If you're like me then every trip to the grocery store is preceded by a refrigerator purge.
It's an odd ritual, I imagine, to witness from the outside. I throw out Ukrop's bags filled with molded bread, limp scallions, suspicious cheeses and soft, blackened bananas only to go out and replenish these exact groceries and start the cycle all over again.
I aspire to be the kind of chef who can conjure five meals from a chicken breast and half an onion. In reality, though, I'm the kind who has seven jars of paprika, each missing only one-quarter teaspoon of seasoning.
But thanks to two Richmond-area Dream Dinners franchises, there is a better (and easier) way to shop for and prepare meals.
Dream Dinners calls itself an "an innovative concept in meal preparation" and that's really the best way to describe it. It's part caterer, part cooking class and part none of the above.
Instead, Dream Dinners offers a truly innovative way to think about and prepare meals.
Every month Dream Dinners posts a new menu online. Customers can select the dishes they want to prepare and schedule a prep session in which they assemble the meal. But the catch is that there isn't any cooking involved ... at all.
Customers rotate through stations, using a recipe to assemble their dish. By doing it themselves, the customers can add, subtract or adjust any of the ingredients according to their own tastes. At the end of the session, the customer has 12 meals, prepped and ready for the freezer. The idea is to have three meals a week for a month that are ready to be taken from the freezer, popped in the oven and served, often in less time than it takes to hit the drive-thru.
"We say you get a month's worth of meals in two hours," said Cassia Welton, co-owner of the Richmond-area Dream Dinners.
And the best part is that there's no waste. Dream Dinners takes care of all the shopping (and it's all included in the price) … so if the recipe calls for half an onion, you only use (and pay for) half an onion.
"We do all the grocery shopping … all the slicing and dicing and chopping," Welton said.
Each meal is priced differently so prices vary, but the average cost is around $175 for 12 meals that can feed three people (servings for six are also available).
Of course, not everyone has two hours a month to spare … even if it does save hours in the kitchen later. For those busy people, Dream Dinners offers "Meal Made for You" which allows customers to simply pick up the prepped meals directly from Dream Dinners. There is generally a fee associated with this service, but through August (and to help families get ready for Back to School) Dream Dinners is waiving the fee. That means you can get your Dream Dinner prepped for you for the same price you'd pay to do it yourself.
And August is also "Best of the Best" month at Dream Dinners. All month long, all the recipes featured were voted the best of the best by Dream Dinners customers nation-wide. Entrees include pesto cheese ravioli, chicken parmesan with garlic bread, orangey Asian chicken and Greek island shrimp.
Still not convinced that Dream Dinners is the way to go? Then check out its recipe for Montreal Steak Slaw. There's no cooking involved in this delicious slaw, just prepping and cooling. And isn't that they way cooking should be?
Montreal Steak Slaw
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups green cabbage, shredded
¼ cup carrots, shredded
¼ cup red bell peppers, julienne
¼ cup yellow bell peppers, julienne
¼ cup green bell peppers, julienne
¼ cup black beans, canned, drained and rinse
2 tbsp. jalapeño peppers, diced
2 tbsp. red onions, julienne
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. McCormick® Montreal Steak® Seasoning
DIRECTIONS:
Combine vegetables and beans together in stainless steel bowl. Toss to mix well. Combine mayonnaise with vinegar, sugar, and seasoning. Pour dressing over vegetables and mix well to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving to allow flavors to marry. Serves four.
Dream Dinners has two Richmond locations, one in Chesterfield at 6808 Woodlake Commons Loop and one in Short Pump at 11653 W. Broad St. Or can check them out online at http://www.dreamdinners.com/main.php?static=index