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August 24, 2007
My family dinners
Last night Amy and I went to an open house at My Family Dinners to see what it was all about. It's a place where you can go and essentially batch cook, or assemble meals to freeze. I had heard about it through another friend and was interested in checking it out, especially with the baby coming. When Julia was born I worked hard to cook and freeze and with the church meals and friends I don't think I cooked for at least two months.
Neither one of us has cooked what we made yet, we split Grilled Asian Pork Chops and Citrus Chicken. A chicken meal usually consists of 6 chicken breasts, which would either feed my family plus leftovers or we wanted to split it and see if we could make two meals out of it. Both of us have small kids who probably wouldn't eat an enitre breast on their own.
The menu for September looks really good and they price it all the same which is nice. We tasted brisket while we were there and that was awesome.
The price per meal was $17.50 which we honestly thought was expensive. We could have accomplished the same thing for close to half that cost. I don't necessarily think its a business geared towards me, its more for busy families who are trying to enjoy a meal again together instead of always eating out. So in that sense, its a deal!
However, they have it all laid out for you, ingredients, equipment and instructions and once you are done assembling your meal you walk away from your station and someone comes to clean it up. Can you put a price on ease and convenience? I don't think its something my family will regularly do since it would exceed our food budget, but I am definitely doing it in September to keep meals for after the baby. I'm thinking of asking for credit there from our parents as a sort of gift or help for after the baby. 12 meals (which we would hope to split into 24 with no leftovers) costs $210. I think it'll be fun and something nice to have as a treat and to mix it in with the stews and chilis I'll have frozen as well.
Feel free to let me know if you want to come with us, we wanted to gather a group for a session- we thought it would be more fun with friends. I would like to shoot for the second half of Sept just because they recommend you eat the meals within 3 months and I want them to last into Nov., but we'll probably try to get our names in a session soon.
| By JennR | 3:58 PM
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Comments
i think that is a little pricey, but maybe if you have a bigger family, maybe it is worth...I was thinking of swapping meals...
Posted by: gracie at August 24, 2007 4:41 PM
My sister-in-law who has five kids (with busy teen and preteen schedules) asked me if we had one of those. She uses it a lot, but has to double the meals to feed her family. Of course, orthopedic surgeons make a lot more money than high school guidance counselors. If you had the money it would certainly be worth it!! Someone makes your menu, does your shopping, prep work and cleans up for you = WOW!
Posted by: sara at August 24, 2007 4:48 PM
Yes, while it is pricey it seems like it would be a great thing around holidays, babies or when you are expecting company. I guess lately I'm finding I just don't have the spare time to cook ahead like I used to (or the energy) and yet I still want my freezer to be stocked by mid October. :)
Posted by: jenn at August 24, 2007 5:03 PM
Hm, I just realized that my last post was about finding great clothing deals and this one is about splurging on meals to make life easier. Now thats some financial consistency there- sheesh! I'm still hoping these meals turn out to be more of a gift from our parents then coming out of our pockets. : )
Posted by: jenn at August 24, 2007 5:09 PM
I did My Family Dinners last month and the twelve meals really stretched for the three of us (and one is a 2 year old). I am actually going tomorrow morning to do my next twelve meals. It really saves me a lot of time in the long run. Bevelle is a great lady. Glad you enjoyed yourself!
Posted by: alli at August 24, 2007 5:13 PM
We have one in Louisville called "Ready for Dinner". Our small group has gotten together and made meals to give to others and it has always been well received. Given how you balance it with other months of groceries, it can balance itself out -- and you can't beat the convenience! :)
Posted by: Philana at August 24, 2007 8:25 PM
I've always wanted to freeze dinners, especially before a baby came, but i don't have any room in my freezer! I am dying for a deep freezer, but my husband says I can't get one until we move into a house where we really have space for one. Just one more reason why we need to sell this house!!
Posted by: laini at August 25, 2007 1:01 PM