Meal Planning

When I find things that make my life easier, I want to climb onto the roof and shout it out to everyone. So when I was invited to try out Dream Dinners in Encinitas and see what it was all about, I couldn’t say no. And not only did I find an awesome place to enjoy some me time, I was able to check a few things off my list in a short amount of time.

I’m a huge believer of using the tools and resources out there to make our lives easier. I also believe that everyone should know their strengths and weaknesses. And when you have a weakness, you should try and find a way to create strength. I love cooking. I love to eat what I make and enjoy seeing my family around the dinner table enjoying a meal that I made.

However with an increase in work hours and a crazier family schedule, I’ve found that the one thing I don’t have is time to prep meals. That includes finding time to grocery shop (although I do love me some Amazon Prime Now and Amazon Fresh!). But even when I do get groceries delivered to our door, I still have to prep it and come up with a dinner plan. But even with the best of intentions I find myself running around 10 minutes before my husband comes home trying to find some 15 minute wonder to make and serve to the family. Or I call the husband and ask him to pick something up.

That’s when Dream Dinners stepped in and opened my eyes to how easy meal time prep could be with a little preplanning. And a little letting go. Just like I gave in and hired a maid service when I realized I am horrible at keeping up with the house cleaning, I also realize that I need help in the kitchen too for those nights that a conference call runs late, I’m still working on a project, or I have a meeting at my son’s school. And having a meal prepped and ready to go in the fridge, with little to no prep work on my end is making my life a whole lot easier.

Why Dream Dinners?

Founded in 2002, Dream Dinners enables guests to choose from seasonal, rotating monthly menus and prepare the dinners in-store without the hassle of planning, shopping and chopping. They lay out the ingredients in an easy-to-follow format so you can assemble a month’s worth of meals in about an hour.

You can get a feel for the DreamDinners experience in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-4Cu9epiAA.

How Dream Dinners Works

Interested in how Dream Dinners works? Here’s a run down of exactly what I did from the time I walked into the door to when I left with my bag of meals:

As soon as I came in, I dropped off my purse and headed to grab an apron and wash my hands.
Then I grabbed my list of meals that I’d be preparing that day and got to work.
I went to the station for my first meal and looked over the instructions.
I simply went down the instructions list and added ingredients into the small bags provided to create each “layer” of the meal or recipe. All of the tools I needed were right at the station ready to use including measuring cups and spoons as well as all of the ingredients I’d need.
When I had all of the components together, I added everything to a larger bag and popped in a recipe card so I’d know what to do once I got home.
After each meal was in it’s bag, I placed it in the fridge to stay cool while I finished the rest of my meals.
I repeated this process until all of my meals were done, washing my hands in between each meal prep.

When you first walk into Dream Dinners, the helpers there take you through the process. You aren’t just left alone to figure it out, you have a helper there along the way for any questions you might have.

Since I’m eating a different meal plan than my family, I could simply omit ingredients I wouldn’t eat or substitute another ingredient. I could also note on the bag if I needed to add anything at home. For example, they have low fat versions of certain things like cream cheese. So I noted what bags I needed to add full fat cream cheese to since we don’t usually eat the low fat versions.

And not only is it easy to customize your meals, you also get to choose what meals you prepare from a huge list of meals that are on a rotating basis each month. So one month’s menu will never be the same as the previous month. That means I get to try out a lot of fun options with my family. And each time I go to Dream Dinners, I can get a taste for one of the latest menu items for the next month after I’m done!

When I got my meals home, I took the three I knew I’d make in the next 5 days and put them in the fridge. All of the others went into the freezer for another week. It’s recommended to pull the meal you want to enjoy from the freezer and into the fridge the night before so it has time to thaw out. But there is also thawing options available in case you forget like I have.

And while sides don’t come with the meals, Dream Dinners has a huge fridge with sides and dessert options you can add to your meals. Or you can choose to add your own sides. For the French Taragon Chicken with Redskin Potato Wedges meal, I added fresh asparagus and just roasted it when I roasted the potatoes. So easy to throw in when everything else was cooking.

Dream Dinners is a great option for those parents who might not have the time every night to completely prepare and cook a homemade meal for their families. I love that I now have a (cheaper) option at my fingertips for homemade dinners to take the place of calling my husband and asking him to bring home fast food.

And? I love that I can head out to Dream Dinners for a few hours to meal prep. I don’t have to make a mess in my kitchen AND I get a little me time on the weekends. Win-win!

Have you tried Dream Dinners? What’s your favorite Dream Dinners meal?

After recovering from gallbladder surgery last week and this week, there’s one thing I was grateful for. Ok, two. My mother-in-law and husband’s help AND Charlie’s Classic Cooking meal delivery service.

I love to cook. I love to eat. I love to watch my family enjoy what I eat. But after going through surgery, or even just having a super busy week schedule, having pre-made meals in the fridge that I know are going to be delicious just takes a huge weight off my shoulders. And when it’s food as good as Charlie’s? Well… lets just say my family was very happy.

We first heard about Charlie’s Classic Cooking when my son and I took two awesome classes a few months back with Stone & Glass as part of their Fire and Fettucini classes. Perfect for just about any coupling you could think of – mother son, father daughter, significant others, girlfriends, “bros” … hahaha – Stone & Glass paired with Charlie’s Classic Cooking to bring together a glass making class and a cooking class. I did the glass making class and Ethan made some amazing fettucini for us to enjoy together after the class ended. I’ve been thinking about that fettucini ever since.

Meal Delivery Service From Charlie’s Classic Cooking

The meals were delivered to our door step and my husband was able to take them inside and put them in the fridge. Each one was labeled with what was inside and we were given our menu with reheating instructions. This made it easy to plan which meal to make on what day depending on what the kids and my husband had going on each night.

Here’s a peek at our menu:

Lime and cumin grilled chicken with tomato-corn relish and fresh green beans;
Fettuccine alfredo with carrots, broccoli, red peppers and mushrooms;
Swiss steak with egg noodles and baby carrots; and
Sheppard pie with mashed potatoes and spinach salad.

It was hard for me to choose a favorite as I already LOVE Chef Charlie’s fettucini, but the lime and cumin grilled chicken was so juicy and flavorful that it won me over! And I was able to turn leftovers into chicken enchiladas a day later. YUM! My husband, however absolutely loved the Sheppard pie and swiss steak.

At Home Prep | Enjoying Our Meals

Once the meals were delivered, all we had to do was store them in the fridge and pull whenever one we wanted to enjoy that night out and follow the directions. It was easy enough to simply leave the choices in my husband’s capable hands, give him the menu with reheating instructions, and let him prepare the meals for the family. He literally had to look at what temperature the oven had to be at and heat up the meals. And if pinched for time, we could use the simple microwave instructions.

What I loved, besides the ease in which these meals came together, was the fact that I could still customize them to my family’s liking. Take the Swiss Steak for example. My daughter does not eat most meats (besides bacon, salmon, and chicken nuggets) at dinner. So my husband simply set aside some carrots and noodles for her to heat up seperately. Even my choosy eaters were able to pick and choose what parts of the meals to enjoy.

These home delivery meals start at $175 for a family of four, receiving four dinners for four people weekly. The weekly meal service allows you to have chef prepared meals weekly. The meals are delivered right to your door (home or office) weekly and monthly menus are sent via email or on their website as a weekly reminder of what’s for dinner each week. You can check out the Charlie’s Classic Cooking website or email charles@charliesclassiccooking.com for more info!

What would you love to taste from Charlie’s Classic Cooking?

*** This giveaway is now closed ***

Congrats to Linda Appleby!

Chef Charlie doesn’t just want my family to enjoy a good meal, he’s also giving one away to one lucky reader on the Simmworks Family Blog!

One winner will receive a dinner-for-four delivered right to your door (a value of $75).

Open to US only, 18+. Must live in San Diego County. This giveaway ends October 16th, 2015 at 11:59EST.

Mandatory Entry
Please comment* below with what you would love to taste from Charlie’s Classic Cooking. Take a look at this sample menu of what others are being delivered in their weekly meal service drop offs.

Thank you and good luck!

*Important: By completing any entry in our giveaways, you agree to ALL of our giveaway terms and conditions. Comments such as “Thank you for the giveaway” “I want to win” etc will not be counted as the mandatory entry and will be deleted along with all corresponding bonus entries. Please be aware that comments are moderated and may not appear right away. Make sure you use a valid email address so we may notify you if you’ve won! Giveaway winners will receive their meal directly through the sponsor. Winner must provide mailing address within 48 hours to receive their meal.