What's For Dinner??

If you don't know about Dream Dinners, you should!  It's one of the best ways to save time and solve the classic "what's for dinner" problem.  You register for a session and go there about once a month to prepare your meals... they have salad-bar-like stations where you assemble the meals, such as Steak Gorgonzola (we just ate that tonight for dinner at my house) and Chicken Mirabella.  They provide zippered bags or foil pans to contain everything, along with cooking instruction labels.  You take all of the meals home in a cooler or laundry basket and stick them in your freezer.  They even give you a planning sheet with suggested side dishes and a tear-off grocery list.  DONE!

My husband and I were in the habit of going once a month like clockwork for a while, and then we got out of the routine... we just went back on Saturday and are wondering why we ever stopped!  It is so liberating to have food ready in the freezer, and it's delicious.  Here are our favorite tips for maximizing your Dream Dinners time:

1. Go with your spouse/partner/friend and you can get finished assembling the meals in half the time.  They give you a meal list of the items you've registered for as you arrive, and one of us takes the list from the top down and the other works from the bottom up.  We check in with each other to see where we are mid-way through.
2. Grab a few extra plastic zippered bags and put them in your apron pocket to save some steps.  You need them all during the session, so it's good to have a few handy.
3. Read the assembly instructions through quickly before starting.  Sometimes this avoids mistakes like mixing the "topping" of something in with the marinade, etc.
4. Bring your children to help if they are old enough (this policy varies per store).  If they participate they are much more likely to eat the food later at home, plus, it's fun!
5. Double up on the meals you really like.  It's good to have favorites around, and it's easier and faster to assemble two of the same things at once.
6. Bring some wine-- they do let you drink it while you're working.  ;)

I think this is such a great business for all of the busy people out there who are eating too much Taco Bell.  Half the battle is just having the decision made of what you're eating and having the purchasing done...the cooking part then becomes easy.  How could you streamline your mealtimes by doing some simple planning this week?

Comments

[Tina Su - Think Simple. Be Decisive]

Hi there, just a note to let you know that, I've added you to my list of tags to join in Alex Shalman's "Caring Compassion Charity". The idea is for you to write about something you're passionate about. You would link to me and I would link back to the originator. It's a good way to build networking. You can find my article post here: http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/the-causes-that-make-my-heart-sing/

Love & Gratitude,
Tina

[Rebecca]

Cooking Accomplished! has been a great find for myself and several of my friends. The concept is simple; you go online, pick the entrees you want and the date you want to assemble them. The difference between Cooking Accomplished! and several other businesses like this in Portland, is quality! The owner is a trained chef. They have a commercial kitchen where all the ingredients are prepped by Shelley and her staff. Many of my friends, prior to joining me for meal assembly sessions at Cooking Accomplished!, admitted to serving and eating frozen or pre-cooked meals several times a week and to dining out two or three times a week. We decided since we are worried about nutritional value and using quality local ingredients we would research meal assembly as a solution to reducing time spent shopping and preparing dinners with the goal of eating healthier. The only assemble-your-own meal company that we found in Portland, that had great selections, high quality local ingredients and prepped all their food in-house is CookingAccomplished! in Lake Oswego. Since I started preparing meals at CookingAccomplished! I've also signed up for a couple of great cooking classes. My son attended a kids class as well and he can't wait until the next one. Shelley has done a fantastic job of creating a quality experience!