My husband and I tried Dream Dinners, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, this weekend, and what a treat!  Their March introductory offer ($74.95 value)  let us pick six 3-serving meals from an expansive menu.  Then, we made an appointment to go into the kitchen and assemble all six meals.  The kitchen is very organized, clean, and all the ingredients are chopped, measured and ready for you to build and take home, freeze or eat right away.  You go from station to station to assemble your meals.  The proprietary recipe cards at each station guide you through the process and it’s quite simple to assemble.

Travis helped us at the Wheat Ridge location.  He is such a delight to work with and learn from.  You use bags or containers, and all items come with a step by step recipe card so when you get home and choose a meal, you are ready to go!  No chopping, no buying of ingredients, no extensive prep time.  You follow very simple directions to heat up/top or cook the food, and you’re serving up dinner in no time!  This is perfect for family meals or for just two.  The introductory offer is definitely worth a shot, and I encourage you to set up your appointment on line or call them.  The staff is super friendly and helpful and on-site with you the entire time.   You are offered a drink of coffee, tea, or other beverages, and we got to sample a scone 1030 am on a Saturday – it was delish!  My husband was able to sample chicken risotto which is being offered on their April menu and loved it!

The kitchen has clean bowls, measuring bowls, and utencils throughout your preparation journey, and the instructions are so simple to follow, even color-coded.  It’s super easy – we were in and out in an hour and that was including someone teaching us, and speaking with us about the offers.  I also picked up sides from their sides and dessert freezer case, and we enjoyed potato pancakes and a dip for lunch.  Yum!  Tonight, my husband and kiddos are having cornflake crusted chicken  tenders and a side of mashed potatoes (also from Dream Dinners), while I enjoy Risotto (a side dish).   The vegetarian choices are slim to none here, but Travis told us that if you choose to leave out the protein on a 3-serving meal, you save 50% on that dish, which is a great deal.
Then, you can pick the protein of choice at home and assemble the meal at home, and still save time and money.  For example, April’s menu includes a Creamy Chicken Risotto, and this item can be assembled without the protein, or the risotto can be made without the chicken or chicken packaged separately from the Risotto.  At home, it can be made vegetarian for both a vegetarian and meat-eater to enjoy.   My favorite was the side dishes because those for me are things the kids eat like mashed potatoes, potato pancakes, fries and garlic bread sticks.  They complement all the meals you prepare at Dream Dinners, or can complement a dish you make at home.  My husband prepared the cornflake crusted chicken tenders tonight and the house smells lovely!  He loved the meal and said the flavors were perfect.

The only cons for me of this place was menu selection for a vegetarian, but if you eat meat and your family is not picky, this place is for you!  Also, even if you are cooking for just two or three, I think the portions are perfect for one night and a left over for lunch the next day. With 3-servings, it goes a long way in our house.  The minimum order after the introductory offer(six 3-serving meals) is twelve 3-serving meals, so it may best to split with a good friend if you are interested and cannot possibly maintain 3-4 meals a week on this.  Partnering up with friends is a good idea.  You can skip a month if you want or are out of town, and there is no contract or obligation.  The best thing is about how long they will keep because they are packaged for freezing so you can thaw or take out when you are ready for them.  All the instructions are different so follow the cards’ instructions carefully.   Also, like Steve points out in the comments, this place is kid-friendly and if kids are into cooking, or mature enough to be involved in the kitchen, this place is perfect to bring him or her along to help you portion out the recipe, assemble the meal and add the ingredients of their choice.  Who knows? If they take part in the assembly, they may actually eat it?  What a concept!

One of the things I learned about Dream Dinners is that they do school fundraisers and give  a size-able donation per family – each attendee pays $34.99 for THREE 3-serving meals of their choice and $10 of this goes to the school – that is 30% back of the school!  What a great idea and you get healthy, fresh meals that the family can get 6 meals or more out of – what a deal!

My husband and I enjoyed our dream dinners experience and I would highly recommend you try the introductory offer.  After that, you can figure out how to sign up because for us, twelve 3-serving meals is a lot considering how differently we all eat in our family, but if we can split it with a family, or two, I think it could work out.  Also, make some room in your freezer because you are gonna need it.  Dream Dinners has the four Colorado locations to choose from so you can go an try out their introductory offer.  Also, if you are not in Colorado and you’d like to go in and try your Dream Dinners, you can see if there is one near you.    Happy cooking and eating!

Giveaway:  To enter to win, please comment below with what you’d do with one free 3-serving meal from Dream Dinners? Make sure you include your name and email when you comment- only I see your email.   For this event, you can bring up to 9 friends (10 total including you) to build a meal and learn more about Dream Dinners while you enjoy provided appetizers, non-alcoholic drinks, and the opportunity to catch up with friends or colleagues.  Also, for an additional $24.95 (normally $50 value), you can  take three additional 3-serving meals home with you, ready to thaw and/or cook.  The night out is a great deal and worth over $130 (depending on dish) and it’s yours for free.  Just sign up and I randomly choose a winner using a plug in on wordpress.  Finally, I hope you will invite me along as one of your party of 10.  🙂 You will be notified by 3/19/2016 if you win and winner posted here.   Comments/entries close at 8pm MDT 3/19/2016.  *Note: Contest only applies to Wheat Ridge, Colorado location

NOTE: We have a winner! Congrats, Heather – I will connect you with Dream Dinners & write you separately.

Required Disclosure: I was offered a free introductory offer from Dream Dinners in exchange for a honest review.  The giveaway is also part of the compensation for readers who enter to win.  The opinion expressed here are my own. This post contains affiliate links.