How to Cook Twice and Get Four Meals

Since it was Memorial Day, I tried out a 5 hour slow bake ribs recipe.

Some of you have asked me about the cooking club referenced in the last post. Ok, it was only two people but in my mind, I imagine I have a legion of followers who marvel at my genius.

As a busy mom, I am always looking to maximize my time without compromising too much. The challenge was this : How do I serve my family homemade meals but cook as little as possible? The answer is getting other people to cook for you! So I solicited my neighbor to test out my little Cooking Club. I would cook on Monday and Wednesday and deliver the meals to her. In return, she cooks on Tuesday and Thursday and delivers to me. The result: Cook twice, get four meals. It's not that much extra work to add 2-3 more servings to a recipe if you are already cooking for your own family.

We're on week three and I am really enjoying it! I find myself stepping up my game because now I am cooking "for company" so I follow all the steps in a recipe instead of cutting corners. It's bearable because I know tomorrow, I get to relax and have a hot dinner delivered to me.

Here's some helpful tips if you'd like to start your own cooking club:

1) Keep it small, three members max is my suggestion. Since I am assuming your partner is taking you out at least one night a week (if he isn't, why not?!?) and/or you have other social plans - realistically only five meals are needed. Having too many members will make scheduling around "off" nights hard to manage. If you have three members, you can alternate who gets the coveted one night per week slot. IE: Member A = Monday/Wednesday, Member B = Tuesday/Thursday, Member C = Friday OR Sunday. The next week Member A gets the Friday OR Sunday duty and so on.

2) Be honest and give constructive feedback. We all have different taste. Some people love spicy, others love salty. It's OK to tell your friend to take it easy on the oil, spice, etc. BE NICE about it! (Part B of this is portion. Admittedly, I have a hard time judging this.)

3) Make sure you pick members with similar taste (this will help with #2).

4) Go easy on spices until you get the hang of everyone's tolerance. My neighbor is on a special diet that is salt free so I have to be extra careful. Actually, they are on this crazy diet that restricts a lot of things (I have not been able to make any of my pasta or rice dishes.)

5) Agree ahead of time on some ground rules. I shop at Whole Foods for the majority of my groceries, so I expect the members of my group to adhere to a similar quality. Don't get me wrong, you don't have to shop at Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods to start a club, just set some guidelines that work for your group so that everyone is on the same page. PS, this includes delivery time and disclosing your weaknesses.

6) Stick to a schedule, once you start trading nights because of a soccer game or that once a month bridge game, things will quickly unravel. Other members are depending on their delivered meals. As noted on my last post, I cooked a pot of chili on my "off" night since I knew I'd be too tired.

7) Have fun! If this becomes a hinder rather than a help, this is not right for you.

8) It may easier to adhere to a schedule if you start this during the school year rather than the Summer or the holidays.

9) For convenience, members should live close by so deliveries can be swift and painless. Co workers also make a good choice.

10) Email your meal plan on the Friday prior to the next week to prevent duplicate recipes.

I would love to hear from you if decide to give it a go.