Let's Dish!

In the Practical Issues series, we are now looking at cooking. I acknowledge that cooking is not as much of a gender-specific function today--many men I know are much better cooks than their wives or girlfriends--but in the day-to-day aspect of feeding a family, women are usually the ones to think through the meals and stock the groceries. So if the stove made 19th-century cooking easier, and processed and frozen foods made 20th-century cooking easier (easier, not necessarily better!), what can we say of 21st-century food? I have no idea what lies ahead, but I can tell you that one innovation I truly enjoy is the prep-kitchen concept of a place like Let's Dish.

One of the challenges I now have is limited time. Though I'm home a lot working on this book, I need as much free time as possible to write. While it's tempting to putter around in the kitchen (which I love to do), I had to figure out a way to eat healthfully and quickly. Frozen meals can only take you so far, especially if you try to avoid preservatives (as I do). There's also a limited palate in the microwavable-foods section. So when a friend of mine invited me to try Let's Dish, I wanted to try it.

If you've never been to a meal-assembly store before, the best way I can explain it is that it's like hiring out a sous chef. You select the meals you want to make online, register for a day and time that's good to go, and then you go assemble meals. The recipes (and nutrition data) are already figured out. The items are already assembled, diced, minced, chopped, etc., and you assemble according to your portions and preferences. Like garlic? Add a pinch more. Dislike cilantro? Skip it. In about 90 minutes, I had 24 meals assembled and ready for my freezer. No preservatives--all fresh! I selected Garlic Herbed Salmon (yummy!), Fusion Pork Tenderloin, Curried Vegetable Stew, and Citrus Almond Tilapia. Each dish serves six, so I divided my portions into thirds for easier access. Let's Dish even provides labels with the cooking instructions. So now, I simply take out a frozen dish in the morning and leave it in the refrigerator to thaw. I come home, heat up the oven, toss in the dish -- and by the time I've done all the little chores that must be handled when you come home (start the laundry, check your email, toss the junk mail, etc.), dinner is ready.

Even better: I had two meals ready to go in my freezer when a neighbor told me his twins were born. So not only am I prepared for healthy meals for myself, I am also stocked up to bless others. (A pre-paid visit to a meal-assembly store is also a great bridal or baby shower group gift.) The only downside is the unattractive bandanas you have to wear in a commercial kitchen--but I'd rather have hat-head and not find hair in my food later on!

If you want to try it, there are lots of similar concepts out there, so here's a link to a site that lists them by state. In the D.C. area, many of the Let's Dish franchises have a newcomers discount, which I expect would be offered by other companies, too. For me, it worked out to less than $6 per dinner -- a little more than a microwave meal, but better tasting and with less sodium on average. (And, hey, if you sign up for Let's Dish, give them my name as a referral. I might get a discount for my next trip there!)

(Photos: The Let's Dish kitchen in Gaithersburg MD; Dawn Weaver and Barb Jones assembling their meals; the three of us ready to go with our meals. Note to Barb and Dawn: I included the unflattering bandana shot of me, too!)

UPDATE: I opened the comments function on this post because a single woman sent in a great idea for how to adapt this concept to serve the married women in her church. Check it out!

Comments

[Bethany]

This is by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I am a single woman who loves to cook and love to be able to bless others with meals and so I cook a lot in bulk on my own. I've been trying to figure out a better way to encourage some of the young moms in my church who often complain to me of not having time to prepare meals, and have even offered a few times to help moms with once a month cooking. I live internationally and am fairly sure there is not a company like "Let's Dish" around here, but this post has given me a great idea... get a few of my other single girl friends together, I could do the shopping and menu planning, we have fun and hang out while cooking and then all go home with individual servings as well as larger servings to be able to share with families in the church. Thanks for this post and the encouragement your posts often are to me.

[Emily]

What a great idea, Carolyn! Thanks for sharing your experience. I don't believe there is anything like this in the UK currently - the closest concept I can think of is a store we have that sells ready-made meals prepared there that day, all fresh and without an additives, by chefs and cooks.

[Danielle]

Hey, I was surprised to find my husband's aunt's picture featured on your blog today! Here's a shout out to Barb Jones! I know first hand she's a great cook.

[Tracy]

Great post. There is a similar franchise here in Atlanta called "My Girlfriend's Kitchen". What I like best is that you get the joy of cooking without the "joy" of cleaning up after yourself. As a single woman with a demanding career, "My Girlfriend's Kitchen" has helped me to have more home cooked meals for myself as well as for others. I recently hosted a dinner party featuring meals prepared in this way. Also, taking a group of friends makes for a fun social outing.

[Amanda]

Thanks for this post! I am single and love to cook but find it overwhelming when just cooking for one. We also have many versions of "Let's Dish" type businesse in my area but I find them a little impractical for just me and I'm on a tight budget. So, my friend & I have found a way to cook together. We call it "Chick it up!" About once a month, we get together a one of our apartments to cook. We plan a menu of healthy meals that are freezer friendly. We enjoy getting recipes from Cooking Light and reccomendations from family & friends. Then we check the cupboards, and the weekly adds, draft a shopping list and we are off. We generally cook about 4-5 main dish items in a weekend. Lately, we have been exploring slow cook menus that freeze well. Before we leave, we put our food into small portions and freezable containers. It is such a wonderful time together to share what God is doing in our lives and encourage one another as we cook. There's always time for a late night girl talk or movie. I love having meals that are easy to thaw and reheat available at a moments notice that are good tasting and healthier than store bought freezer meals.

[Judy]

I've been twice now to the local "Dream Dinners" franchise and have already been thinking about ways to bless others by dropping off these handy meals.

Check out www.dreamdinners.com to find a location near you.

[Katrina]

Hi everybody, my family loves Let's Dish. We had the Pork Tendeloin last night and it was amazing! I just got a coupon in the mail from them. Enter code PMBNEW at checkout and get $15 off for 8 or 12 meals. That one is good only for first time customers. There's also one for returning folks, which is $10 off. That code is PMBSAVE. The mailer says it's only good in Maryland and Northern Virginia, but folks from elsewhere can probably find something similar. The March menu looks great... you can see it on www.letsdish.com. We're signing up for a session next week. - Katrina

[Jacalyn]

I also like this idea but cost has keep me away a little bit. I think I would like to try it again thought since there are so many raves!

I now live with my Mom and want to have meals for her ready to cook in the freezer, it makes our lives much easier.

What else I like is all the other ideas. Esp the one where the friends get together and cook. My problems is that I have not been able to find many good healthy freezer friendly meals. I would love any suggestions or menu ideas that people may have. So Amanda if you are still reading you can email me and let me know what you have made...it sounds great!

jacingrace@yahoo.com

With gratitude...Jackie