How to Host a Freezer Swap

I have a marketing brain.  I'm very creative.  But, with that being said, I'm miserable at math.  I actually failed a course my freshman year of college.  It's bad.  Really, really bad.  So when it came to quadrupling some recipes over the weekend, I had my math brain friends figure it out.

You see, we got together for a Freezer Swap.  Heard of these?  Basically, you gather your girlfriends for the day, find a big kitchen, cook your heart out, divide up all the goods and send yourself home with a ton of meals to stock your freezer with.

We did a lot of laughing, sampling and well, laughing.  It was a fun day.  In total it took us about 7 hours.  Now, we weren't moving at warp speed, we were just taking our time enjoying the day {without kids!}, so I'm sure it could be done quicker.

How it works:

There are two different rules of thought on Freezer Swaps.  You can do it one of two ways.  The first way is to gather as many friends as you can, say 10.  If 10 girls show up then they need to pick one meal and make it 10 times.  That way everyone goes home with one of their meals.

The second way is to invite a smaller group, say 5.  Each person makes 3 meals, 5 times.  So each person goes home with one of your meals.  In the end it would equal 15 meals a person.  Example:  You decide to make potato soup.  You would need to make that soup 5 times {or 4 if you don't care to take home your own meal}, since there are 5 girls in attendance.  That way each girl would go home with a batch of potato soup.

Make sense?  Confused yet?

There are some tricks to make the day go smoothly.  The first being, do a lot of the prep work at home the night before.  Cook any meats, chop any veggies, label containers, etc.  This helps to save time and counter space the day of.

You are also in charge of assembling and packaging your meals.  Along with supplying clear directions on how to prepare the meal once everyone is home.  This is important.

And finally, bring big bags, boxes or a cooler with you to transport your goods home.  Nothing like, sloshed spaghetti sauce all over your back seat!

Some of the meals we made this weekend were:

• Vegetable Beef Soup
• Sausage & Bacon Breakfast Muffins
• Ham & Cheese Baked Sandwiches
• Twice Baked Potatoes
• Mini Pumpkin Pies
• Chicken Fajita Chowder
• Chicken Pesto Meatballs
• Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Stuffed Shells
• Caramel Stuffed Brownies
• Baked Spaghetti
• Apple Bread
• Italian Mac-n-Cheese
• M&M Pudding Cooking Dough
• Mexican Style Chicken Soup

This was the stash that traveled home with me.  We already had the Ham & Cheese Baked Sandwiches last night {which, were delicious by the way}.  And now my freezer is stocked for those busy nights when dinner is mearly an afterthought.

Have more questions about hosting a Freezer Swap?  

Just leave it in the comments section.  I'll be here all day answering them.  Go!