Supper swapping

So I was over at Because I Said So (if you haven't been reading her regularly, you should. It's great!) and her latest post was about supper swapping. Apparently there's a book out there called "The Great American Supper Swap" by Trish Berg and it sounds like such a fabulous idea and I've ordered the book off Amazon so I'll let you know how it is (or you can order it yourself and see for yourself). Anyone want to do it? Basically what's involved is a group of 2-4 women create their own swapping group. You cook ONCE a week for the whole group (large quantities of whatever it is you're making...think of it like a great big dinner party but you don't have to entertain everyone, lol) and the other few nights you get supper delivered to your door. Doesn't that sound great? Home cooked meals and only one night of cooking. The author wants to promote family time and eating together and this is a chance for people to do that. Less grilled cheese sandwiches, too : ) I think this would be lots of fun. It could work. I mean, who wouldn't want to cook less? Here's a blurb from her site and here's a link to what a sample swap calendar would look like:

Become A Supper Swap Mom!
		Moms have so many demands placed on them daily that preparing a nutritious and delicious family dinner becomes nearly impossible. Swapping suppers with a few "girlfriends" can be a simple, practical solution to your dinner time dilemma.
		Supper swapping (also known as co-op cooking) is simple, and it simply works. It’s moms helping moms, friendship at its best! On your cooking day, you simply fix enough dinner for you and your girlfriends’ (like 4 baked spaghettis) keep one meal for yourself, and deliver the other 3 meals to the families in your group.
		Then, the other four days of the week, sit back and relax as dinner is delivered to your door, hot, fresh and ready to eat. For about two hours worth of meal preparation, and thirty minutes of delivery time, you get a week's worth of stress free family dinners. That’s an 80% reduction in your cooking time - Talk about return on investment!
		Supper swapping saves you time, stress and money. You also build deeper friendships as your journey through the adventures of motherhood together. Supper swapping will solve your dinner time dilemma. Through joining together, we will learn that we can go farther than any one of us can go alone!

		Simple Steps to Supper Swapping Success:
		1. START WITH WHO YOU KNOW – Ask a neighbor, a girlfriend, or a co-worker to give it a try.
		2. HAVE COMMON GROUND – Either live nearby, attend church together, or work at the same company so delivery can be easily coordinated at that common location daily or weekly.
		3. PLAN 3 MONTHS OUT - Choose and plan your meals for at least three months at a time, and write or print them on a meal calendar so each family knows what is being delivered for dinner each night.
		4. START WITH FAMILY FAVORITES - Choose recipes to start with that are your family favorites. New recipes should be tried out on your individual family before they are introduced into the co-op.
		5. AVOID PAN-DEMONIUM - Use 9x9 or 9x13 glass Pyrex pans with snap on blue lids, semi-disposable Zip-Loc containers, and Whale of a Pal Tubs for soups and stews. Rotate them through the group (See Pan Formula in the book)
		6. HONESTY TASTES BETTER - When you establish your meal calendars, be honest and up front about food likes, dislikes, and allergies to avoid problems down the road.
		7. BUDGET MEALS - Buy ingredients in bulk for your meals when items are on sale. Try to budget recipes so you don't make two expensive ones back to back. (i.e. pot roast is more expensive than pizza burgers)
		8. ADAPT DELIVERY TIMES - Delivery times can vary depending on what works for each family. If you deliver at dinnertime, have the meal cooked and ready to eat. If you deliver in the morning, have your meal prepared but not cooked with baking instruction included.
		9. BE FLEXIBLE - Be flexible with one another when life throws you a curve ball, like a sick child, a broken down car, or unexpected circumstance. Have a meal back up plan for those nights agreed upon at the outset, like switching days or having pizza delivered if you are in a pinch.
		10. RELAX AND ENJOY THE RIDE - Relax and enjoy the ride. Don’t expect your supper swapping group to remain stagnant or to last forever; some families may swap longer than others. If a mom leaves, let them do so guilt free. We typically ask for one month’s notice so we can adapt our meal calendars

And there you have it. Doesn't that sound neat? I encourage others of you to think about this in your community of friends. Let me know if you try it! And if you're around here, let me know if you'd be interested in starting something like this. "Let's get together, na, na, na..."