Sometime last fall, Kelli invited me to be a part of a meal swap with four other girls. It was a success, so we’ve done it several times now since then. We all just make five casseroles/meals/soup/whatever and freeze them, one for each family. We all have kids, so we all try to make something relatively kid-friendly, and something that will freeze well.
This time, I made spaghetti sauce (I just posted the recipe over on Three More Bites). Because I was already chopping up lots of vegetables, I decided to make a triple batch so that I’d have plenty to freeze for myself, too, since we eat a lot of this. While it’s time consuming, I do really like batch cooking like this when I have a quick, healthy meal to pull out of the freezer! I’m also giving the girls in the swap a loaf of french bread and a box of pasta to go with the sauce.
of course, this isn't everything i used, but there was so much stuff when i unloaded groceries that i had to take a picture!
If you’re thinking this sounds like a good idea and want to start a meal swap with friends here are a few tips:
1. I’d recommend no more than five people per swap. It’s a little overwhelming to make this much food at once, and more than five would probably be too many.
2. Start simple, food-wise.
3. Plan a few weeks ahead of the date you plan to swap. That way, you can come up with something to make and have time to catch sales at the store to buy the ingredients you need.
I love having a freezer full of choices (that I didn’t have to prepare!!) for busy nights (of course, you DO have to remember to thaw a meal a day or two ahead of time), so this works for me!
For more WFMW, go to We Are THAT Family.
i’ve been thinking this would be fun … i think i’ll start one!
I LOVE this idea and have 3 sisters so I may start there. Thanks so much!
Yes – that’s very cool!