August Exchange

From this months exchange.

Even if our group were to lose interest in exchanging and I couldn't find another set of people to trade with I would still freeze quite a bit. Veggie burgers are a great example. If your family does veggie burgers often, and I don't know a vegan family that doesn't, then perhaps making a large batch once a month a freezing portions would serve you well. Breakfast burritos also are great to make monthly. 

Even if you don't want to end up with six gallons of chili, making a double batch and waiting a week to thaw a eat the other half may serve you well. Freezing like this is all about reducing overall cooking and prep time. You can scale up or down according to your needs, freezer space, and interest.

This month we exchanged:

Spanish Lentils

Vegan Taco File Packet

Split Pea Soup

Spinach Lasagna Rolls with Vegan Spinach Ricotta Filling 

Zucchini Carrot Muffins 

Veggie Burgers

Chest Freezer Organization

This afternoon's addition to our freezer:
Oh She Glows Veggie Burger

I have long resisted getting a chest freezer. I enjoy cooking freezer size batches (in case you couldn't guess). But I did not want to use the energy/money/space of a whole chest freezer. For a number of reasons I caved this month.

This may be strange but I really like packing. The couple days before a vacation where I get to plan and pack are actually something I look forward to. So in a weird way getting to organize a chest freezer, essentially "pack" a freezer, is oddly enjoyable. I found this and this source helpful and came up with this system:

You will need:

White Board and Pen
Reusable Grocery Bags of Different Colors

Example format from last month:

"July 2012: Red Bag
III Stuffed Shells in Al Bread Tins
II Gallon bags Butternut Squash Ravioli
IIII Quart Blueberries
I Gallon bag of bags of Breastmilk
II 2 cup Kale portions
III Quarts Chana Masala"

Why hash marks? Why not numbers?
Because if I take a quart of blueberries out all I need to do is erase a mark.

Red Lentil Thai Chili Frozen Flat

Why sort items by date?
To assure that nothing gets too old. I know some people prefer sorting by object type but the contents of my freezer are a bit too random.

Why bags? And why specifically different colors?
Bags have handles. Bags are cheap. Bags stretch. The colors are an easy visual cue as to which month or category you are looking for.


Why packaging size?
So I know what to look for.

A note on freezing flat:
Whenever possible try to freeze flat on a cookie sheet before transferring to a grocery bag for storage. In the case of a freezer group this is an important courtesy. You will always be able to see the writing on a flat bag and is often easier to find room for a flat bag.

May Exchange

Exercising reasonable food safety practices while cooking for oneself is obviously important. I believe that cooking for others merits extra care.  For me this meant sitting this month out. My sweet little baby had a nasty upper respiratory virus which the hubs and I picked up as well. During the time period I was planning on cooking and hosting the exchange we were too sick and I did not want to exchange this virus! Sadly, I missed some great food. But I'm quite happy to have the recipes and try them now that we are all feeling better. The rest of the group exchanged:

Dilly Stew With Rosemary Dumplings , Jerk Sloppy Joes With Coconut Creamed Spinach, Spicy Cabbage Masala, Vegan Taco Foil Packet 

Allergies, Dislikes and Restrictions

We are already a group with a fair amount of restrictions from what most people are used to cooking. If you have never had to leave meat, dairy or eggs behind coming up with recipes takes some research. If people have only ever prepared veggies or beans as side dishes then it is often a learning process to make them into fulfilling main dishes. But I suppose that this is one of the strengths of the group; we are in essence sharing the research and work by sharing our food and recipes. Groups like these can be helpful for people transitioning to plant based diets.

In the formation of the group we did a couple things. First, I sent out the request to “Please respond to this email if there is anything you absolutely will not eat or food allergies in the family.”

We had an egg allergy which since the group is vegan is not a problem. I get sick from cumin. This is a sad one since cumin is a really wonderful spice. What people have done is make the dish without cumin and take out and label a portions worth for my share and then add the cumin for the rest of the group.This may not be workable for all dishes and takes a little extra thought but I was extremely thankful.

Another option is to make two options to share. Michelle did this by making 3 meals harvest stew and 3 meals stuffed peppers in November. (Depending on the meal it might be more workable to do two different medium size batches rather than one huge batch.) Those with a aversion to a certain item or allergy simply take the option without.

For dislikes there is also a degree to which people just need to be willing to deal. It can be hard enough cooking to your own family’s tastes let alone cooking to 5 other families. So we just keep in mind allergies and absolute aversions. This kind of reminded me of being part of a community supported farm. During the season you get what has been given rather than precisely what you pick. Being part of a group like this requires you to give up a little control. For some this is not something they are willing to do but for our family it has been well worth experience. Would you be willing to leave what's for dinner up to another person?

Group Guidelines

Our group is experimenting with the a modification of the guidelines found at this blog.

• Make one meal for each person in the group.  I'll try to keep it to 5ish.  When the number of people in the group changes you will receive an email.
• We will exchange meals on a set date and time each month. Currently it is the second Monday of the month at 8:30pm at Valerie’s house.
• Each meal should feed 4 people.
• Meals should be in an aluminum dish or a Ziplock brand Freezer bag (anything else doesn’t freeze well).
• Let's try a make reasonably priced dishes--no need to buy expensive or exotic ingredients.
• Write on the package with permanent marker what the meal is, the basic instructions, and the date (example: Chickpea Casserole, 350 for 30 min, 8/25/11,).  You will probably have to pull the meal out of the freezer ahead of time so that it can thaw.  Write the cook time that should be used once the meal is thawed.
• Let's try to not experiment on the group. Please try the meal first or be reasonably sure that it will be awesome.
• Do I need to be vegan? Omnivores are welcome to participate as long as the food shared is completely vegan.
• If you decide you don’t want to be in the Meal Exchange anymore let Valerie know ASAP so other people can adjust the number of meals they are making.
• Staples: Rice & Noodles are considered staples.  If a meal is to be served on top of rice or noodles then those ingredients don’t have to be included.  Otherwise include everything else the recipe calls for.