Chattanooga Is Home

My husband tells me that I am a better cook than his mother. There is a small joke in there- his mother doesn’t cook. Damon grew up eating take out, TV dinners, and enjoying restaurant fare.

I grew up in a family that rarely ate out, but had a variety of good, home cooked meals almost every night.

When we got married, blending our eating habits was interesting. My husband liked home cooked meals, but wanted them to look and taste like he got them from one of the many restaurants found in Chattanooga.

I would say that I am an ok cook. Put a recipe in front of me and I can usually cook it up right. Sometimes I experiment with ingredients and have fun, but I can’t say that I love cooking. I get stressed out when thinking about what to make for dinner. The prep, the nutrition, the time- it all aggravates me to no end.

To help end the frustration, this Friday I took some time to myself and went to My Family Dinners to prepare 12 meals for my family.

My Family Dinners
541 Signal Mountain Rd., Suite #225
Chattanooga, TN 37405
myfamilydinners.com
423-902-7642

I first learned about My Family Dinners a few years ago when owner Bevelle Puffer appeared on the early morning show, Eyewitness News Today on WRCB. At the time, she was running the business from her home and using a community center on Signal Mountain for the meal prep sessions.

Now, a few years later, Bevelle has opened My Family Dinners in a space at the bottom of Signal Mountain, near the Wal-Mart.

The concept is pretty easy. You can go to their website to check out the menu and session schedule for the month. Call or email My Family Dinners to reserve a space in one of their sessions. Five days before your session, contact them again with your menu choices. The minimum to prepare is six meals.

On the day of your session, you arrive with a cooler to take home your meals. When I arrived, I met Bevelle, she gave me my menu and pointed me to one of the first stations. She explained that when you are done putting the meal together, just put the labeled bag in one of the four large refrigerators in the room.

The only time I picked up a knife was when I was slicing the bread for a panini.

There are fourteen stations around the space, all with stainless steel counter tops. Each station has all the ingredients, measuring utensils, and packaging for the dish. The key to this is that all the ingredients have already been prepped. Does the recipe call for chopped onions? Then just scoop them out of this plastic bin, they have already been chopped for you! The only time I picked up a knife was when I was slicing the bread for a panini.

At the back of the counter are the step by step instructions for the meal. When you are done following the directions (they are really are easy), you then place a label on the bag. This label contains your cooking instructions for when you are ready to cook it at home. After placing the bag or casserole dish in the fridge, move on to the next station and start making your next dish.

The over all experience made me feel as if I was in a professional kitchen, yet I was among friends. The women in the room (there are men who use the service as well!) all chatted and made me feel welcome. And I had such a great feeling when I left with my cooler, knowing I had all these meals ready to thaw and cook over the next month.

This evening we had our Paninis and they got rave reviews. It was really healthy, tasty, and met my husband’s ideal of restaurant food in his own home. My Family Dinners is a winner at our dinner table.

My Family Dinners is a Chattanooga original. I know that there are others out there that do a similar service, but this place grew here, which makes it even more special to me. You can arrange to prep the meals yourself or pay extra to have all the meals prepared for you to pick up and take home. I already scheduled my session for August, maybe I will see you there!

My Family Dinners
541 Signal Mountain Rd., Suite #225
Chattanooga, TN 37405
www.myfamilydinners.com
423-902-7642

[tags]Chattanooga, Chattanooga dinner, My Family Dinners, freezer meals[/tags]