July Food Catigories

DESSERT MONTH! Let's fill our freezers with some yummy desserts


Susie-Limeade Ice Cream Pie

Evelyn-Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Candied Ginger

Julie-Banana Split Dessert

Kim-Frozen Strawberry Fudge Dessert

Alicia-Chocolate Chunk Monster Cookie Bars with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Jolean- Banana Pops

Deb-Homemade Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

June Food Catagories

Grilling
  • Donna- Grilled Stuffed Chicken Breasts  
  • Susie -- opt out this month
Vegetarian
  • ??? (looking for new member)    
  • Evelyn -- Black Bean Sloppy Joe's   
Italian/Mediterranean 
  •   Julie- Calzones
  •   ??? (looking for new member) 
Far East (Asian-Indian)
  •  Kim --Chicken Curry Roti
  •  Alicia -- Thai Honey Chicken
Southwest/Latin American   
  •  Jolean-- Beef Tostada's with Spanish rice   
  •  Deb-- Southwestern Talipa's   

May Food Catagories

Grilling (any meal that can be grilled)
  • Holly-     Grilled Orange Salmon with Baked Potatoes
  • Evelyn-   Juicy Margarita grilled Chicken with Lemon Vinaigrette Green Beans,and Buttery Herb Basmati Rice
Vegetarian
  • ????    (looking for new member)
  • Julie-   Egg Bake (Caramelized onions,Gorgonzola Cheese with Tomato)
Italian/Mediterranean
  • Kim-   Chicken and Farfella with creamy Walnut Sauce
  • Alica-  Pesto Artichoke Chicken pizza
Far East (Asian- Indian)
  • Jolean- Chicken Makhani with Rice and homemade Naan
  • Deb-     Asian style Skirt Steak
Southwest/ Latin American
  • Donna-   Adobo Carne Asada
  • Susie-     Fajitas

April Food Categories

Soups/Chilies/Stews
  •  Sondra -Tomato Basil Soup
  •  Julie- Chicken Dumpling soup


North American/European
  •  Kim- Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
  •  Alicia- French Market Sandwiches
Italian/Mediterranean
  •  Jolean- Herb Pork Chops w/ Blue Cheese-Walnut Butter Sauce
  •  Deb- Gyro Kit
Far East (Asian- Indian)
  • Donna-Indian Apricot Chicken with Cous Cous
  • Susie-  Teriyaki Chicken Wings
Southwest/Latin American
  • Holly- Braised Southwestern Chicken
  • Evelyn-Chicken and Sausage Paella
     Some of the ways the food can be packaged!

How it's done

Description Of What It’s All About:
You chose a main entree recipe that serves 6 adults and then you make that recipe 10 times over. Your budget for 10 meal is about $100  for food. Sometimes you spend more, but then the next month you can choose a less expensive recipe to make. That is how you even out your spending. We exchange once a month.

We have a democratic approach to what is being made for the swap. The group organizer assigns a food category (soup/chili/stews, Italian/Mediterranean, Southwestern/Mexican, American/Euporean, Far East (Asian/Indian”). We bring 2 recipes to the swap meeting and we all vote on the recipe we want and majority wins. That’s how we decide on the menu for the month and then we swap the food we decided on the previous month.

We communicate by mostly by email. Also we disclose family allergies.
The recipes we use comes from a variety of resources.

Here’s Some Basic Group Guidelines:

We make one recipe 10 times. Each entree should yield 6 adult servings. This is optimal for most families, to have leftovers or a guest for dinner.
Our entree budget is flexible, we try not to exceed $100 for 10 meals. But this budget does not include packaging. We are Free to spend more, but the $100 is the standard. We all agree quality is preferred. If you use product from our own gardens we count that the same as if we were to buy it.

The recipes we chose should be able to be cooked or reheated by one of these ways – grilled, broiled, stove top, crock pot, microwave, and oven.

Bring 2 recipes to the meal swap for the group to vote on.
Bring prepared meals already frozen to the exchange site in a large cooler or clothes basket to carry the food.

Package food in containers that are freezable. Not all our has group has stand alone freezers. So we try to put most things in freezer bags whenever we can.

 We make sure we label all packages with the month/year, what it is and what it goes with. Have cooking/reheating directions with the meals. (Example: 3/011 – package 1. Beef Fajita Meat, 2. Beef Fajita Shells, & 3. Beef Fajita veggies.)


Meals should only take 2 to 3 hours to prepare and package. We want this to be as stress free as we can.

If someone will be out of town/unavailable for the exchange date, you should arrange an alternate plan with the swap coordinator. Maybe you could put it in your freezer to be picked up by someone in the swap group or opted out for that month. Talk with the swap coordinator if an occasion a rises about options if needed.