I’ve seen Dream Dinners while I was driving around town and I always wondered how it worked. When Danielle and Jean invited me to come in, I couldn’t help but say yes.

We were invited to assemble three meals and live the life of a Dream Dinners client for one week. The store had a bunch of stainless steel stations set up with the ingredients for a particular meal. You simply make an appointment and come in to assemble the number of meals you want. I’d recommend going with a few friends because it’s actually fun to assemble meals together. Every station has a recipe to follow (1 teaspoon of this, 1/4 cup of that) and you just put it all in a bag. Because you’re assembling the meal, you can choose to put in extra of an ingredient, or leave it out entirely. This is helpful since I have a houseful of whiny picky eaters who will cry if an artichoke heart comes within five miles of my home. You peel and stick the instructions to the outside of the bag, and move on to the next meal.

In less than 30 minutes I had 3 meals ready to go. I probably could have had them done in 10 minutes, but I’m a Chatty Cathy who has trouble focusing on even simple tasks. Every month, Dream Dinners has a new menu from which you may order meals. I selected the Kentucky Pork Chops, Chicken Mediterranean (with polenta,) and Chicken with Sesame Butter. Although we were supposed to use the meals all in the same week I stretched them out, cooking one a week. I usually get home between 5:30 and 6:00 everyday and have to pull dinner out of thin air. My husband could not believe that I had dinner on the table within 15 minutes of walking in the door using the Dream Dinners. I couldn’t believe it either.

I took a dinner out of the freezer and put it in the fridge earlier that day. If I didn’t get to the meal, it kept in the fridge for up to a week. So if the the fam decided it was a good night for sandwiches, dinner was ready to go for the next night. Everything had been put together and marinated, all I had to do was throw it on the grill pan and serve a side/vegetable. Since the instructions are on the bag, my husband could make dinner without calling me five million times to ask what a tablespoon is and where would he find one. So easy. And it was DELICIOUS. I mean it. I am picky when it comes to good food, and the Dream Dinners were tasty and healthy.

Could I do the same thing at home? Yes, I suppose I could. But the whole idea is that I don’t waste extra time trying to come up with meals and prepping meals. Sometimes you just don’t have the time. Would I go back? I’m planning on going with friends and making a night of it soon. Having a meal in my freezer ready to go on any day I want is genius. Thanks, Dream Dinners, I had a lot of fun and my family loved the food.