I asked each of them to write one word on a piece of paper
that would explain what they love most about DreamDinners.

I was astounded by two occurrences:
1-every single one of them had a very hard time picking just one word.
2- they each chose a different word.

DreamDinners is a lot of things to a lot of people,
but I do believe our VIP’s said it best:

“We provide a variety of quality delicious
wonderful convenient and easy meals
that give our guests much needed relief in the kitchen.”

How is that for a mouthful?

Keep your eyes peeled because soon we will be featuring each one of these VIP’s in their very own blog post. I can’t wait to tell you a little about each of them. They are really wonderful people. In fact they (like DreamDinners) are a “variety of quality and wonderful.” No wonder why we get a long so good.

Just click on your photo to see yourself on the full-screen.

Thanks to all who came out for the fun.
We look forward to spending our menu launch’s with you and your families every month.
See you in June.

You VIP’s keep on the lookout.
You will be getting a special post of your own in the very near future.

The family rating: One thumb up.
The cook’s assessment:
Loved by all. Just like my own, but better seasoning

Time
This is the fastest chicken I ever cooked. When the instructions said to cook for 20 minutes, I was dumbfounded and worried that it would be raw, but not only did it cook through, it was tender and juicy. If you remember to take this dinner out the night before, you will be good to go a half an hour after arriving home from work.

Portions
The chicken breasts were huge. The adults only at half and the kids only ate a third. It filled us up and left plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.

Taste
Like I said above, the seasoning was great. I loved how it came with a crunch, but whatever they seasoned these suckers with was very tasty, especially when combined with the bread crumbs and Parmesan.

Serving Suggestions
I just steamed some broccoli and served it all with some 3 ingredient simple fruit salad. It would have been good to add a dinner roll, but I didn’t have any and the chicken was so wonderful we didn’t need the filler.

The family rating:
One thumb up.
The cook’s assessment:
Yummy. Loved all around.

Time
This meal was super quick. However the shrimp had to be marinated so I took it out a day ahead. It took about 15 minutes from stove to table.

Portions
I usually add in extra pasta to make the meal go further, but in this case it wasn’t a good idea. The pasta needed the given amount of butter sauce to make it taste good. The 6 portion would have been plenty to feed my family of 6 without adding in the extra pasta. The shrimp is generously portioned.

Taste
Yummy yummy yummy. Shrimp + butter. What could possibly be wrong with it?

Serving Suggestions
I cannot remember what the suggested side was, but I did stir-fry veggies. I quickly steam-fried zuchinni, squash, onion, mushroom, and bean sprouts. I wanted to add in some nutritional value to the protein and carbs.  I pre-cut all the veggies the night before so I was able to serve it all up fast together. As long as you have 3 eyes on your stove, you can do the pasta, shrimp, and stir-fry veggies all at the same time.

On a busy night that I would usually just go buy tacos, we were able to eat like royalty. In fact, on the left you can see my hubby giving me his thumbs up in the car. He grabbed his plate and ate it in the car on the way to a church meeting.

It is our goal to not just pin things we think sound good, but to try them out and let you know if they actually worked.  We will write our reviews right here on the blog and then add them to our pinterest board appropriately titled Pinterest Proven.

Our first trial run was with Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies from our Dessert board.

No long review is necessary. Let me just tell you that I have referenced this link every time I have made chocolate chip cookies since my first trial. I have NEVER been happy with my chocolate chip cookie abilities in my almost 30 years of experience. In fact, at one point I resorted to just buying the pre-made dough. Now my chocolate chip cookies turn out perfect every time. Thank you pinterest.

This pin is definitely one you want to use.
Make sure you have a glass of milk ready for when the cookie are hot out of the oven.

She created this visual picnic on her dining room wall.
She used vinyl lettering and a cute pin board.
Simple, but profoundly inclusive.

I think the idea was her own,
but I can’t say for sure.
Either way, feel free to make one just like it for your family.

I love my mother-in-law’s kitchen.
She has a combined kitchen/dining room.
She usually also has two couches on the surrounding walls.
There are always people crammed in this room,
enjoying good food,
but more importantly,
enjoying one another.

When I looked over her photos, I became emotional. I remembered so many good times. I remembered people who have passed on who are enjoying even bigger gatherings on the other side. I remembered the moment that as a newly married I saw for the first time a very silly side of my husband. I laughed until I cried. I remembered the gatherings associated with the births of our children. I remembered the holidays, birthdays, church conferences, cook-outs, canning projects, and especially the Sunday evening feasts. So many good times have happened around the table.

I am very grateful for this visual reminder of the love that surrounds me, and I’m infinitely grateful for a mother-in-law who makes it all happen. Around the table.

The family rating:  Two thumbs up.
(Three if we had more)
The cook’s assessment:
This is the best meal our family has EVER had
and it was so easy.
I would cook it every night if I could.
Stock up next month.

Time
This meal was so quick. I took the steak out of the freezer at the beginning of the first day to thaw and then in the evening before I went to bed, I then refrigerated the thawed steak in a bag of marinade overnight. The evening of the second day, at dinner time, I took it out of the fridge about a half an hour before cook time and let it set on the counter after applying the rub. I set the oven to a medium-high broil setting and cooked on each side about 7 minutes. 14 minutes from cook to table is pretty amazing. I think you could just put it in the oven directly after applying the rub, but I followed the recommendations to wait 30 minutes.  Besides, it gave me time to prepare the sides.

Portions
This 6 serving flank steak fed my family of 6 easily. Of course there was not a single bit of leftovers, but who would think to complain about that. My kids really appreciated having their very own edible slivers of steak (which made them think they were getting more than they were). They were so full and happy even though I really think they love steak so much that they could all eat the whole thing by themselves.

Taste
YUMMY! I’ve got nothing else but this steak was divine. The flavor was amazing. My hubby told the kids that it was so good he didn’t even need steak sauce. (He uses steak sauce in high-end restaurants.) The steak was perfect at medium to medium well. It was tender and juicy.

Serving Suggestions
Chef Touched Baby Roasters and steamed green beans.

I think the suggested sides would be great, however, once again, I always just use what I have on hand. I seasoned and roasted a frozen pack of California veggies, made lazy mom’s thump biscuits, and served with applesauce and instant potatoes.  The steak was so good that they didn’t even seem to mind that my potatoes weren’t real. Nothing took longer than 15 minutes to cook. That’s my kind of meal, especially on Sunday when I usually end up in the kitchen for hours. This whole meal from start to cook to eat and clean up was only an hour long. I was able to enjoy myself with some family baking afterward and they were none the wiser that I hadn’t slaved away in the kitchen. They truly thought that this was the best meal I have ever made. I laughed when a few weeks after having this flank steak, I got talking with a friend about DreamDinners and she said, “Oh my gosh, I love their flank steak.”

Note
Even though this steak was a quick cook, for optimal flavor, you have to think ahead and take it out of the freezer the day before you serve it.

12 oz. cool whip (thawed in fridge – not frozen)
8 oz. yogurt (any flavor)
1 can fruit cocktail (drained)

Mix together the yogurt and cool whip.
Fold in the drained fruit.
Whala.
You’re done.

I also like to mix in some mini marshmallows. The kids love the texture.
Sometimes I add in fresh fruit. Our favorite add-ins are berries and banana.
If you use the banana make sure you eat it up. Bananas make for yucky leftovers.

This can be put in the fridge before hand or made on the spot. Either way works fine.

Then I realized that when I use my DreamDinners,
I really do look a whole lot more like Joan
rom Leave it to Beaver.
What a great plug for DreamDinners.
I can hear the slogan now:
“You’ll cook looking like a million dollars.”

Today while perusing some other DreamDinners locations’
facebook pages I came across two great videos.
They gave two more great compelling slogans:
You’ll save money.

and
You’ll lose weight.

I mean seriously why isn’t every woman knocking down our door?
“You’ll cook looking like a million dollars.
You’ll save money.
You’ll lose weight.”

What’s next?
Can you enhance my marriage?
By golly, I think you have.
My hubby sure loves that flank steak.
Is it o.k. if I didn’t tell him that it came from DreamDinners?

This meal was the perfect way to wind down a cold rainy day.

The family rating:  
One thumb up. One thumb down.
The cook’s assessment:
Hubby and I loved this meal.
Two kids didn’t like and two kids gulped it down. Darn picky kids.

Time
This was a very quick meal. Super quick. I did take it out of the freezer the night before, but I think this meal could be used when in a bind. I think you could pull it out and defrost and have it ready in 30 minutes. Since mine was defrosted it only took about 20 minutes.

Portions
This meal filled my large family size skillet. We had leftovers for a few days. It is very hearty and would really be an excellent serve alone meal. It has rice, chicken, dairy, and veggies all in one skillet.

Taste
I loved the slightly smoky taste and all the texture of the veggies, especially the mushrooms and peas. The almonds on top were also a wonderful addition. If you are a nut lover, you may even want to add some almonds into the pan while cooking. I think this would be excellent with some pine nuts. The chicken and gravy mix were yummy. So much more flavorful than my typical boring cream of chicken base. It was perfectly seasoned. Not too much, but more than mild.

Serving Suggestions
I have no recollection what DreamDinners suggested as serving sides. Like I said before you really don’t need to add anything to this hearty rice meal, but we did easy steamed broccoli, orange slices, and The Snappiest Cheese Biscuit. Serving sides that I know my kids will eat, make it easier for us to try new things that they may not. And really what mother would be upset if all their kids ate for dinner was oranges and broccoli? Add in the biscuit, and they were good to go, and hubby and I had more leftovers for us.