Guest Post: Meal Swaps - Freezer Cooking with a Twist - Organization Courtesy of Spectacular Savings

For a long time, I really disliked cooking. Regardless of what my mood was before I started cooking, it was lousy by the time I was done. I was convinced that I just wasn't meant to be a cook. Then, one night, I was up late making a meal for a friend on bedrest and, when I was finished, I was still in a good mood. Well, it turns out that I, do in fact, enjoy cooking. What I don't enjoy is cooking while a two year old is begging for me to do another puzzle with her and a baby is crying to be held. So, I knew that I needed to give freezer cooking a try.

I thought it would be fun to get my friends involved. Maybe we could all get together and cook a few meals at someone's house. I really wasn't sure about the logistics but I wanted to try it with others. So, I brought the idea up with my Mom's group. One of my friends had "subbed" in another meal swap so she grabbed the idea and got us organized!

What is a Meal Swap?

It's exactly how it sounds! We get together and swap meals! There are six of us in a group and we each pick a meal and make 6. Then, we get together, swap meals, and go home with 6 different meals.

What do you make?Since we didn't want to come home from the meal swap with 6 different versions of lasagna, we decided to create 6 different categories that we rotate.

*American/European
*Breakfast for Dinner
*Chili/Soup/Stew
*Italian/Mediterranean
*Indian/Asian/Eastern
*Southwest/Mexican

When we first started the meal swap, I was a little apprehensive. My original thought was that we would all get together and cook. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to do all the cooking by myself. How boring! But, because we make just one meal x6, it didn't take long at all. I was able to do a lot of prep work all together. We've only had two meal swaps so far but it has only taken, at most, 3 hours of cooking and preparation. 3 hours, 6 meals, no screaming children.....wonderful!

Get a meal swap started with your own friends! Its a great excuse to get together and a wondeful help to have six meals sitting in the freezer waiting to be tossed in the oven or warmed up on the stove!

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Stay tuned for more about getting prepared for a meal swap and staying within your budget!
 (Come back tomorrow for this!)
My thoughts: Totally new concept for me, when I get a deep freezer I will definitely have to look into this! 
Thanks Spectacular Savings!