Wouldn’t it be great to just look at a menu of what was in your freezer and be able to pull out 1 of many different dinners you had already made ahead of time and know that in 20 min to an hour it could be on the table with no extra prep work???

Oh well, one can always dream….

Dream Dinners that is!!!

OK that was TOTALLY a corny intro – but the service that Dream Dinners gives people is not corny at all!  The first time I tried Dream Dinners was when they first started about 7 years ago.  It was a great way for my then boyfriend, now husband and I to get some “home cooked” meals when we both worked so late at our jobs.  Then a few weeks ago I was invited to try it out again, it was like being introduced to an old friend, that had had a mini face lift (though you couldn’t really tell what had been done!)

I’m going to keep this simple.

In about an hour, you can have 6 perfectly homemade, yummy, flavorful meals for a family of 3 or 6 ready to put in your freezer for you to cook over the next 2-3 months.  Can you think of another way to make 6 meals in an hour???  I can tell you I tried to do this for a while and it took me ALL DAY, and was back braking when dealing with all the prep and clean up and grocery shopping.

With Dream Dinners:

1. You check the month’s menu online.

2. Select your location. I chose the Tustin, CA location in the Tustin French Quarter.

3. Choose your entrees. (Dream Dinners shops and preps for you, and they will clean up the mess when you’re done).  Here’s what I chose to prepare:

Steak Salsa Verde

Crispy Coconut Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Creamy Chicken Risotto

Chicken Yakitori over Rice

Arroz con Pollo

Chicken Parmesan with Garlic Bread

4. Purchase and show up.

I was shown the different stations where there is a recipe waiting for me along with all the ingredients (including the correct measuring spoon/cup with each ingredient) prepped to prepare the dish I had selected.

So I’m off and prepping… all I have to do is “follow the yellow brick road”…

After a few more steps, my Creamy Chicken Risotto is “in the bag”!

1 dinner down, 5 to go…as you can see,
someone has quite a leg up on me and is SERIOUSLY stocking her freezer!

This darling girl was there for dinners for herself and her finance.  And another cute, young guy was there making dinners for himself and his single dad – he was tired of eating take out.  SUCH a great option for moms, families, single parents, empty nesters…..pretty much anyone short on time that needs to eat dinner…

Ummmm…

I think that might qualify everyone.

You bring a cooler or laundry basket to take everything home in.  Here’s my 6 dinners and a list to remind me of what is in the freezer and how long it needs to cook.  Can you say “Dream” Dinners!??! HONESTLY, this took me just under an hour.  And if you noticed the photo at the top of this post, I was wearing Piper in a Bjorn the ENTIRE time.

OK, so now that I have it all home and in my freezer.  I decide to see how easy (and potentially tasty) this all might be.  I leave the Arroz con Pollo on the counter (Dream Dinners recommends defrosting in your fridge, but I decided to live dangerously…)

I removed the lid and this is what the defrosted dinner looked like….

Following “the yellow brick road” still, I poured on the salsa per instruction…

And then the cheese…

And baked it for 55 minutes…

We’re almost at Emerald City….

The WIZARD!!!  (Except this one is for REAL!)

I made a dinner for 3 and served it with my own spinach salad which fed my husband, me, our 1 year old, 2 year old, and our nanny even tried a half chicken breast .  Overall consensus was “winner, winner, chicken dinner”!  Great flavor, tender chicken, thumbs up for yum factor!

There are some great programs for referrals as well as for hosting parties.  I think a great way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone is to have a Dream Dinners party. You need at least 10 friends and Dream Dinners will do all the work, including sending out the Evite and providing samples to try of that month’s menu.  You can each make 1 meal – yours is free as the host, and everyone else pays the menu cost of their meal.  You all get girls night out (you can even bring wine!), a chance to try making a dinner – and if you like it all, a discount off your first order, plus referral credits for the host!  You can’t go wrong!

I also think this could be a fun way to give a new mom some dinners for her freezer.  Just think, pick a few friends, you each make a dinner, drop off a cooler of yummy, healthy meals for her family to enjoy!  What a fabulous gift! (You just need to make sure she has freezer space – or an extra freezer.)

And just to show you how “DREAMY” they are…Dream Dinners is offering 10% of your order!  Just enter DDNC102010 at your checkout online!!

Now off you go – find a location that works for you start dreaming about your freezer dinners!

(Disclosure: I was given a trial session from Dream Dinners to sample their dinners and service.  I was not asked to review and post about the experience, only to answer a survey for them.  I enjoyed the meals and afternoon so much, I wanted to write about it.   Thank you to the staff at Tustin French Quarter!!  I will definitely go again and am so glad I was re-introduced to an old “friend”!  Hope you try it out too!)