Meal Swapping ~ Simplify Your Dinnertime Dilemma by Co-op Cooking with Your Girlfriends By: Trish Berg
I am not wealthy. I have not hired a caterer.Yet three days a week dinner is delivered to my door. Like clockwork,the meals come, and my dinnertime stress is diminished. My kitchencounters stay clean, and my family enjoys wonderful recipes likemeatballs and sausage with oriental slaw salad, or poppy seed chickenwith broasted potatoes and applesauce.
It is reallysimpler than you might expect. The solution to my dinnertime dilemma isco-op cooking, or meal swapping. I am not a miracle worker, I am notrich, and I am certainly not a chef. I am a mom, who happens to knowother moms who live life as hectically as I do. We are girlfriends whowere seeking an inexpensive, simple solution to our dinnertime dilemma.
Throughco-op cooking, we share the cooking responsibility for our families. Wesave time, money, and stress, and build deeper friendships with oneanother through co-op cooking. For about one to two hours of mealpreparation, and about thirty minutes of meal delivery time one day aweek, I am blessed with four nights of homemade dinners.
Itall started about two years ago when one of my girlfriends approachedme about forming a cooking co-op. It almost sounded surreal at first,but since we were all struggling with dinner, we decided to give it atry. At a cozy table in a local restaurant we met to plan our meals.Over cold glasses of iced tea, we discussed what meals would work bestfor our families. Each of us picked a cooking day and delivery time,then with recipe cards in hand, we planned three months worth of familyfriendly meals.
That was two years ago, and my co-opis going strong. We have gone through many changes, and have been ableto adjust our co-op along the way. Co-op cooking has a life cycle forsome families, and they may choose to leave after six months or a year.My co-op has seen three families eventually leave and two new familiesjoin. Some families left because their schedule changed, their childrenare now in school, or they simply wanted to try and cook all of theirown dinners once again. Each girlfriend that has left our co-op hasexpressed a future desire to join another co-op someday, and wouldstrongly recommend co-op cooking to anyone looking to simplify dinner.My friendships with my girlfriends who left the co-op are stillstronger because of co-opping together, and I have built newfriendships with my current co-op families.
Co-opcooking provides tremendous time and financial savings, and simplifiedtrips to the grocery store. But high on the list of benefits is thateven in the midst of sometimes hectic days, I no longer stress aboutwhat to make for dinner!
Cooking co-ops can take manyforms, and that’s one of the beauties of the co-op – each one developsits own personality, reflective of the different communities withdistinct needs. Some cooking co-ops are neighborhood co-ops. Otherfamilies might co-op with co-workers, church members, civicorganizations, or extended family members. Cooking for one another’sfamilies is a natural extension of neighborhoods, churches, communityservice groups and friendships. Any definition of community has thepotential to develop a successful cooking co-op partnership.
Soon those gray, dreary days when the rain is falling, and you have noidea what to make for supper, rest assured that your girlfriends arethere for you with a warm smile, a quiet wink, and a delicious dinnerin hand!
Suggestions for Starting Your Own Cooking Co-Op
1. Ask a few close friends to pursue the co-op with you. Choose friends with
families around the same size as yours, with similar tastes and lifestyles, and who
live nearby so delivery is not an added burden
2. Choose recipes to start with that are your family favorites and are kid friendly.
But don’t feel the need to limit your co-op to only kid friendly recipes. After all,
you are cooking for the grown ups as well.
3. Purchase inexpensive, glass baking dishes with lids and Ziploc containers to share
meals; do not expect to get the exact dishes back you sent out.
4. Be honest about food likes and dislikes, and possible food allergies up front when
you plan your meal calendar.
5. Buy in bulk for your meals, when items are on sale, and try to budget recipes so
you don’t make two expensive ones in a row (i.e. pot roast is more expensive then
pizza burgers)
6. Meet every three months to plan your meals. Give each family the opportunity to
leave the co-op each quarter, guilt free.
7.Have one co-op member write out or type up your three month co-op mealcalendar and distribute it to each co-op family to hang on their fridge.
8.Delivery times can vary depending on what works for each family. If youdeliver at dinnertime, have the meal cooked and ready to eat. If youdeliver in the morning, have your meal prepared with bakinginstructions; that way it is fresh out of the oven at dinnertime. Havedelivery times printed on the meal calendars.
9. Stickto the meal calendar. However, if you must change your recipe or adaptyour delivery time, let your co-op partners know in advance.
10.Be flexible with one another when life throws you a curve ball, like asick child, a broken down car, or unexpected circumstance. Have a mealback up plan for those nights agreed upon at the outset, like switchingdays or having pizza delivered if you are in a pinch.
11.Decide what constitutes a meal at the outset. We only prepare anddeliver two dishes: a main dish and a side or dessert. Each family isresponsible for adding sides, salad or bread to complete the meal ontheir own.
12. Relax and enjoy the ride. Don’t expectyour co-op to last forever, since co-ops do have life cycles. If co-opmembers leave, try and find new families to fill in the gaps and giveit a try. Co-ops with three to five families usually work best.
Trish Bergis author to 4 books, including Rattled-Surviving Your Baby’s FirstYear without Losing Your Cool and A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts. Readmore of Trish’s columns, tips, and download tons of free stuff to helpyou simplify motherhood at www.TrishBerg.com.