oh, baby, this is so good…

If I have to hear my husband say “ohh my gawd, this is soooo good” or “seriously, this dinner is amazing, delicious, fantastic …” etc one more time, I think I’m gonna lose it.

I brought this on myself. I signed up for the Meal Assembly class with Well Fed so we could have some nutritious, ready to eat meals – but what does my husband’s reaction tell you about my cooking?

Yup. My domestic culinary efforts are less than stellar. I’m not good with recipes, I’m not super creative, I hate chopping vegetables, and as a result we eat way too much pasta with parm, carrot sticks and apple slices as a last minute meal. Dinner is often an after-thought; my dreaded 5:00pm panic.

And then I discovered Well Fed.

Well Fed Studio is the genius idea of super-chef/super-mom, Ann Marie Rideout. Knowing how many families struggle with meal planning, prep and cooking, she created a beautiful studio in her home where clients go to create healthy, fresh and delicious meals, with her assistance and expertise. She offers cooking classes, too, but the option that caught my attention was the Meal Assembly – just as it sounds – you assemble 8 pre-selected dishes from a list of 12 options. When you arrive each dish is chopped, portioned and ready to be mixed together using an easy to follow recipe book with your personal selections. In 2 hours, I prepped all 8 dishes, which made more than 16 meals for my family since we are only feeding 2 adults, 1 toddler, and 1 baby.

Here’s what I made: Honey Lime Chicken Thighs, Pesto Chicken Lasagne Roll Ups (3 meals), Chicken Fingers (4 meals!), Grilled Vietnamese Beef Sandwiches, Greek Chicken Skewers, Mac and Cheese, Orange-Miso Sockeye Salmon, Sole with Veggies. We’ve eaten them all and give each one the Yaya Stamp of Approval. I’ve already signed up to go again in July for a private booking with a few friends. (8 people max). There are a few spots left if you’d like to join us!

Top 5 Reasons Why Well Fed is a Major Mommy Lifesaver:

1. The food is creative, but uses simple ingredients, like fresh herbs and garlic, lemons and limes and well-cut meats. My biggest beef about recipe books is that I never have the ingredients on hand that are required. I know you’re thinking if it’s so simple, why don’t I make these same meals at home myself? Because I just don’t. Like I mentioned, I have the best intentions but with recipe phobia, lack of time/mental energy, and chopping disdain it simply doesn’t happen.

2.  Excellent value- The meal assembly class is $238 (including tax), which initially I thought was pricy at approx $30 per dish, however once I saw the portions – they are huge! Each dish was enough for at least 2 dinners each (if not more) for our small family with young kids, so at $15 per meal I consider that a steal, given that I didn’t have to come up with the idea, shop, chop, prep or do any real work.

3. I learnt some new stuff. While assembling the meals, I picked up a few cooking techniques and ideas along the way so if I wanted to, I could recreate similar dishes at home. I now know what parchment paper can be used for (baking sole and veggies – so easy!!) and how to do some simple bbq chicken skewers. Again, not rocket science but it’s the idea that’s half the battle for me. I’ve already tried making these 2 things since taking the class, and while they didn’t taste exactly the same, I give myself at least a b+ for effort.

4. Every dish has been Picky Eater Approved. Meals are toddler friendly, and since everything is made with fresh, natural ingredients I even feel good serving it to Baby Yaya.

5. Attending this class has inspired me to be a better person. Ok, maybe not a better person, but certainly better in the kitchen. I make an effort to add more creative side dishes (come on, at least some vegetables and flavor) because it seems a shame to pair something so awesome with my usual blandness.

Oh, and If I could add a sixth reason it would be because it was super fun. I signed up with a few girl friends, we were given a glass of wine when we arrived, we had a chance to chat, get out of the house, and be productive at the same time! How’s that for mommy time?

Now here’s the best part- I want to share this awesome Mommy Lifesaver with YOU! One lucky Yaya Fan will win a Meal Assembly class at Well Fed Studio! Like Yaya Baby on Facebook and enter to win in the box below. There are also extra entries for following yayababy_ca on twitter, tweeting about the give-away, subscribing to Yaya’s newsletter and becoming a fan of Well Fed. Good luck!

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Share the giveaway using this link: http://www.facebook.com/yayababyboutique/app_228910107186452

Have some meal ideas? Share your favourite go-to fast dinner idea in the blog comments below. Everyone loves a new meal idea. And seriously, my family’s been good sports about the pasta and parmesan cheese for a last minute dinner up until this point, but I don’t think it’s going to fly much longer. (Even though I did survive on that for nearly a decade in university.) Help!