We meet once a month. Each family will choose one recipe to post to a blog. That family is then responsible for making 12 batches of their recipe and bring it ready to freeze to group at someone's house. The person hosting will not create a meal that month. They will play banker instead. Everyone will bring their meal and we would exchange on the chosen night. We would each walk away with 11 different recipes (sometimes a meal ends up split, so you may end up with a couple more meals, but some could be duplicate recipes).
Everyone would need to keep their receipts and we would find the group average. The hosting family would either write checks to those who spent more than the average or receive checks from those who spent less than the average. The hosting family would receive meals, just not make any. Through the checks they write, they are then paying the same average as everyone else for their meals for the month. This is a great way to help reduce meal costs, too, btw. I think our current group average is $110 per month for 11 meals. All homemade!
The other rule we have is that the meal has to be freezer to oven or slow cooker. Meaning all prep work is done prior to group. So if your recipe has a bunch of canned soups, you'd open all the cans and pour them in the bag with the meat. This allows the meats to marinade in the sauces and helps improve flavor. Plus, it means you don't have to cook the rest of the time during the month.
For ideas on recipes, check out Pinterest, http://mmmmmmamablog.blogspot.com/, orhttp://divasdinners.blogspot.com/. The mamablog one is the other group Shelisa and I are in. Divas dinners is one my sister in law used to be in.
Quick pointers on freezing meals, btw: all containers need to be disposable (think ziploc bags, disposable pans, etc). All meals need to be labeled. Those sticky labels from Walmart are great (like Avery brand ones). You'll need to label your own meals with recipe name and cooking instructions (i.e. slow cook, or bake at 375 for 45 minutes). Please be sure to label all parts to meals (like if you include a package of rice or pasta to serve your recipe over or if you need to add cheese at the end -- this also applies to tortillas for burritos, etc.). If you're using a casserole pan, please be sure to put cover it in foil first, then wrap it in saran wrap. This helps a lot in preventing freezer burn. We are not providing the entire meal, just the main dish. All parts to the main dish need to be included, however. Thanks! Hopefully that all helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask Shelisa, Heather, or me. We've all done freezer groups before and so we could help.
Forgot to mention: All meals should feed a family of 6. Some people have smaller families and could re-freeze the leftovers, or just let us know and we can split some recipes ahead of time for you.
Please let me know ASAP if there are any allergies we should be aware of. Typically, in a setting like this, anything goes. If it's something like a fish allergy, however, we can generally work with that. Please be aware that some families will be making meals with lots of gluten, cream soups, dairy, etc. Nuts are not USUALLY an issue but if there is a nut allergy, please let us know so we make sure to be careful.
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