Dream Dinners Review- LONG

clarabelle

<font color=green>Pandas don't seem to have much o
Joined
Apr 12, 2003
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4,909
Hi
I went to Dream Dinners last week and wanted to post a review. I knew there had been some interest in this subject in the past.
If you don't know Dream Dinners is a place where you pay a fee (around 200.00 dollars) for 12 entrees -or you can do a minimum of 6. You bring a cooler to take home your food. You go to little stations where all the ingredients and proper utensils are laid out and you assemble your meals -take them home and freeze them.

When I first got there- I was checked in and told where to put my cooler.
I got an apron and washed my hands.
I had a sheet of all the meals I had signed up for online and I could mark them off as I did them.
The stations had the recipe and gallon bags or foil baking pans.
They were pretty easy to assemble and I only had to wait once for someone to finish a station where I needed to be (it was my only one left to do)
You can do them in any order. As you finish each entree you put a cooking instructions label on it and put it in your cooler. The cooler was overflowing at the end. I noticed one woman bought a laundry basket. That would work if you were going straight home.
All the ingredients were in cold tables so I was not worried about spoilage.

So far we have eaten two things. Breaded pork chops with German Potatoes and Asian meatballs with rice. Both were very tasty.


I think that this would not be a good idea for someone that is extremely cost conscious. You could do this much cheaper on your own. But I knew I wouldn't and it was lovely not cleaning up.
If you were a real germ freak -it might be distressing because you were sharing space with other people -using the same measuring spoons etc...
You were supposed to wash your hands between each station.
Also most entrees had garlic or onions or spices. If you were a real meat and potatoes family- it might be hard to find something to your taste.
You could put what you wanted in the recipe -leave out onions for example if you didn't like them- but if you had to do that with every recipe it would seem to be easier to make it at home.

These are pretty much entrees -you would still need a vegetable or salad to go with them. They are not all casseroles and many are not heat and eat -they still need some work. Most of them are nice enough for company and all the chopping and cleaning are done for you.

There were some light refreshments available and everyone was very friendly.
It was the first session of the month so they had not done the recipes yet (the menu changes each month). Next time I would wait until a week or so into the month so they could work out the kinks.

You could talk to the other people there while you were cooking -but it would be hard to talk too much -because you would mess up your recipe.
I would consider bringing a Walkman or IPod if I were going alone.

I am planning on going back next month.
 
I have been going to dream dinners for about a year and a half and I love it. I work full time and have two DS so this helps us eat better meals. Dream Dinners will also allow you to split a meal into two if necessary. I do this if it is something I know the boys won't eat but that DH and I would like.

Most of the meals are very good, I have had a few that I did not like over time but then I just don't make that if it comes back on the menu again.
 
momsully said:
I have been going to dream dinners for about a year and a half and I love it. I work full time and have two DS so this helps us eat better meals. Dream Dinners will also allow you to split a meal into two if necessary. I do this if it is something I know the boys won't eat but that DH and I would like.

Most of the meals are very good, I have had a few that I did not like over time but then I just don't make that if it comes back on the menu again.


Which are your favorites? How often do the entrees come back? We LOVE LOVE LOVE the Pesto Tilapia! I made it in October, but it's not back for December......
 
I have been wishing dream dinners (or an equivilant) would come our way. I would really like to try it.
 

Do you have to do this every month (like a membership) or can you just use it when needed? I just had a baby a month ago so this would be SO helpful in the short term!
 
PoohBearLovinMama said:
Do you have to do this every month (like a membership) or can you just use it when needed? I just had a baby a month ago so this would be SO helpful in the short term!

You sign up just when you feel like it.

I've really been wanting to try this. I know DH would like the food. I'm the fussy one. I feel badly sometimes that he always has to eat the boring food I make (when I cook). Maybe it would inspire me to cook more.

I'm just so tired of always figuring out what to make.
 
Which are your favorites? How often do the entrees come back? We LOVE LOVE LOVE the Pesto Tilapia! I made it in October, but it's not back for December......

One of our favorites is the Chicken Parm. We also like most of the flank steak varieties. The chicken cordon bleu looked pretty good this month. I just made all my meals the other night but haven't cooked anything from November yet.

They seem to come back randomly. Chicken Mirabella is on the menu about every three months, some things take longer. I was really hoping they would bring back the twice baked potatoes in December but they weren't on the menu. We did the prime rib with the twice baked potatoes last year for Christmas dinner and it was great. I will still do the prime rib but I guess I need to make my own potatoes this year.

I've really been wanting to try this. I know DH would like the food. I'm the fussy one. I feel badly sometimes that he always has to eat the boring food I make (when I cook). Maybe it would inspire me to cook more.


I am a very picky eater as is DS6 but I have found that we both are ok with what we make at dream dinners. I do leave out the olives of most recipes and usually will cut down on the garlic if it is something that I worry the boys won't like. It is definately worth trying if you have never done it.
 
PoohBearLovinMama said:
Do you have to do this every month (like a membership) or can you just use it when needed? I just had a baby a month ago so this would be SO helpful in the short term!

You view the menus on line, pick what you want and pay by credit card before you go.
 
SplshMtn99 said:
You sign up just when you feel like it.

I've really been wanting to try this. I know DH would like the food. I'm the fussy one. I feel badly sometimes that he always has to eat the boring food I make (when I cook). Maybe it would inspire me to cook more.

I'm just so tired of always figuring out what to make.

It definately made me try some new things. I would not normally make potato crusted salmon for dinner -but I will have it this month! There is still a little cooking to do -but you have step by step instructions and everything chopped up into bags and premixed for you.
 
I am really interested in trying this and there is one about 40 minutes away. How generous are the portions?
 
Gosh, December menu sounds great! How convenient this would be to take to FW over Christmas!
 
Most things had about enough for a family of 5- depending on ages/appetites.
If it had say chicken breasts there were usually six in there.
I lucked out on the Turkey for this month -they couldn't get the correct Turkey breast size so they had to give us a bigger one!
 
Thanks for the info. We have something similar--Meal Makers, I think--and I've been thinking of trying it.
 
Well, I just signed up for my first session! Can't wait to try it. Any more reviews of the food you bought, clarabelle?
 
Is the food cooked already? I guess I'm a little confused. Can you take double of the same entree?

This sounds very interesting and there is a location about an hour from me and they have sessions on the weekends so I think I'm going to try it for December.
 
Swimnoid said:
Well, I just signed up for my first session! Can't wait to try it. Any more reviews of the food you bought, clarabelle?

I am embarrased to say no. We haven't been home much and I have done very little cooking. :blush:
I will post some more reviews when I cook something. Did you sign up for the Nov or Dec menus?
 
2BigKIdz said:
Is the food cooked already? I guess I'm a little confused. Can you take double of the same entree?

This sounds very interesting and there is a location about an hour from me and they have sessions on the weekends so I think I'm going to try it for December.

Most of it is NOT cooked. For example in the Nov. menus there is a couple of precooked things -like the meat in the chicken fajitas. But most things have directions that say thaw, then cook in the oven or in some cases on the stove stop. The beauty of it is having it all together in freezer bags already cut and measured and ready to go. It is not precooked casserole type things for the most part.

Yes you can make double the same entree- you can also separate an entree into two. :)
 
We had the chicken cordon bleu from the November menu for dinner last night. It was excellent! Even my DS6 who is Mr. Picky ate everything. We are having the pasta tonight and that looks really good as well.
 
for 2 adults, would each "meal" be enough for two nights?
 
RadioFanatic said:
for 2 adults, would each "meal" be enough for two nights?

I think so
If it is a meat- it seemed there were usually six pieces. I think the Chicken Cordon Blue had 6 chicken breasts in it. The pasta shells I think there were ten stuffed shells.
For my family of 4 2 kids 2 adults we had leftovers both times I did my meals so far.
 


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