Dream Dinner, Supper Solutions, other meal preparation places-Has anyone tried these?

[mommylaw]

I would love to give my mother a gift certificate to a place like this for Christmas. Dinner has always been a struggle for her. I know that it's not cost effective, at all. But if she could get 6-10 meals out of it she would love it.

 

Is one company better than another? Any tips?

 

TIA!

[Guest]

I've done and even worked at Dream Dinners for a short stint.

 

Here's what I would consider -

 

Does she live with anyone? The meals are quite large for 1 or even 2 people. Some locations used to let you "halve" a meal, but you may want to call her local one to make sure.

 

At Dream Dinners, a lot of the meals are "sweet". This was a major complaint in "my circle" of friends and family - i.e., apricot pork chops, apple chicken, etc. Not so much savory as sweet, iykwim.

 

I don't know her age, but is she up to going and making all the meals? The sessions I think are at least an hour. It would be really fun if she had a friend who could go with her. Some gals used to come in and split the meals, each making 1/2 and taking 1/2 home. (I don't know that all stores allow this, though.)

 

Those are just my initial thoughts. The food itself was pretty good, imo, and definitely great if you are only doing it once or twice and have received them as a gift! (The menus tend to repeat when you do it long term.)

 

Your local store (or maybe one of the other companies) may be able to make the meals for her and she can just pick them up, if that better suits her.

 

HTH. :)

 

ETA: When I was there, you HAD to buy 12 meals. Make sure she has the freezer space for this (or more if she halves some of them!)

[mommylaw]

I was actually wondering if the sizes would be big enough. My baby sister (15) lives at home, and my dad. But my three brothers (21-30) often are over for dinner, unexpected and at the last minute. She also feeds my five kids every Friday (and sometimes Saturday) night when they sleep over. :)

 

I'm pretty sure she's up to the cooking part. She's only 55 and very physically active. she walks 1.5 miles to Mass every morning rain, snow or shine. :)

 

Thanks for the great feedback. I know she'll love it! I'm going to see if I can convince my cousins to do the same thing. Then my aunts can go with her.