Has anyone made meals at a food prep kitchen?

[JustHolly]

Ted and I visited a new food prep kitchen nearby today and made a couple of meals. We are very impressed with the cleanliness, quality of ingredients and variety of foods! We even met a fellow DIS'er!

Basically, you go to a kitchen, you choose the meals you want to make, and there are stations set up with the recipes and all of the ingredients. You make the meal there, package it up, put pre-made stickers on your packages with cooking instructions, and then bring it all home to your freezer.

The prep kitchen does all the chopping and other "prep" work, and ingredients are easy to measure. They even clean up after you, so NO MESS!!!

We made Chicken Toscana and a marinated pork tenderloin. We haven't tried them yet, but they look and smell wonderful! I can't wait to try them!

My question is to those of you who have tried it.... Did you go out to dinner less? Did you find it cost effective? How often do you go and make meals? Did you have to buy an extra freezer?

 

[hydster]

Yep we go faithfully every 6 weeks to make meals. It is so much easier and we waste a lot less food that way since sometimes we only need a red pepper for 1 recipe and the rest of it goes bad.

It's so nice not to have to do all the prep and cleanup isn't it? I love not having to even really think....all the spoons, measuring cups and everything is there AND they clean up your mess, wash the dishes and you go home.

 

[Pinnie]

I have done DREAM DINNERS for the last 4 months. There have been a few things that weren't that great, but all in all, it's very convenient. I won't use them in the summer since I am off work. But they are helpful during the school year for this teacher!

pinnie

 

[safetymom]

Where is there one in the Orlampa area? That sounds interesting. That isn't too far from me.

 

[minnie56]

We have a place here called 'Supperworks'... awesome!!!!!!!
Fun with friends prepping with glass of wine in hand and very yummy end results in no time flat!

 

[lowie]

Ted and I visited a new food prep kitchen nearby today and made a couple of meals. We are very impressed with the cleanliness, quality of ingredients and variety of foods! We even met a fellow DIS'er!

Basically, you go to a kitchen, you choose the meals you want to make, and there are stations set up with the recipes and all of the ingredients. You make the meal there, package it up, put pre-made stickers on your packages with cooking instructions, and then bring it all home to your freezer.

The prep kitchen does all the chopping and other "prep" work, and ingredients are easy to measure. They even clean up after you, so NO MESS!!!

We made Chicken Toscana and a marinated pork tenderloin. We haven't tried them yet, but they look and smell wonderful! I can't wait to try them!

My question is to those of you who have tried it.... Did you go out to dinner less? Did you find it cost effective? How often do you go and make meals? Did you have to buy an extra freezer?

this sounds awesome, do you know how do I find one??

 

[Micca]

Sounds like hassle to me. I have to go to someplace to assemble the dish, take it home, probably freeze it, then thaw it out and cook it later? All so I don't have to chop and measure the ingredients?

 

[hydster]

It sounded like a hassle to me as well until I tried it. The nice thing is that you can pull something out and put it in the fridge. If you don't eat it for a day or so it's no big deal and a lot of the ones I do are crockpot, stove top things that don't have to be completely thawed.

We save about 120 a month when I figured it out doing it at My Girlfriends Kitchen rather than buying the ingredients at the store. They buy all their stuff in bulk so they get a better rate than I do at the store.

For me it's nice to have a "homecooked meal" that I just pop in the oven and walk away from rather than hitting Wendy's when we are running late. It's nice to have it cook, eat it and then throw away the container it's cooked in which leaves me more time with the kids and more time to go to whatever thing we have going.

 

[barkley]

i was supposed to go to a session at a local dream dinners last december but was unable to attend. the only concern i have with these places is that they are independantly owned and if there's a problem corporate is not incredibly helpful. in my situation i checked out the cancelation policy ahead of time since they wanted cc payment up front. it said as long as i cancelled by i think a week before there would be no charge. i ended up canceling both by phone and email over 2 weeks ahead of time but they still charged my credit card. i called up the place and they insisted i had'nt cancelled even when i pointed out that i had an email reply from one of their staff members (that they aknowledged worked there) saying she had received and processed the cancellation. i tried calling corporate but because of the indie status of the places they were not very willing to help out. it took about 2 weeks of calls and emails to finaly get it straightened out (and then only because i said i would just contest through my credit card).

i've heard the food is good, but if the administration lacks it just does'nt make me feel comfortable about the place.

 

[kayeandjim00]

One is opening just down the street from me and I'm sure in the winter when we are grilling less. I think it's called Dinner By Design. Some of the items sound really good.

 

[JustHolly]

Where is there one in the Orlampa area? That sounds interesting. That isn't too far from me.

Safetymom- It's in Brandon, just south of Tampa. For me, it is about a 35-40 minute drive. I4 to 75 South, and then it's the first exit. It's not too far if we only have to do it once a month. http://www.dinnerdone.com There are similar businesses in Orlando though.

Barkley- I would worry about corporate, but we discovered while we were there that the place is run by one of us, a DIS member! That makes it even better in my mind! We'll have to be very careful to follow the guidelines on cancellations. Thanks for the warning! I never though of that.

Lowie- Try this link: http://www.easymealprep.com/main/direct01.php

 

[kbmoo]

I went to one January of last year. It was fun, but kinda expensive. I think I still have a few meals burried in my freezer that I need to throw away. I have been happy just buying quick meals from sam's, Costco and Super Target. Alot less money and hassle. The make it meals is more of a place to go socialize. Fun, but alittle to much money for me.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Anyone heard of The Chef's Secret?? It's one of those "come in our building and use our kitchen stuff and make your dinner" places like you guys are talking about. It's very new in our area (like 2 weeks) and I haven't heard any reviews. thanks

 

[lowie]

Lowie- Try this link: http://www.easymealprep.com/main/direct01.php

that's awesome, thank you! there are 2 locations near me, i'll definately try it out!

 

[Beth76]

We have a Meal Makers near our house that I keep meaning to try. I want to do it with a girlfriend so it's more fun and it's a big hassle coming up with a time that's good for both of us.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

We have a place here called Supper Solutions. I won a free meal from our PTO during Teacher Appreciation Week last month and plan to go next week to make my meal. How come I know I will end up buying a few more meals while I'm there

My SIL uses Dream Dinners and says it is wonderful. Her family eats out less often and eats better at home.

 

[RadioNate]

I want to try this. We have a Super Supper, I think. The meals sound way better than anything I could make. I'm not a creative cook, I don't enjoy cooking, and I don't like 'plain' food, so I'm really intrigued by these places.

We spend too much on groceries we don't use up and dining out. I think ours is $120 for 6 meals which each serve 4-6. Since they let you split the meals and we are a family of 3 we could easily get 9-12 meals for that $120. That's $10-$13 a meal. I don't think I could do much better than that on my own. I guess if we were having spaghetti I could, but those are the types of meal we have maybe once every six months.

I'm thrilled to hear good reviews. Hopefully we can try it soon!

 

[Julia M]

I just went to Dream Dinners last night for the first time (funny you should ask)

I was very impressed at how clean it was, and how organized. Twelve looks to be the maximum they allow at one time, and there were 12 people there, and it still went well.

I'll be trying the meals next week.

Julia

 

[SplshMtn99]

Here is a link to the names & locations of ALOT of companies that do this service.
http://www.easymealprep.com/main/direct01.php
You could then just google for their website.

 

[Swimnoid]

I have done Dream Dinners since December and have really enjoyed it. All the people are really friendly and helpful. I really enjoy the freshness of the meals and the quality of the meats. The whole process may seem a little pointless but it has really worked out for me. I usually buy six meals. For our family each entree can usually be split into 2 meals. In an hour I have 6 or more meals made and ready for the freezer with fresh ingredients. I usually pick things that are a little different that I might not make at home. both DH and DD really enjoy them and DD likes to prepare them. Last night we ahd the Texas BBQ wraps which were very good. I have taken several to WDW when we stay at the cabins. Again we have some flavorful, different and quick meals ready for us after a day in the parks, or for lunch.

Julia M--Which ones did you get this month and what is going to be the first one you try? I hope you like them!