Cooking Group Saves Local Families Money and Time

I was talking with my friend Liz and she was raving about a cooking group that she participates in with three other local families. My first question to her was: What’s a cooking group?

Liz explained that a cooking group is a group of families who share meals with each other and cook on a designated night each week. These are all busy moms with kids running in every direction, and each day (Monday through Thursday) they have a meal delivered to their home, except for the day they are cooking.

This sounded like a great idea to me, since meal time tends to be a stressful time of day and the thought of only having to cook once a week sounded great. She also said with all the meals that come in during the week, there are lots of leftovers for snacks after school, husbands' lunches, or quick dinners on the weekend.

Liz and her group are going on their second year (taking time off during the summer) and one of the major perks of the cooking group is saving money on your grocery bill. Liz explained that in her group they look for specials and then make their dinner based on what’s on sale. She said she usually can make four meals for $20 to $30 depending on the meals. They make everything from pot roast to spaghetti casserole, and everything in between.

Liz said the key to having a successful cooking group is to be with people who have the same goals as you do. For her group, they want to have kid-friendly, and budget-friendly meals, with variety. Liz explains, “We can’t all cook chicken breast every day so we have to let each other know what we are cooking.” They have a calendar that they share and they post their meals so they know what is coming. They also deliver the meals based on the cook's schedule. The meals don’t necessarily need to be delivered at 5 p.m. Sometimes they will deliver a casserole earlier in the day to be heated up at dinnertime.

Liz also said, “Everyone in our group is a busy mom and sometimes we just can’t make an elaborate main dish. If someone shows up with Costco pizza because all their kids are sick, then we don’t care. We know that everyone in our group is doing the best they can and that the next week they will be able to make a dinner again. We are all laid back that way.” She also included that in her group they just do main dishes; each family can put together their own sides.

After talking to Liz, I decided to start my own cooking group. Right now it’s just me and one of other family, but it already has reduced my stress level during the week. It’s also fun to keep my eye out for recipes that meet the goals of our cooking group.