Dinners Ready 2567

Apparently some people use them, but most people here are disinclined. As far as time saving, I'm a little skeptical about that.

You aren't getting away from cooking. I looked at cooking instructions when this topic came up before, and it's not heat-n-go, it's as complicated as recipes you'll find elsewhere. All you're doing ahead of time is packaging proportions for the meals. It's cut for you, and measured, but if you have to saute, you have to saute...

Again, it's not just "stick it in the oven" for most of the recipes. And the recipes that are "stick it in the oven" seem to have awfully long cooking times. It's not unusual to have a 3-hour cook time, or you're instructed to thaw for 1-2 days, then cook, so you'd better plan ahead.

That would be a useful idea, but you're getting family-sized entrees, not party-sized meals. And it's just the entrees. There's usually a lot more at a party.

Again, that would be a good idea, but the meals are geared for a small family. You might be able to get away with bringing the chili to a party, but not the 4 pieces of chicken in a sauce.

Considering it's an buttembly process, I can't imagine you'd learn much of anything, but it's a nice hope.

This discussion came up a while back when this thread appeared a few months back. No one I knew could figure out why they'd want to go there. Either they liked to cook and thought it was a huge waste of money, or they thought the idea of buttembled meals with little option for customization was dreadful, or it was the wrong size for their family...there were a whole lot of reasons why not, but no one I knew thought it was a good idea, and that included a few people who hate/dislike cooking.

If the concept was different, this might make sense. But going to a station and dumping chicken breasts, packaged sauce, and pre-chopped onions into a cooking tray isn't going to teach you a whole lot.

Just make sure you're aware of what you're getting if/when you pay the money. I looked into a few of these chains, and what they claim is a little bit far from reality. For instance, some say it's a month's worth of meals, but that's only if you eat 3 meals a week at home. Seriously. A "month" was 12 "meals."

There's not a whole lot of choice in sauces or seasonings, that stuff is all (or mostly) pre-done. You could choose to take less of a spice, but you're not going to be able to change the basic recipe to suit your taste.

Portion sizes may not be what you expect. If you're a light eater, you're probably fine, but if you've got growing kids or a hungry hubby, it may not be enough food.

They aren't really providing "meals" they're providing entrees. No salad, no veggies, no bread, no extras. There's no way it's a full meal, so you're still going to end up shopping for and prepping whatever else you want to serve.

You're still going to have to do cooking and cleanup at home. Some meals are oven-ready, but many of them are just as complicated as anything else you'd do at home. You're still going to use your frying pan, your pot for boiling noodles, etc. And if they tell you to cook something in oil. it's your cooking oil, your butter, etc. They don't supply everything you need. This isn't a one-stop shop.

Some of the meals are just silly, pre-prepared. Cheeseburgers? Seriously. You get meat patties, a slice of cheese, and buns. No onion, tomato, lettuce, or pickle. You don't even get condiments. No choice of cheese. No chips, potato salad, slaw, or baked beans. No dessert. Nada. Just meat, cheese, bun.

There were other meals like that. Sausage sandwiches where you get the raw sausage and the packaged sauce and some buns. Why bother? You could buy sausage, sauce, and buns at the store, and it wouldn't be frozen. And I have no reason to believe their pre-made sauces or other ingredients are any healthier than what you could buy in the store.

And the *better* meals were complicated to cook, given that they're targeting people who don't like to or want to cook. And the instructions were lacking, IMO, for some of the recipes. Giving someone a frozen pork chop and telling them to cook it until it's done is not something that's going to guarantee success.

And they buttume you have all the cooking gadgets needed -- meat thermometer, whisk, double boiler, crockpot, Dutch oven, etc. Yes, I have those things (or can figure out what I need to use instead) but if these are geared for people who don't cook, they might have problems following the instructions.

The chains are different from each other in regards to what they specifically offer, and the menus change, but for the most part what they're doing for you is helping you measure the cheap ingredients, portioning the meat/main dish for you, doing some cutting, and providing spice mixes and packaged sauces. And you get to pay a premium price for that.

Obviously, there are some people who find the service useful. Some of the chains may be better than others. But overall, I think the advertising is a lot better than the reality.

Donna