Last week I mentioned that some friends and I were doing a freezer meal exchange. I've gotten a lot of questions on how that worked and how you can organize one.
Here's how it works:
First, you need to figure out how many people will be participating.
If you have 2-4 people I would suggest making 3-4 meals each (times the number of people in your group). For larger groups you can make less meals. Our group had 6 people this time and so we each made 2 meals, 6 times, and therefore we all had 12 total meals (including 2 of our own).
Next up, pick a swap date.
I have read where other groups get together and they all cook in one home. Personally, I don't know how on earth that would work! I used up my entire kitchen getting my stuff made! I would recommend just picking meal swap day where you can all meet at someones home and switch off meals. I had to drive the farthest to get to the swap, so I took some big ice chests with me to transport my food.
The food!
Send out an email to everyone who is participating and ask them to reply to all with what they are making. Also, if anyone has any major food allergies, make sure they mention that. This will help you avoid taking home 6 bags of chili or making something with peanuts when people can't eat it. You don't want to waste all that hard work and you do want variety!
Figuring out what to make can be a little tricky. This time I made Chicken Enchiladas and my Chicken Roll Ups. I probably won't do something like that next time. Why? Because every, single item I made was hand rolled. I ended up making 58 roll ups and 6 dozen enchiladas. It takes forever! Making one or the other with something easier would have been great though!
Here are some meal ideas that would be great to take and freeze:
Chicken and Rice - make the chicken and send the box of 5 minute rice
I hope this helps you start your own freezer meal group!
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