14+ meals) for just me, for that price, but if the food is horrible or it'll take up my ENTIRE freezer, I think I'll pass.

I am not the most patient or the best cook, but am trying to loose a few pounds and more importantly save a bit of money from going out regularly.

http://www.groupon.com/chicago/deal...rReferral&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uu52585

 

[Christine]

I have been using a similar service since last year. I have a Dream Dinners very close to my house but have not tried them. I go to a place called Dinner Done that came highly recommended by some friends as the "best" of the area meal prep places.

Each one of them will vary with the quality of the food. Two of my friends have worked at one called "Let's Dish" and said the food was so-so and somewhat processed tasting.

At Dinner Done, the food is excellent. I usually prepare about 9-12 meals a month depending what is on the menu. Right now, there is 3 of us and I take some for leftovers. It has been a lifesave for me. I spend about $185-$200 per month for those 10-12 meals.

I'm tempted to try Dream Dinners but they seem a little bit higher in price than where I go. I also don't know anyone locally who has tried Dream Dinners. I do believe they are the biggest chain of the meal prep places.

 

[java]

oh me me!
We used to go to a great small one store only place that went under. She was great and the meat she got was restuarant quality- mmm.

We have since started going to Dream Dinners- and surprisingly we liked it! Really liked it. The selection is a better variety than the other place we used to go. The flavors are more family friendly so the kids eat most of these as well.
Good basic meals - The big difference between the 2 places for me was that Dream dinners uses frozen meats. - so I didn't expect the "marinades" to work as well. But they did.

If you get a good price and like the current menu try it! Some months we go when the menu looks good- others we skip. (like during the summer) but in baseball season I love having a quick cook meal in the freezer that tastes like homemade.
And for that price I would jump on it!

 

[Christine]

Good basic meals - The big difference between the 2 places for me was that Dream dinners uses frozen meats. - so I didn't expect the "marinades" to work as well. But they did.

So when you are in Dream Dinners prepping your meals, the chicken is actually still frozen?

The place I go to, the meat is not frozen unless I am getting shrimp or some of the white fish like flounder or grouper (salmon is always fresh).

 

[Bren's Mom]

I tried Dream Dinners once.

I thought they tasted fine, dh wasn't a fan and thought the portions were too small. But if you're trying to watch your weight, that won't be an issue.

I also felt that it didn't really save me any time. I still had to defrost and cook things, sometimes in several steps. I do much better with making my own stuff in bulk and freezing it in portions big enough for the 3 or 4 of us (depending on whether dss is eating at our house or not).

 

[Christine]

I tried Dream Dinners once.

I thought they tasted fine, dh wasn't a fan and thought the portions were too small. But if you're trying to watch your weight, that won't be an issue.

I also felt that it didn't really save me any time. I still had to defrost and cook things, sometimes in several steps. I do much better with making my own stuff in bulk and freezing it in portions big enough for the 3 or 4 of us (depending on whether dss is eating at our house or not).

I agree it's not a HUGE timesaver as the meals still have to be cooked, sometimes as long as an hour.

Here's why it works for me.

I consider myself a decent cook and I like a lot of variety in my food. I'm not the type that is going to want to cook the same thing week after week. So I spent a LOT of time scouring recipe websites, cookbooks, and magazines looking for something interesting. This often involved me buying lots of new spices, ingredients, etc, that I never had on hand and used again. I spent a lot of money and a lot of time throwing together meals that, well 50% of the time, were just so-so. On top of it all, I work full-time so all my shopping, studying, etc. was done on the weekend and then I would come home from work and spend upwards to 45 minutes prepping and putting together something like Chicken Piccata, or some new pork dish, etc.

Then I went to Dinner Done. Once a month I spend an hour and a half putting together 10-12 meals that serve 4 people. I spend about $18-$20 on each entree and I don't have a lot of wasted spices. Just the other day, I spent $17 on a ingredients for some stupid ground beef meal that didn't turn out.

So, the ten meals I get from Dinner Done seem to satisfy my "variety" issues. In between, I make the stuff I'm good at that require similar ingredients that I have on hand.

I doubt it has saved me any money but it has saved a lot of my sanity. I don't find any of the meals to be particularly dietetic, but they can be made to be less fat, less carb, etc.

 

[java]

So when you are in Dream Dinners prepping your meals, the chicken is actually still frozen?

The place I go to, the meat is not frozen unless I am getting shrimp or some of the white fish like flounder or grouper (salmon is always fresh).

all our stuff was frozen- even the salmon! hmm I wonder why?

It does add a step or two vs. the other place we went to-(it was a basic toss into the oven or a skillet kind of meals)

 

[Christine]

all our stuff was frozen- even the salmon! hmm I wonder why?

It does add a step or two vs. the other place we went to-(it was a basic toss into the oven or a skillet kind of meals)

They probably do more "mass ordering" then the smaller places. It doesn't matter though, all my meals are meant to go in the freezer so they end up frozen. I have to make sure that I thaw them before cooking or they take FOREVER to cook.

 

[gate_pourri]

Hmm... well, I am definitely leaning towards trying it. I think it is too good of a deal not to at least try once... and the menu for March has a number of items I like.

How much space in your freezer is taken up by these meals? I have a regular top-freezer fridge and would be making 7 3-person meals. Would I need my entire freezer empty? 1/2 of the freezer. How big are these typically?

 

[Christine]

Hmm... well, I am definitely leaning towards trying it. I think it is too good of a deal not to at least try once... and the menu for March has a number of items I like.

How much space in your freezer is taken up by these meals? I have a regular top-freezer fridge and would be making 7 3-person meals. Would I need my entire freezer empty? 1/2 of the freezer. How big are these typically?

Since I make 4 person meals, they are packed in the flat, foil pans that are slightly bigger than 13x9. They have a top on them and I can stack about 8 meals on the bottom shelf of my top freezer so long as they are the flatter pans and not the big ones they sometimes use for lasagna. Other meals come in smaller 6x9 pans that I migh put on the upper shelf. I can get 10 meals in my freezer pretty easy (and I have an icemaker). It get tough with 12 meals, but I've worked it out. Some of the meals like chili and the shrimp dishes are actually stored in Zip-Loc bags so that helps.