When take-out takes out your diet and the rising cost of food results in more rice and beans variations than your family can stomach, take heart! Parents in Kansas City are serving up home-cooked meals and saving time and money in heaping measure by hosting pre-assembled Freezer Meal Swaps. KC Parent’s how-to guide makes hosting simple.
Less Time in the Kitchen = More Time for Family
To sacrifice one or two hours to make a week’s worth of meals and, in turn, save seven or eight hours of meal prep throughout the week—that’s almost like taking a full day off of work to be with your family. Take away the drudgery of washing pots and pans, and you’ll find having a stocked freezer will feel like living a life of leisure!
Stuffing Your Freezer=Stuffing Your Pockets
How much money does it cost to feed a family of four to six for one week? One hundred dollars? Two hundred dollars?
Compare this with our freezer recipe for Healthy Burrito Pie, which yields nine dinners. The cost of ingredients at Hy-Vee, without coupons, comes to $20.24. Divide that by nine, and that’s $2.27 per meal. For a family of four, that’s 56 cents per serving.
Cooking Meets Community
“It's fun trying new meals and getting together with friends,” says Leah Heinauer of Overland Park. There is a sense of community—of spending time in good company, of caring for our families and friends—when food and recipes are shared and swapped.
Brenda Blake, Shawnee, says, “Not only do Freezer Meal Swaps relieve you of a week of cooking for your family, but an exchange also provides a great opportunity to bless another family that is going through a tough time or just had a newborn baby because you can share a meal with them.” One of the best ways to show somebody you care, to abide with them through life’s difficulties and transitions, is by bringing them a meal. If you’re hosting a Freezer Meal Swap, consider asking your guests to bring one extra meal, and set these meals aside to bless somebody else.
HOSTESS HOW-TO GUIDE:
The Invitation:
Send out an online invitation (try www.Evite.com). Include these instructions for your guests:
What to do:
- Stock up on deep pie dish aluminum containers with lids (three for one dollar from the dollar store).
- Cook a meal in bulk and divide it between (insert number*) containers; write thawing and warming instructions on the lids. Bring your pre-packaged containers—freshly assembled or frozen—to the party.
- When you RSVP to this Evite, include what you’re bringing to prevent duplicate meals.
*Require guests to bring a set number of meals (one less than the total number of guests attending), or set a minimum and maximum number (in this case, the number of meals a guest brings equals the number of meals she leaves with).
Setting Up the Event:
Write each guest’s name on two doilies; place twin doilies in separate areas (Table One and Table Two). As guests arrive, stack all their meals on their doily on Table One. Distribute meals to the doilies on Table Two so that each guest leaves with a variety of dishes.
Request that guests e-mail the recipes to you before the party. Print them out as a parting gift.
Healthy Burrito Pie
32 oz. dried pinto beans
10 c. water
4 med. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
24 oz. Margarita’s Amigos brand medium salsa
27 8-inch wheat tortillas
9 c. cheddar cheese
1 bunch scallions, chopped
In a crock pot, combine pinto beans, water and sweet potatoes; cook on low 8 hours or overnight. Mash bean and potato mixture until consistency of refried beans; stir in salsa. In nine round aluminum tins, layer ingredients in the following order:
½ c. bean mixture
tortilla
1 c. bean mixture
½ c. cheese
tortilla
1 c. bean mixture
tortilla
½ c. cheese
scallions
Add lids and freeze.
Cooking instructions: Thaw. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream.
Yields nine meals.
Chicken Broccoli Bake
4 sticks butter
2 c. chopped celery
4 16-oz. pkgs. chopped broccoli, cooked according to package directions
4 c. uncooked rice, cooked according to pkg. directions
4 c. cheddar cheese
4 cans water chestnuts
5 cans cream of mushroom soup
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
4 boxes chicken stuffing
Over medium heat, melt two sticks of butter; add celery and cook until tender. In a large bowl, combine celery with broccoli, rice, cheddar, water chestnuts, soup and chicken; divide mixture between eight round aluminum tins. Melt two sticks of butter and combine with stuffing mix; spread stuffing evenly to top casseroles. Add lids and freeze.
Cooking instructions: Thaw. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Yields eight meals.
Wendy Connelly is an Overland Park mother of two whose life is simpler because of Freezer Meal Swaps.