Works for Me Wednesday
Freezer Cooking With Friends (also know as World's Biggest Life-Saver for me)
It's my first Works-For-Me-Wednesday. (Might be my last; I don't have tons of great ideas or tons of things that Work-For-Me, but this one REALLY has!)
For the last seven years, I've been doing freezer cooking with friends. It truly has been a gift to me!
I've found it saves us tons of money; it cuts down on clean-up each night; it avoids what I call "the witching hours" of 4:00-6:00 when whiny kids are underfoot in the kitchen; it helps me be more hospitable; and we always have something to eat or to share with a sick friend or new momma.
This month, we made:
Sweet and Tangy Marinated Chicken Breasts
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Steak Fajita Meat
Burritos
Cole Slaw
Garlic Potatoes
Strombolis
Champagne Salad
French Dip Roast Beef
Stuffed Shells with Marinara Sauce
Tequila Lime Marinated Chicken
Teriyaki Marinated Pork Loin
Chicken Pockets
Zucchini Bread
Spicy Baked Macaroni (3 cheese, spinach, tomatoes, etc.)
I have two of each of those meals for my family for a total of 30 items in my freezer. Everyone's total came to $145! I think we did great!
There have been so many benefits to this for us. My kids try new foods, I don't have to cook, my freezer is full, and our bellies are full! We can buy in bulk which helps financially; I don't ever say I'm too tired to cook and we don't ever eat fast food for dinner!
Here's how I do it:
Five of us meet for a planning time to choose our menu. (Bonus-- girlfriend time!)
We choose 15 recipes.
We divide those recipes up so that each of us are in charge of three recipes.
We set a swap date (usually about a week and a half later).
We shop for and cook our individual recipes.
We make two of each dish for each person. (For example, I make 10 lasagnas and everyone gets two.)
We add our receipts together, divide by five, and even up so we all pay the same amount.
We meet in the church parking lot and swap our food out of our trunks.
We eat like kings for the next couple of months and I don't cook anymore except a side dish or dessert here and there!
Wish you could come eat my food with me! Let me know if you have any great recipes for me to try next time!
For more Works-For-Me-Wednesdays, check out Rocks In My Dryer.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Works For Me- Cooking with Friends
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15 comments:
that's awesome! If i had a freezer, i'd beg to be included...but we barely have room in our freezer/fridge for the stuff we have now!
This is a great idea - I do a similar thing only on a much smaller scale - My friend and I meet once a week and make 2 meals which feed each of our families 2 nights.
This works for us.
I've heard of this concept before and it still sounds brilliant reading about it again. blessings...
you should post these recipes! and how long it takes to thaw them out/reheat. They sound great!
I often will make double of certain recipes and freeze them, it does helps save time and meal expenses. Your idea sounds neat, but I doubt I would have any friends interested in doing this.
Enjoy your food!
marie
That is a GREAT idea! I bet you have tons more that you think everyone else already does but I bet they don't. Keep participating!!!
Gayle
Great concept...which I've heard of before but never heard of someone, personally, that actually did it. Awesome! Now if I had any local friends....
i have wanted to do this for a long time! This has me inspired again!
I use to do once a month cooking and really liked the benefits. I love the idea of swapping with friends and not having to cook for quite some time. $145 for all those meals is fantastic!
Guess I have to make some friends here in our new state before I can give it a try!
I don't know that many cool people. You're probably the most fun person in real life. Why can't you move here?
And I can testify that the Chicken Tortilla Soup is dee-lish! :)
That sounds like a great idea. Like the other commenters though, I'm not sure how I could pull it off, or with whom. My mom did it on her own (Freezer Cooking for a Month) when I was a kid. Not consistently though.
Thanks again for having us over yesterday, we all had a great time! I hope you had fun today!
Blessings,
Angel
That sounds great! It sounds like fun and it can be very helpful, too. Thanks for sharing!
Hmm, I'd have to say...wow! I don't think I have ever actually planned a menu for a week...done it for a holiday or a party, so I am sitting here amazed at your gathering of friends!
What is champagne salad? How do you freeze salad?
going to look at the food in my fridge ...my jaw is still hanging open.
I really need to pray me some local friends ;-)(I do have friends, just not this kind...:-)
Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted
Hi, I'm visiting from Angel's blog. Do you have some of the recipes to share? The chicken tortilla soup, strombolis and cole slaw would interest me.
Mel
Absolutely love this idea! Now all I need is five friends. Hmmm... Will have to work on that part! BTW - Thanks for sending Kimmie over to my blog. She and I used to attend the same homeschool group and I am visiting her church on Sunday!
Miss you friend! I'll be emailing you soon.
Cindy, found your blog through Kelly Hubatka's blog. Am interested in the freezer meals. We have places here in New England that do that, but charge about double(? I think)of what y'all paid. Question for you. I have the friends to do that with, but how do you deal with family size- 2 families have 5 children, I only have 2 & how do you deal with dietary issues? If you read this comment could you please e-mail me @ geisme777@yahoo.com?
Thanks, Gail P.
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