Last night, I had a fun time participating in my first Wild Tree tasting/cooking party at my friend Amanda’s house. For women like me who like to get together with other ladies and do something social AND constructive at the same time, this was great!

I had never heard of Wild Tree or any kind of party like this one, but it seemed like it would be worth my time when I first saw it. It is similar to other individual seller small business models — like Stella & Dot or Rodan & Fields. Initially, I wasn’t sure I was up for one of those but I think this one ended up being worth it because of all the food I got in the end!

So what did this entail? We signed up and paid to make either 6 or 10 frozen meals. It sounded like a LOT of food but I’m always at a loss on what to make for dinner and hate trying to meal plan. I paid for the 6-meal plan, which included the cost of these lovely ingredients up top.

Then, you got a list of meat and veggie ingredients to purchase separately and bring to the party with you. I’m not going to lie, it was a LOT of stuff — and I spent about $100 buying it all. I was a little frustrated with ALL the stuff I had to prepare before even getting to the party but I was already committed so there was not much I could do. I still knew it would be fun — and since Michelle and I were prepping together, I didn’t mind! 🙂

Thankfully, Amanda was an awesome island in her kitchen that made it perfect for a bunch of messy ingredients and people ready to cook! Wild Tree is pretty organized as far as telling you exactly what to put in each bag. We came with 6 bags pre-prepared but they all needed more of the ingredients add. Basically, you go through each one with specific instructions, then shake it up and double bag it.

The idea is to leave with 6 prepared meals that you can stick in the freezer and eat whenever you are ready for them. Each meal also had a few extra ingredients to add when you are ready to eat — yet another step I was not expecting. However, being already “in it” — I am really excited to actually eat this stuff. The spices and additional Wild Tree ingredients were definitely enticing!

The Wild Tree rep talked a lot about the ingredients are more on the natural side, GMO-free, no high-fructose corn syrup, etc. I enjoy knowing that about my food, though I’m not overly concerned with ingredients and things. With so much to be stressed out about in life, I just can’t make eating organic truly high on my list. That being said, if it’s an easy option, I will choose it every time — and do understand the value of eating better in that way.

I had never met most of the women at the event and it’s always fun socializing with a new group when you have a task at hand. It’s much easier than if you are just at a happy hour or event where the main event is chit chat. I much prefer meeting new people in a forum where you have something to do — it brings in a richer level of conversation and comfort, in my opinion.

So I left with a bunch of meals to freeze — woo hoo! Since there are only two of us eating them, my guess is they will last two meals a pice — at least that’s my hope! Many of them are just for throwing in the crockpot, my favorite thing ever!

Here are the meals I ended up with:

• Hawaiian style country ribs
• Buffalo chicken sliders
• Enchilada pork tacos
• Quick crockpot lasagna
• Ranch chicken chili
• Beef enchilada stew

We’re going with the ranch chicken chili for dinner tonight — stay tuned! All in all, I’m glad I participated in this but I’m not sure I’d do it again. It seemed like a lot of prep and buying for only 6 meals. That being said, if I had a family, it might be more worth my time to invest in these valuable, easy freezer meals. One option is to buy the meat but add it later (instead of hauling it over to someone else’s house). I might do that and just mix the sauces, etc. before.

Mostly, I was just glad to spend time with these two: