Let’s Dish! Food for Thought

Tag Archives: meal preparation

August 18, 2008 – 2:58 pm

We appreciate your feedback!

As regular dishers know, we send a survey to every customer following their In-Store, Dish-n-Dash or DishDelivery session. You may not realize that we get over 1000 completed surveys each month… and we read every single one! Your feedback has been essential in helping us develop some of our new services and programs, including:

Freezer Freedom: Our newsletter for those who prefer to “cook from frozen”
You Deliver, Dish Delivers: Our free delivery program for new moms
Dishing flexibility and Walk-in Wednesdays

And you bring up questions that make us think: Should crying babies be permitted at sessions? Could you have splitters’ utensils at the stations instead of just “fulls”? How much more would it cost to provide all (or some) organic ingredients? [Feel free to post a comment on these — or other — issues below].

But we have to admit, our favorite part of reading comments is seeing how important our service is in making your busy lives a little easier, healthier or simply more pleasant. Just look at a few of the actual, unedited comments that came in this week:

“I’m so glad a friend took me to ‘Let’s Dish!’ As a working mother with two small children this has made our evenings less stressful and more enjoyable. My husband likes the meals and I like that everything’s already done. I wish I would have known about this when I was pregnant!” - Amanda
“I’ve only been in twice and both times have been phenomenal! I told the staff that my dishing experience was quickly becoming the highlight of my month. The food is fabulous and requires so little thought on my part - which is wonderful when entertaining - and every time I go, I am greeted with such a friendly staff and a fun experience. Let’s Dish is the greatest invention ever!!!” - Savannah
“I am a total convert- love how this simplies my life at dinner time every day and frees me up to spend more time with my kids! ” - Chari

So please keep the feedback coming. What we’re doing well, we’ll strive to do more of. And where we drop the ball, we appreciate your letting us know!

By Jeremy Kugel | Posted in Bright Ideas, The Dish On | Also tagged children, cook, cooking, feedback, kitchen, Let's Dish!, mom, recipes, survey | Comments (1)

August 12, 2008 – 3:14 pm

Check out the new letsdish.com!

Our website is brand new! A large, scrolling, clickable window (snapshot below) allows you to see vibrant images of our latest menu and promos. We’ve got video featuring a local family enjoying the benefits of our many services. And we’ve made signing up for a session easier than ever (hint: just click one of the large “sign up” buttons on the front page). Check it out… and more importantly, tell us what you think. Please add your comment below.

Happy dishing,

By Jeremy Kugel | Posted in The Dish On | Also tagged meal assembly, www.letsdish.com | Comments (0)

July 11, 2008 – 6:12 am

More Freedom from Your Freezer

Solutions to Fit Your Busy Lifestyle

Everyone loves meals you can cook straight from frozen. Schedules change, the dog needs to be walked, you haven’t had your coffee. Sometime you forget to start thawing a meal in the morning. Who could blame you?

Not us, that’s for sure. You’ll now find on our menus a greater selection of meals that cook-from-frozen.

And for meals we recommend you thaw first? Well, we are now are providing on our website “alternative cooking methods” — whereby almost all of our meals can be cooked from frozen (with a few minor adjustments in procedures). Log in to your account and check the My Cookbook page to learn how you can get it onto the table faster – with little to no compromise in taste. Look for the “Freezer Freedom” newsletter link at the bottom of the page.

Click to continue reading “More Freedom from Your Freezer”

By Jeremy Kugel | Posted in Bright Ideas, Family Matters | Also tagged cooking, family dinner, family dinners, jeremy kugel, Let's Dish!, main course, meal assembly, www.letsdish.com | Comments (1)

June 30, 2008 – 5:00 am

Now More Ways to Get a FREE Dish!

You know about DishRewards. That’s the program we launched this spring, where you earn DishPoints (good as cash on www.letsdish.com) for doing all the things you love: dishing, recommending Let’s Dish! to friends, hosting parties, dishing some more, etc. DishPoints stack up quickly (we’ve already given away well over a million of them!). Real customers like yourself are earning $40, $50, even $60 OFF their sessions. In fact, you probably already have some DishPoints. Log in to letsdish.com and check your balance today!*

But what about our Ready Made customers? If you shop the convenience of our retail freezer, you probably want in on the action too. That’s why we created the Ready Made Rewards Card. For every purchase of $25 or more, you get a dish stamp. 10 stamps and you get a FREE dish. Essentially, it’s a Buy 10, Get 1 FREE offer! You can even see a menu sampler of dishes available in the ReadyMade freezer online. Check out the details in store and grab your card today!

Ready Made Rewards Card

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*You do need your own Let’s Dish! account to have your qualify for DishPoints and the DishRewards program. An account will automatically be created for you when you place an order under your own name and email. If you don’t have one, you can sign up in less than a minute, click here to get started!

RELATED LINKS:
> Learn more about DishRewards
> Log in and check your DishPoints balance
> Visit the Ready Made menu sampler to see the delicious Let’s Dish! meals available right now!

By Jeremy Kugel | Posted in Bright Ideas, The Dish On | Also tagged cooking, diet, DishPoints, DishRewards, family dinners, healthy meals, jeremy kugel, Let's Dish!, meal assembly, nutrition, quick easy meals, Ready Made, ready made meals, The Dish On, www.letsdish.com | Comments (0)

June 28, 2008 – 5:00 am

Enter Our Recipe Contest and Win $100

Recipe Contest Share favorite recipe and your next Let’s Dish! session could be FREE. Raid your family’s cookbook and send us your best - entrée, side or dessert. You could win a $100 Let’s Dish! gift card, and may even see your dish on our menu. Entries must be sent to recipes@letsdish.net by July 31st, 2008. The winner will be contacted by August 31^st, 2008.*

We’d love to use your submission on a future Let’s Dish! menu, so please remember:

All ingredients must be freezable
Recipe must contain specific amounts and methods
Recipe must be executable with no additional equipment (e.g: food processor, mixer, etc.)
Recipe must be nutritionally sound and within Let’s Dish! guidelines. (one serving = 5000 calories, sorry… no can do!.)
All recipes must be original and created by the submitter (not copied from a cookbook)
Recipe must serve 6
Heating or cooking should be relatively simple
Recipe may be changed at Let’s Dish! discretion to utilize in store
It needs to be delicious! (at least according to our expert panel)

*All submissions become property of Let’s Dish! and may be used or altered without further permission from, credit to, or compensations for, the submitter. All rights reserved. Entries that arrive after July 31st, 2008 will not be considered.

LINKS TO BLOG POSTS THAT MAY GIVE YOU INSPIRATION:
> Check your top-rated dishes and then find and submit similar recipes. Click here to read more about rating your dishes.

> Kid-friendly meals are always popular, especially during the school year. Watch the WUSA9 feature on Let’s Dish! family-friendly meals.

> We strive for healthy and delicious meals on our menu. Here’s a page showing you how to download the nutrition facts and ingredients of our current menu.

> Read all the Culinary Inspiration posts for more ideas!

By Holly W | Posted in Culinary Inspiration | Also tagged cook, cooking, Culinary Inspiration, diet, holly wildberger, let's dish menu, Let's Dish!, meal assembly, nutrition, recipes, www.letsdish.com | Comments (0)

June 26, 2008 – 5:00 am

Walk-in Wednesdays now available!

We have gotten thousands of customer suggestions and requests over the last few years, and none as often as the request to be able to walk in and dish at Let’s Dish! store without an appointment. We’ve heard your feedback and are excited to launch Walk-In Wednesdays!

Now on Wednesdays, you can walk into any of our participating Maryland or Northern Virginia locations and dish anywhere from 1 to 13 meals at a time.* No appointment necessary. You heard right. No appointment necessary!

We are thrilled to try out the new walk-in idea, and summer is the perfect time for it - when everyone’s schedule become more hectic and planning a dishing session can seem nearly impossible. We think you’ll be excited too (hey, you’ve been begging us for it)!

If Wednesday is your regular dishing day, don’t fear - you can still sign up in advance if you wish, just like you normally would. That will guarantee that all the food you ordered will be waiting for you when you get there.

Check the online calendar for your store’s Wednesday hours and stop by to dish!

*Participating Let’s Dish! locations include Baltimore and Columbia, MD, and Alexandria, Ashburn, and Fairfax, VA. Menu items are subject to availability. Only customers who make 4 or more meals will have those meals counted toward DishRewards.

By Emily Blakely | Posted in Bright Ideas, Most Popular Posts | Also tagged cooking, DishRewards, emily blakely, family dinner, family dinners, kitchen, Let's Dish!, meal assembly, recipes, summer, time management, www.letsdish.com | Comments (3)

June 25, 2008 – 10:00 am

1 Dish? 6 Dishes? 11 Dishes? We’re Flexible.

It started out as “8 or 12″ dishes per Let’s Dish! session. Then, with much fanfare, we added 4-meal sessions. And this spring, SingleDish Trials.

And now, welcome to the final frontier of session flexibility. Dish however many meals you want: 1, 3, 7, 14 or anything in between. OK, our technology is limited, so you still have to sign up online for SingleDish or a 4-, 8- or 12- meal session. But you can add meals to your order, quickly and easily, once in a Let’s Dish! store - usually for just $23 each. Just ask a host and we’ll take care of the rest. Want to dish 3 meals? Sign up for SingleDish and add on 2 meals Session Flexibility in-store. Six meals your cup of tea? Sign up for 4 and add two during your session.

OK, we might not be able to touch our toes (even with the benefit of a Spoodle). But when it comes to dishing your preferred number of meals, we’re flexible.

Rick’s Signature

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RECOMMENDED LINKS:
> DishDelivery to the Summer Vacation Rescue
> Bring your kids to dish with you to dish this summer
> Let’s Dish!: The savings might surprise you.

By Rick Corcoran | Posted in Most Popular Posts, The Dish On | Also tagged cook, DishDelivery, family dinner, family dinners, Let's Dish!, letsdish, meal assembly, recipes, rick corcoran, SingleDish, The Dish On, www.letsdish.com | Comments (3)

June 23, 2008 – 3:45 pm

You Help Make Our Menus So Wonderful

How do we create such fantastic menus? Well, our talented food team is always cooking up the best recipes months in advance. But did you know our customers play a big role as well?

Through the “My Orders” link once you log in to letsdish.com, customers can rate the meals they’ve dished [1 star (not for me) to 5 stars (love it!)], and can also make comments [”a little salty for my tastes” or “you guys are geniuses”]. Every rating goes into our database, which is a key determinant of which meals return to our menus… and which meals go to “dish heaven”. Even more important, your comments. We read every single one, and tweak our recipes accordingly
So next time you’re asking, “who makes these menus so delicious?”, the answer is you.

p.s. You do need your own Let’s Dish! account to add your ratings online. An account will automatically be created for you when you place an order under your own name and email. If you don’t have one, you can sign up in less than a minute, click here to get started!
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RECOMMENDED LINKS:
> “Kid-Friendly Let’s Dish! Meals featured on WUSA9”
> “Wow the crowds at home and on vacation!”

By Jeremy Kugel | Posted in Culinary Inspiration, The Dish On | Also tagged cook, cooking, diet, family dinner, family dinners, jeremy kugel, Let's Dish!, meal assembly, nutrition, recipes, www.letsdish.com | Comments (1)

June 23, 2008 – 3:13 pm

Diet Pointers for Health-Conscious Dishers

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Many customers use Let’s Dish! as part of a plan for attaining (or maintaining!) a healthy weight. And we’re making it easier than ever. Complete nutritional information (including ingredients, calories, fat, etc., as well as Weight Watchers® POINTS®) for an entire menu can now be downloaded on a single document from the Let’s Dish! website. From the letsdish.com homepage, click on See our menus, then look for the line “Click here for a printable menu“, just above each month’s first menu item. You may be surprised to see that many of your favorites dishes have great health benefits too!

Prefer the old-fashioned way?

Click to continue reading “Diet Pointers for Health-Conscious Dishers”

By Emily Blakely | Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged diet, diet meals, dinner, easy meal prep association, ez-meal prep association, health, healthy dinners, healthy eating, Healthy Living, healthy meals, Let's Dish!, letsdish, meal assembly, nutrition, Offer, points, weight watchers | Comments (0)

June 18, 2008 – 2:00 pm

Bring your kids with you to dish this summer!

Kids like cooking? Take ‘em dishing! School’s out, now what?

That’s the question on many parents’ lips this time of year. Camp, the pool, vacations, etc., are all fantastic ways to spend your summer. But what about those times when the kids are out of camp and tired of the pool or god forbid it’s raining? Why not bring your child with you to Let’s Dish!?

Dishing is a great way for kids to learn about the things they eat and feel more involved in dinner time. It may also help those picky eaters to try new things. They can pick out dinners from our monthly menu and then help to make and cook them! Dishing can also be a fun bonding experience for the both of you.

This summer, we’re adding more “Parent/Kid Sessions” (specially marked as such) to our calendar for you to choose from. Kids 8 years of age and older are encouraged to come to these sessions and dish with a parent. We ask that you help ensure that your child is well behaved and mature enough to handle basic food safety procedures (hand washing, etc) while in the session. Children must be accompanied by a parent at the food stations while dishing. If you have any specific questions about brining your child to dish, contact your nearest Let’s Dish! store.

This summer, when that inevitable question of “what else is there to do?” comes up, you’ll be ready!

By Emily Blakely | Posted in Bright Ideas, The Dish On | Also tagged children, cooking, easy dinners, emily blakely, family, family dinner, kid activities, Let's Dish!, meal assembly, summer, summer vacation, www.letsdish.com | Comments (5)

June 12, 2008 – 5:00 am

Fall In Love With S’Mores Pie

S’mores 4 Back in May, our Let’s Dish! food team of Holly and Holly came to me with an all-new S’mores Pie they had invented. One warm, gooey, chocolatey bite later, I was in love. It was pretty much the best thing I had ever tasted. Now you can get it FREE when you sign up for an 8-meal session!* (By the way, you will also get a fancy Let’s Dish! beach chair… but trust me, you’ll like the S’more Pie even better.)

S’mores 3 - Leo If the chocolatey smiles on Leo and Sydney’s faces are any indication, I’m not the only one in love with this unique dessert. But don’t take my word for it, check out this report on Washington’s WUSA TV-9. Or better yet, come into our store and put a child-like smile on your own face.

Warm and melty. Gooey and crispy. Marshmallowy, chocoaltey and grahamy. Ready in under 10 minutes. And FREE with your in-store signup this July.

Get ready to fall in love.

*Terms: Customer may select S’mores Pie as part of the Let’s Dish! in-store sign-up offer, available through August 2nd, 2008. Customer must sign up in-store for any 8- or 12- meal session, and will receive a selected FREE dessert. Offer cannot be combined with other promotions or applied to previously-booked sessions. Entries that arrive after July 31st, 2008 will not be considered.

RECOMMENDED LINKS:
> “Kid-Friendly Let’s Dish! Meals featured on WUSA9”

By Jeremy Kugel | Posted in Culinary Inspiration | Also tagged cooking, Culinary Inspiration, dessert, easy recipe, family, family dinners, homemade meals, jeremy kugel, let's dish menu, Let's Dish!, letsdish, meal assembly, Ready Made, recipe, recipes, summer vacation, www.letsdish.com | Comments (1)

June 10, 2008 – 3:00 am

Let’s Dish!: The savings might surprise you.

Boston Globe: Rising Cost of Groceries Graphic Gas station. Coffeeshop. Dry cleaners. Just about any place you open your purse or wallet these days, you’re spending more than ever. This is especially true when it comes to shopping for food. According to a report from the Department of Labor (cited in the Boston Globe), a year-on-year increase in food prices like this hasn’t been seen in nearly two decades. Eggs are up 60%, pasta 30%, fruits 20%, and vegetables 20% versus last year – just to name a few examples.

So where does a family turn when faced with these economic challenges at the dinner table? Let’s Dish! is part of the solution. When you compare our costs to what you’d spend at grocery, you’ll find that the more you dish, the more you save. In fact, to illustrate just how much we save our dishers, we recently did a comparison of grocery costs vs. dishing costs for two of our most popular menu items (cited in a previous blog): Thai-Marinated Flank Steak and Mahi Mahi with Red Ancho Marinade.

The savings might surprise you. Here are some of the highlights:

If you bought all the ingredients at a grocery chain, you’d spend up to 7% more per serving than you do at a Let’s Dish! in-store session.
Those leftover ingredients not only clutter your pantry but they create additional costs. That Red Ancho Marinade, for example… you only need $0.69 worth (or 2 TBS) but the grocery store charges $9.95 for one 14.4 oz jar!
Check the price of