What’s for dinner? This question is getting increasingly hard to answer. Most American families have two working parents and a lot of demands on their time. With fast food becoming the new staple in our diets our waistlines are increasing. What can be done?
I am a working mother. My husband and I are small business owners and we also both have “40 hour a week day jobs. We also have a vivacious three-year old daughter. Time is not something any of us have a lot of. I try to be very conscious of what goes in my family’s mouths. However, all too often we send out for pizza or resort to microwaving something frozen. I feel guilty every single time.
I heard a radio advertisement for My Girlfriend’s Kitchen. I was intrigued. It sounded like you go to their store and assemble a bunch of meals with the ingredients and containers they provide. You go home and freeze your meals and they are ready for your family at dinnertime. My friends and I got on their website and we were pretty impressed. They offer about fourteen different entrees each month. You schedule your session and purchase either six or twelve meals. They claim each entrée will serve four to six people. You also have the option of splitting your entrees in half for yourself or to share with a friend. We thought their website was cute, informative and it just made the whole thing look like a lot of fun. My friends and I all vowed to go together one day after work.
My friend, Marnie, and I went a few weeks ago for the first time. I called a store that was in between both of our houses and scheduled a session. The lady that helped me was very nice. We decided to make six entrees and split them between us. We would each take home six half-sized entrees to feed two to three people. Marnie is a newlywed and my three year old eats small servings, so this worked well. The menu items are very cleverly named. We chose:
Chicken Enchiladas Cha Cha Cha
Sassy Almond Orange Chicken Stir Fry
Burgundy Beef Bonaparte
Kid Curry Rides Again
Molasses Glazed Pork Medallions
Shrimp Alfredo on the Bayou
On the day of our session I met Marnie there. They had aprons for us and showed us around. It was a small store. It had about seven food preparation stations around the room. In the center were bright red chairs and a sofa with a coffee table. There was also a centrally located table containing all sizes of disposable containers. A sink was nearby to wash our hands. They provide plastic gloves if you prefer to use them. We were shown the refrigerator where a container with our names on it held bags of our meat, already measured. We were given a checklist that had our entrees on it. We moved from station to station making our meals. Each station had all the ingredients and measuring devices as well as instructions on how to assemble each one. It took us a minute at the first station to figure it all out. Once we got the hang of it we zipped through the remaining stations like cooking pros.
They have an ingenious way of getting your ingredients into a bag. They have “crocks”. These are cylindrical black plastic containers. You slip your zippered plastic bag into it and fold the top of the bag over the rim of the container. It is like an extra pair of hands to hold your bag open so you can measure all your ingredients into it.
The whole store looked clean and tidy. The ingredients looked fresh and the vegetables were brightly colored. The meat was already trimmed and cut and measured.
After we completed each entrée we put a label on it with cooking instructions, nutrition information and ingredient list. The label even had recommendations for side dishes to compliment the entrée and wine suggestions. We put each finished item on a shelf where we stored our personal belongings.
Halfway through our session we were served hot apple crisp and ice water in a pitcher. It was a nice break, we chatted with another lady doing a session. She was eight months pregnant and was there preparing the meals that her family would eat after her baby was born. I thought that was a great idea. It turns out you can purchase the apple crisp to cook at home as well as other desserts.
We finished a lot quicker than I had anticipated. The whole thing took about 40 minutes. We were given big bags with handles to transport all our food to our cars. We were also given a list with the next month’s menu.
I was so excited to be taking these meals home to my family. We didn’t try one until the next evening. We tried the shrimp alfredo first. It was tasty, everyone liked it. Over the next week I served each meal. We liked all of them a lot. I was a bit nervous about the beef one, because I don’t care for red meat, but it was very good. I was also worried the meals wouldn’t have large enough servings. In most cases I didn’t even serve them with a side dish. They was plenty for everyone. I even had leftovers from the orange chicken that I took to work the next day. I have already signed up to do another session.
Pros:
*You can choose to assemble your meals yourself, or have them do it for you. They even offer delivery.
*Nutritional information is listed for each meal. They are very nutritionally sound and most entrees include plenty of vegetables and lean meats. Some even contain whole grains like brown rice.
*Assembling the meals was super easy and even my husband can cook them. Most take only one pan or use the grill or crock pot. I hardly had any dishes to clean.
*They do all the work like cutting the vegetables and trimming the meat.
*The different meals represent diverse flavors and styles of cooking. You can also make double of one meal if you want to. We have already decided that when the orange chicken comes back on the menu we are doing two.
*You can customize your meal. I left out the onions in all our entrees and added a little extra garlic.
*I thought they were reasonably priced. It is cheaper than eating out, but more expensive than making it from scratch in some cases. I am willing to pay a little extra for the convenience.
Cons:
*I was a little disappointed that the meals had to be defrosted in the refrigerator first. I had visions of popping a meal straight from the freezer to the oven.
*You will need plenty of freezer space. I have a side by side freezer/refrigerator. It held the six half-sized entrees well, but I will have to clean it out before I bring twelve home.
*You are limited to fourteen entrees each month.
I would highly recommend My Girlfriend’s Kitchen to anyone. They are convenient, fun, practical and healthy. I believe that we will soon wonder how we used to get along without meal assembly stores.
