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Dream Dinners right from the freezer

By Lorie Hutson lorieh@spokesman.com(509) 459-5446

She was Dream Dinners’ dream customer. Now, she owns the place.

Samantha Gilstrap recently bought Dream Dinners, a meal preparation store in Spokane Valley. At Dream Dinners, and other similar stores, customers sign up for dinners they’d like to make from a monthly menu. Then they attend a session at the store to assemble the meals and take the uncooked entrees (with instructions for cooking) home to their freezers. Twelve dinners (which serve four to six people) cost approximately $200.

In the last few years, the meal preparation concept has become a phenomenon among some of the busy working families I know. (We first wrote about the stores in 2004.)

There are four other places that offer similar services in Spokane and one in Coeur d’Alene. Some also will put the meals together for you (for an extra fee). Others offer a rotating menu of dishes you can pick up for that night’s dinner.

Here’s a rundown of the services:

Spokane

•Cena, 12501 N. Highway 395, 328-3709, www.cenatogo.com.

•Class Act Cuisine, 3022 E. 57th Ave., Suite 15, 443-8788, and 9021 N. Indian Trail Road, 467-4272, www.classactcuisine.com.

•Dinners Ready, 2622 E. 29th Ave., 533-6325, www.dinnersready.com.

•Dream Dinners, 328 N. Sullivan Road, Suite 3, 924-4044, www.dreamdinners.com.

•The Meal Maker, 13220 E. Sprague Ave., 892-1403, www.themealmaker.com.

Coeur d’Alene

•Home on the Range, 245 W. Sunset Ave., www.youdoitdinners.com, (208) 664-9140.

How I learned…

We hear so often that nobody cooks these days; that we all eat fast food and pre-prepared meals in front of the TV. But we know people still cook (otherwise you probably wouldn’t be reading this).

The Spokesman-Review is doing a story called “How I learned to cook.” We’d like to hear from readers with a variety of cooking experiences. Maybe you learned baking at your grandma’s knee. Maybe you watched your mom in the kitchen every day after school. Or maybe it was your dad who did all the cooking. Maybe you’ve gleaned all of your cooking know-how from Food TV, cookbooks or classes.

We want to hear from you by Friday. Contact Heather Lalley at (509) 459-5089 or by e-mail at heatherl@spokesman.com.