Author |
Message |
Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 3:32 pm
I have decided to try Dream Dinners. I find my household food costs are through the roof and we throw too much away!! I did some searching and talked with two people who use the Dream Dinners. No negative feedback. You cook all the food yourself. They do the prep work. That's what turned me on to this idea! I love to cook, but arthritis in my hands is making it hard to chop stuff. I 'think' this could be a way to save a lot of money each month, once the plan is in action and about two months into it. I won't be going to the store for those items I needed for ONE meal! It will eliminate the 'what's for dinner?' question!! I'd love to know if anyone else has tried Dream Dinners or one of the other companies like it!!
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Jewels
Member
09-23-2000
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:16 pm
I tried Dream Dinners once a couple years ago. It wasn't bad, but I haven't done it again. I felt like it took a big chunk of my grocery budget and I still had to go by all the supplements. That's probably the main reason I haven't done it since. My sister-in-law and I split the 12 meals, so we each got six. I then took those six meals and split them in 1/2 because at the time my son was too young to eat the food. So when I split them we ended up with at least 12 meals, some of them I even split into thirds. They didn't seem to have a problem with me doing that, but they weren't paying to much attention either. Some of them I split when I got home though because it was just easier. I thought the meals were heavy on the spices, if I did it again, I wouldn't put in as much as they called for. Also, the descriptions of the meals when I first registered weren't complete, so one of the items that I picked ended up having ingredients in it that I didn't particularly care for. I also found that I would forget to take them out of the freezer, but that's just me. At that time in my life I would decide what we were going to have for dinner late in the afternoon and it was to late to take something from the freezer! I would definitely give it a try if I were you though. I think it is a great concept and can work for the right person. It just didn't work for me. 
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:41 pm
never tried dream dinners, never heard of them. But I have ordered the prepared dinners from fresh direct. No food goes to waste, just enough for number one son and myself. Everything is perfect and I honestly couldnt have made it better myself.
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Landi
Member
07-29-2002
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:52 pm
what is dream dinners?
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 4:59 pm
...and fresh direct, for that matter?
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 5:23 pm
Never heard of Dream Dinners or Fresh Direct either! So I went Googling. I don't have time right now to browse their websites myself, but if anyone else feels the urge, here they are! Dream Dinners Fresh Direct
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Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 5:24 pm
Thanks so much for the info, Jewels! I will definitely watch the spices! I ordered my 12 meals and have my first session on Thursday morning. I will let you know!! Here's the link... http://dreamdinners.com/main.php?static=index Maris, Fresh Direct is only in New York, but it looks like they do the same kind of thing on a MUCH larger scale!!! 
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 5:50 pm
I like the concept but I'm just a regular meal kinda eater. And the boys would turn their noses up at those dishes.
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Yesitsme
Member
08-24-2004
| Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 7:01 pm
I haven't done them myself, but one of my best friends has and she swears by them. The recipes she describes sound wonderful. Lots of interesting flavor combinations. We just don't have one close by yet, so she travels about an hour away to do it. One of the women at my church put together the same sort of thing for some of us women. For $15 we got two meals for six (lasted me forever since I live by myself)...she did pizza burgers and a southwestern casserole. A definite bargain (I think she undercharged.) Next month I think we are making brunch items. It was a fun evening, so I plan to go again. And great to get food without having to shop!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 3:13 am
We have a place like this right in our neighborhood, but we aren't really 'casserole' type eaters...more like grill meat and steam veggies.
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Sincebb1
Member
08-22-2005
| Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 4:09 am
If you go to the Personal Chef's website you can look in your area and find a chef that comes to your house and prepares however many meals you want then freezes them. I have one that lives near me that was the chef at the American Idol #1 mansion for the kids. I have tried it and quite like it! They come to your house because sanitation laws require them to cook the food in your home. Otherwise they would have to have a commercial kitchen. Using these chefs you have complete control of the ingredients and the food to be prepared. Plus you can watch them or give them access to your house when not home! I prefer to be present. Because you are using your cooking utensils (etc.) and the containers are reusable you end up saving money.
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Jewels
Member
09-23-2000
| Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 8:38 am
Annie, they have other things besides just casserole type dishes. I got things that I ended up putting on the grill. Actually, I don't think I ended up with any casseroles at all. 
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 10:48 am
Jewels, must be a different company. The one by me was mostly casserole type things.
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Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 1:09 pm
Tonight is the Grand Opening of the one I will go to tomorrow! My dh and I are going! They are giving away FREE Flank Steak Dinners to the first 200 and samples of most of the signature dishes they have! Pretty cool!? Texannie, Jewels is correct. There are very few casserole dishes. Most everything they provide is the 'meat' portion of the meal. You need to provide the side dishes. LOL, I'm getting excited! 
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Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Friday, March 24, 2006 - 4:13 pm
We went to the Open House which was very nice and plenty of samples to try. I went to my session yesterday morning and boy, was I exhausted when I got home! lol It was FUN! The food is awesome and I love that I can add or not any of the items in each recipe!!! We're trying the first of the dinners tonight...Mandarin Tilapia. So far, this is the answer for me!
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Jewels
Member
09-23-2000
| Friday, March 24, 2006 - 5:45 pm
Kstme, going to the open house and being able to try everything first would be great! They should do open houses everytime they change the menu so you could try everything. I will admit that it was fun putting together all the meals, I was with my sister-in-law and we had a great time!
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Crzndeb
Member
07-26-2004
| Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 2:10 pm
I did one here in the Seattle area called DinnersReady....I really enjoyed it and will do it again....I did the 6 meals and that probably would be actually about 18 meals for me since I live alone. I did give some to my daughter in the area and cooked a couple when my daughter and son-in -law were visiting from Cali. I agree with Jewels, my daughter and I went and it was fun putting it all together. I made one called Margarita Chicken and we joked about not having a glass with us...there was tequila and Margarita mix in the fridge for the recipe.
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Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 7:29 am
Because we have company right now, these meals are a godsend!! We have tried 3 of them, so far, and they have all been wonderful! We're all hooked! Thanks so much for the input and the help!! 'Good Morning, America' had a story about Super Suppers the other day...same thing and they were saying how much this business is thriving. I can believe that!
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Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 6:33 am
A quick re-cap regarding Dream Dinners. In the end, it didn't work for us. We are use to organic foods and the Dream Dinners had NO taste!!! I tried it for two months. Oh well, back to paying too much! 
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