This Guest post today is by Kim over at Freezer Cooking Club. She is a busy mom of three kids age 3 and under. She is a freezer Meal addict and is going to share with us tips on how we can use freezer cooking to save us money and how to start a Freezer Meal Club with our friends.

Freezer Cooking & How to Start

I use to be afraid of freezing meals… thought it would be too much work, plus I didn’t have much freezer space. And then I I tried freezing meals… and got hooked. I want to share some easy tips that will have you freezing meals tonight!

WHY FREEZE MEALS?
* saves money

* for portion control
* it makes dinner time a cinch! Just thaw and warm it up!

* you get homemade dinners without cooking every day!TIPS FOR FREEZING MEALS:

* If you’re making something that will freeze well (most things will!), then double your recipe and freeze half of it. (think meatballs, meatloaf, lasagna, soup, taco meat, BBQ, etc.) What freezes well? How should you freeze it? Find a great list, with easy “how-to”s over at Freezer Cooking Club.

* Use good freezer bags. Cheap bags leave a plasticy taste, and rip easily. Try not to use pans – they take up unnecessary space. Bags work for almost everything. Even casseroles can be put in a bag, then once thawed, laid in a baking dish for reheating.

* Start a Frreezer Cooking Club. Everything’s always more fun with friends 🙂

HOW TO START A FREEZER COOKING CLUB:
* Put out an inquiry on your facebook status, ask moms in your church/MOPS/sports/playdate groups. You’ll be surprised how many moms would like to try it!
* Set some guidelines. Like budget, and how many minimum servings each meal should have. Then pick a date to meet for your first monthly swap. My group has 6 moms, and the largest family is 6 members. So we make 6 meals, that serve 6+ people. We meet once a month. And our budget is $8/meal. Some groups set higher or lower budgets depending on their group’s food preferences.

* At each swap bring multiples of the same meal to trade (6 moms = 5 meals, since you keep one for yourself). Plus, bring 2-3 recipes that you could potentially make for the following month. Vote on recipes as a group. Majority wins. Leave your playdate with a cooler full of meals that other moms made for your family, and a plan of what you’ll make multiples of for the following month’s swap.

This is a guest post, if you are interested in writing a guest post please email me at lauren @ midgetmomma (dot) com