We’ve been customers of Dream Dinners since we moved here last year. It’s a once-a-month meal preparation service. Each month, we select menu items. Then, I go in for our appointment, assemble each meal “salad bar” style where the ingredients are laid out in order. The correct measuring spoon/cup is even in the jar or bin with that item. For about $100 and just over an hour of my time, I come home like a lion to her pride with a cooler full of 36 entrees (and some side items, too).

One time, we got a meal I didn’t like (but E loved it, so it worked out.) One time, we got one that we both felt was meh, but we ate it. We just didn’t plan to order that one again. Out of 90+ entrees we’ve tried, two were less than perfect.

I’ve changed the way I’m eating, so the last two trips to Dream Dinners have taken a bit more homework and planning, but we’ve made it work. One of my attempts was their Jambalaya. Bad move. They are a yankee-based company so they have a northern spin on some Southern dishes. (They also put stews on the menu much to early for Texas weather.)

So, I had six entrees of jambalaya that was more Italian than Cajun. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so a rescue was in order.

I dug through the freezer and found some a package of gumbo veggies with seasonings. I heated them and then started adding little bits of the jambalaya rice at a time. In that process, I deduced that there is something red or green in the jambalaya that is throwing it off. I think it might have been the red peppers. So, I searched for pockets of rice without as many peppers. Then, I added dumped cayenne pepper and Tony Chachere’s original creole seasoning to the mix.

SAVE! I salvaged the meal from “Mwah! Just like Mama’s. Capiche?” to “mmmm DAT is GOOD.”