An A'Fare to Remember

As I mentioned in a previous post, Friday was the day to try out a new dinner option. My family gets so excited when I do things like this but their excitement is not without apprehension. Not all experiments work well!

I rose bright and early and made my way to Winter Park. My appointment was at 10:00 and I didn't want to be late. Their web site states that you can have 12 meals prepared within two hours and I wanted to see if it that was a true time estimate. Two hours seems a little too good to be true.

I was cheerfully greeted at the door by Lisa and JoAnne:

They're about to celebrate their 2nd anniversary at this location.

Joanne gave me a tour of the place and showed me where my specific items belonged. She helped me into an apron and hat. The hat was actually optional since all of their stations are equipped with "sneeze guards," which I guess would also prevent falling hair from landing in the food, but since I know I shed too much for comfort I opted for the hat. Plus, it was a cool hat!


I had my own space in one of the refrigerators, plus a checklist of the meals I had ordered. They gave me a pen to check off the meals as I prepared them, and you know how that appealed to the left-brain part of my thinking!




Each station has anywhere from two to three recipes. The assembly instructions are in the black frames above the station. Below each section are individual refrigerators (or freezers) for the meat portion of the recipe.
At the end of the station you can see the boxes for gloves and zip bags. Each time you move to another recipe, you either scrub your hands again or put on a fresh pair of gloves. I opted for the gloves since my hands get so dry with repeated washings.



There are tons of measuring cups and measuring spoons all ready. However, you don't need to grab any of these because the correct measurement is already in the food bin, waiting for you.
Kidney beans, Pinto beans, Stewed tomatoes, YUM!



After you stretch a zip baggie over a crock so you don't have to wrestle with the bag each time you want to add an ingredient, you follow the assembly instructions and put the meal together.

I deliberately kept the recipe out of this photo since they're copyrighted, but you have ingredients to add for each bag printed above these instructions.



When all ingredients are in their proper bags (each recipe has anywhere from one to three bags), you head over to the wrapping station.

Before you wrap the bags together, you put a label with thawing and cooking instructions (shown in this adorable sorter, above) face down on the wrap. Then you bundle them together and stick them on your shelf, change gloves, and head off to the next station. Lisa had to give me a "swaddling" lesson on the wrap, since I hate wrap and never use it. I began to get the hang of it, though, and was fine with it by the end of my session. So each meal is in zip baggies or a foil pan with lid, then completely (even the foil pan) wrapped in food wrap with the thawing and cooking instructions on top.


In less than two hours, here was my loaded shelf! There are more meals behind these that you can't see.
I suspect it would have taken me even less time, but we did get to jawing about public schools, home schooling, and private schools. The woman in the green shirt in one of the above photos was particularly passionate about teaching children to their own learning style, and who was I not to talk about one of my favorite subjects? She's a dental hygienist who was given a Dinner A'Fare session by her husband last Christmas. Since she works several days each week, her time at home is precious. For almost a year, she has come to Dinner A'Fare for her meals. It has saved her time, money, and effort.

I hope it's the same for us!


You bring a cooler or a laundry basket to your session to cart your meals home. The dental hygienist opted for canvas bags. Since it's just her and her husband, she was making the smaller portions (serving 2-3 people) while I was making the full portion (serving 4-6 people).

Whenever we arrive home with bags or containers, Jack thinks we've brought something for him. Hence, his nosiness in this picture. Don't mind the pizza box in the background. I was on a new adventure and wasn't about to cook the night before!


All twelve meals (plus one dessert) filled a little over half of my freezer. There's still room for ice cream, waffles, and other items.

The evaluation:

I am in love with Dinner A'Fare. I came home and told the girls, "I want this to work out for the rest of my life!" Himself had one of the recipes that night (Horseradish Encrusted Cheddar Beef Burgers) but the rest of us were off to different activities. Still, he pronounced them the best burgers he'd ever eaten, and when the kids had them for lunch the next day, they heartily agreed.

Pros:
1. I was truly finished in two hours. My 10:00 appointment ended just before noon; I had the recipes finished and in my freezer at home by 12:30. Normally, by 12:30 on shopping day I am coming in with one load of groceries, grabbing a bite to eat, then heading off to another store.

2. I am only purchasing edible food. All the bones, fat, and other things normally tossed have been removed. I love this part especially! All the prep work is already finished.

3. The meals are fresh (or fresh frozen vegetables & pasta for soups, etc) and foods I would normally make. I don't have picky eaters who live only on macaroni, so this works for us. Since they purchase the meat fresh, you must order your food ahead of time (no walk-ins). The only pre-cooked foods were chicken and sausage for Jambalaya.

4. The meats (except where noted) are fresh, which means when I cook the meal at home I'm not simply preparing someone else's processed dinner. This is the way I've always cooked, so it won't be horribly different for my family. (I had one cousin exclaim once, "Wow, you've bought all ingredients at the store, not meals!" She was used to family members who prepared meals from boxes and cans.)

5. In fact, except for a rice mix and (I suspect) the alfredo sauce, all ingredients are fresh. I was able to view the exact contents of the rice mix at the store since they have everything available in case you wanted to purchase extra. It was a safe food for me, so that made me glad.

6. When you do the math, the meals are highly affordable. I calculated $4.08 per person per meal. I can't eat out at a fast food restaurant for that amount!

7. Did I mention all my meals for the next two weeks were ready and in my freezer by 12:30? That means I got to take a break and read some blogs!

When I did the 30 Day Freezer Cooking with CP, it took a meeting to plan the meals and make the grocery list, a day for shopping and prep, and a day to assemble the meals. A very long day to assemble the meals. Plus, we had a TON of cleanup. I had to keep extra dishes on hand to be able to freeze the meals in containers.

With Menu Mailer, I had to go over their grocery list, arrange the menu, visit two separate grocery stores, plus I had to put away groceries, prep the food, and cook the meal. I would also tend to buy ingredients that I ended up wasting (half-can of tomato sauce, a cup of broth, rare spice). At Dinner A'Fare, Lisa pointed out that I'm only purchasing edible food. No waste! There won't be a can of spices that goes bad in my cupboard, or leftover chili sauce that I don't really use for anything else.

Cons:

1. While it's within our budget, it does stretch it just a bit, especially when they have side dishes and desserts available for purchase. I gave in on the Caramel Apple dessert! I told Himself that once some of these kids move out, we'll eat like kings for less money. :-) (Kids, I love you. I'm in absolutely no hurry for you to move out. Seriously.)

2. There's a glare on the assembly instructions that's a little irritating when trying to read. Hopefully, someone will invent frames that tilt downward to eliminate this. Plus, they're up a little high. I'm only 5'5"!

3. I would prefer broccoli florettes instead of large stalks for the Fetticini Alfredo with Chicken and Broccoli. It seems each family member will only get one stalk this way.


All in all, I'm waiting only for the actual eating of the food to give it my full endorsement. There seemed to be food and ingredients I would make myself, but an extra gourmet flair added that I would probably skip on my own. My whole family is looking forward to the dinners.

I signed up for another session. By doing so, I earned a free entree, so I'll be getting 13 dinners next time for the price of 12! They also gave me a punch card, so after I purchase 6 sessions, my next session will be half price! This is quite a deal.

If you'd like further details, I'd be happy to answer them. Just leave questions in the comments. I can tell you this: you don't have to make their exact menu to fill your order of twelve meals. In other words, you can make three of one meal, three of another, and then six separate ones if you like. It's easy and flexible.

Just like Himself. ;-)