Lost of folks keep asking me how to start a co-op or how my freezer group works.  Its not as complicated as you might think.  Here are simple steps to get you started:

–Start asking around to see who might be interested. Ask lots and lots of different people, the families you think might be interested may turn out not to be.  Think outside the box.  Think friends, family, school people, church people, neighbors, etc…

–Have a planning meeting to decide exactly how you want your group to function.  Discuss guidelines, like portion sizes, foods that are taboo, how to package, etc…  Do a Google search for other groups guidelines for ideas.

–As a group, select some recipes to start with.  Remember that each cook will not be able to cater to every family’s specific tastes.  I post my favorite recipes here & on my Facebook page.  Once A Month Mom also has GREAT recipes.  I like to print out the recipe & multiply out the ingredients times six since there are six families in our group.

–Select a date, time, and place for your swap.

–Constantly review and re-evaluate. Vote on recipes & what you should do differently or better.

—Bring the meals to the swap already frozen.  We bring our’s in coolers so that they stay frozen while we chat about the next swap.

Our group just recently created a group page on Facebook just for our swaps.  It is a closed group.  We sign up for the next swap there, we discuss the next date, and we post our recipes for everyone to use.

Hope this helps you!

If you have thoughts or questions, post them on my Facebook page @ Fearless Freezer Cooking!