Thank you Dream Dinners for sponsoring this post and keeping this content free for readers. As always, all opinions are my own, and my love of an easy dinner is undeniable. #UTdreamdinners
5 minute Cheesy Garlic Bread and a dinnertime makeover summer experiment with Dream Dinners.
Let’s talk about dinnertime! What does your normal dinner routine look like? How do you plan your dinners? When do you prepare? Shop? Etc.
One of the reasons I started this blog a little over two years ago was because our dinner times were chaotic. We had soccer, homework, piano practice, and a host of over things that meant by the time dinner rolled around we were all pretty exhausted and overwhelmed.
I had to find solutions that would work for our family, and so I started making freezer meals to cut out the chaos, reduce the day-to-day work, and most importantly, get rid of some of the massive piles of dishes.
And you guys, I was so good at regularly doing this, and it was amazing for our family. My kids had a home cooked meal every night. My kitchen stayed clean. And I saved money.
Sounds blissful right?
But then life got away from me. There were health issues, a move, a million blog posts that needed to be finished, and ya know…real life stuff. So lately, at our house it has been nothing short of chaos once again. I am either scrounging around trying to figure out what I can make with two wilted carrots, and half a container of yogurt (ok, so I exaggerate), or ordering take out, or trying to get my kids to eat the twentieth version of something I made for the blog.
When I do go to the store to grocery shop, I am usually picking up stuff for a blog post, and then over buying on everything else because I have no plan. I am just trying to keep my head above water most days, and since it feels like we have “no food” at home I go overboard, and the fact is, we waste a lot of food.
With six of us in my family, this is not pretty and gets expensive fast. I know I need to get back into a better habit and be better organized. But unfortunately life hasn’t slowed down much, and fitting in the time to plan, shop, chop, and prep for a whole weekend won’t fit in right now. As much as I wish it would.
But fortunately for me there are a few options, and one of those is Dream Dinners.
Dream Dinners is a company located in Utah, that offers monthly meal solutions in the form of sel-prep freezer meals. You go onto their website, pick out your meals, then go into their location and they have everything ready to be assembled. It is very organized, very easy, and super quick too. No shopping, no clean up, no recipe testing!
I was one of the lucky bloggers selected to participate in a Dream Dinners Experiment this summer to see if using Dream Dinners can be both cost effective and time saving for our family dinner time. So far it has been both, as well as sanity saving.
I have tried Dream Dinners once before in the past, and they were awesome. I loved how easy they made my life, how good they tasted, and how much better I was at planning meals when I had them in my freezer. In fact, they were a big part of why I decided to start making freezer meals. I thought, “I can do this on my own, and save money, but still get the same results.” And in some ways, I was right. When I took the time to plan, shop, organize, and prepare, my per serving cost was quite a bit less than buying direct from Dream Dinners. But that cost savings came at a cost of time, energy, and messes.
I think we all reach a point in our life when we have to decide priorities. Would I rather pay a little more for meals and have time to spend with my family, and fewer messes to clean up? Or achieve the cost savings but sacrifice several days to get it? Sometimes I have more money than time, and sometimes more time than money. And with it being summer where my kids are home, I think I’d rather spend my time with them then trying to worry about dinner time!
We ate our first 3 Dream Dinner meals of the experiment last week, I bought them with their Introductory offer for just $25 for 3, 3-serving meals, or $50 for 3, 6 serving meals. They tasted awesome, and my kids ate them really well, which made me one happy mama! This Creamy Tortellini with Bacon, was my kid’s favorite. I preferred the Mango Salmon, but found myself licking my plate with this one. If you want to try them, you too can at the Introductory Offer pricing. Just click Here to sign up.
One thing I hope to achieve during this Dream Dinners Experiment is not just tasty meals for my family, but both time and money savings. While the per serving cost of Dream Dinners is going to be higher than if I were to make the meals myself, I hope to see savings in other areas. For example, being more organized with meal times means buying less excess foods that get wasted and fewer nights going out to eat. In addition, there will be savings in hassle, Dream Dinners does the prep and planning for me, and cleans up the messes. All I have to do is show up, spend a few minutes to assemble my meals, and pay!
I honestly thought I couldn’t afford Dream Dinners, but after taking a look at what I am actually spending on groceries each month, I may need to reconsider. As part of the experiment I will be tracking what we normally spend a month on food, and see how it compares with the cost of Dream Dinners. As a food blogger, I spend a ridiculous amount of money on groceries and we still go out to eat a lot. A little better planning and organizing for me couldn’t be coming at a better time.
I will let you know how the experiment goes, and whether or not I save money. My guess is I will. And I already know my family LOVES the food. So here’s hoping for less stress and more fun!
If you want to take the experiment with me, and give Dream Dinners a try, you can sign up for that same $25 introductory offer and see if it might be a good fit for you. $25 is a low cost way to sanity at dinner time, so I hope you can see the same benefits I have already seen.
Because we loved the Creamy Tortellini with Bacon so much, today I am sharing this quick, easy, and dang good garlic cheese bread to eat with it! You mix up a cheese mixure, spread it on top, broil until bubbly and brown, and enjoy! It is so good, and one we have been making for years. In fact, I can’t believe it took me this long to share it with you.
5 Minute Cheesy Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- 1 loaf french bread cut in half horizontally
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup softened cream cheese feel free to microwave for 30 seconds to soften
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbs Johnny's garlic seasoning mixture or your favorite garlic salt mixture
- 1/4 cup butter softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to Broil on High
- Mix the butter, sour cream, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and garlic seasoning together
- Spread evenly over the cut sides of the French bread
- Put loaf on cookie sheet, cheese mixture side up
- Broil 3-5 minutes, on the top rack, close to the element, until golden brown edges and bubbly cheese form
- Remove, slice, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
Want to use this recipe in a meal plan?Try PrePear, my FREE Meal Planning App that allows you to save your recipes, plan meals, shop for groceries, and cook simply in one place. Join Here!
Don’t forget, you can try Dream Dinners to see if it can be a dinner solution for your family for just $25.
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