The COOK Part 1

I have really needed to post about our cooking group, but time just escapes me too easily. Here I am the day before THE COOK with chicken cooking on the stove for my prep work. The Cooking 4 Some has been together for almost 5 years. I had heard about them briefly off and on for some time, but nothing more than just passing information. I assumed it was something similar to the Cookbook MEALS IN A MONTH that Locke and I had done and adapted and done again over the years. Loved the concept, didn't like their recipes and it was just TOO much work for a couple to do (we did this when we were DINKS...Dual income no kids...well, I worked and Locke worked part time while in his PhD program). It took 2 FULL DAYS and I mean FULL. I adapted it over the years and would do less time and different recipes, but cooking that much all alone is not fun. I finally just began doubling everything I cooked and would freeze one. That worked fairly well. Now, while learning to can tomatoes with Stephanie Speicher, Jaime Rhinehart and Eveyn Duggar (the canning queen) I inquired about the group and how they did things. She informed me that the group was no longer cooking together, but she would love to revive it if we could get a 4th one. Well.... this motivated me! I didn't realize I would have the opportunity to join the group. In a short time we gathered our 4 and set off for the first cook. Stephanie and Angela Williams were original. They added Kim Bagley, another home-schooler and myself. The great part is the wealth of knowledge and experience Angela and Stephanie brought to the table. It's a BIG learning curve to really fine tune it and these ladies have done just that. Going home with 24 meals and making an additional 4 for the church in 5 hours takes careful planning and organization. Get ready for a long read....
1. Each gal brings 6 recipes to the group by email. All of these are approved by each of us. We do have some things that we don't use due to specific diet restrictions and taste. Once these are approved and have been adjusted to feed 8 (yes, we feed the largest family and the rest get to enjoy leftovers or package it differently or whatever) we then adjust the recipes to feed the 4 families....multiply the recipe by 4 to get the MEGA grocery list started. My bad: I keep sending this to Angela for the approval part and the forget to adapt it. Oops! She then makes a spread sheet of all items, combines like things, etc. At that point she checks our supplies because we keep them all at her house. In other words, seasonings baggies, any dry type goods are kept in boxes for the next cook (Our food is frozen in baggies except for may be one of 2 recipes that require a container). She has a great system! Then the shopping list is prepared! I HATE this so I am thankful that Angela is willing to do it. Tevebaugh and Sams are our friends. Tevebaugh is a meat packing place. I personally have never been, but the meat is fresh and we get a good deal. Most of the time it is cut the way we want it. It's ordered ahead and i is packed and ready. At this point, food is delivered to Fellowship Bible to be stored until the next day (our church is wonderful to allow us to do this...we do have to check with them on dates and also to make sure the fridge is available....that's A MOTHER LOAD of food) OR to the prep houses. That is always Kim and I and Stephanie. Stephanie does both shopping and prep.... a little of both. Today I am cooking 12 pounds of chicken breasts and cutting them into small chunks. Time intensive, not labor intensive. Karas, who is cooking in place of Kim this month is cooking 16 pounds of ground beef with pre-chopped onions for tomorrow. Stehanie is slicing onions, cutting peppers and cooking sausage.

The packing list is crucial. Our church kitchen is well stocked with cooking gear, but there are still those things you know you want....like my can opener that goes by itself with the push of a button. I want my own measuring cups and knives, etc. We all bring rolling coolers to put our stuff in. It doesn't all fit, but it's close. Most of our items are in large baggies so this is convenient for transporting as well as storage. Every now and then we will have a casserole that will need a 9x 13 container. Most of our items are things that can be put in a crock pot or on the grill (this is a summer cook). We then print pieces of paper with the cooking instructions on them...enough for all 6 recipes times 4 (times 5 for the one for the church). We tried labels and while the labels stick MUCH better on the baggies once they are frozen (we do cover them with packing tape to keep the ink from running when it gets wet), but when you go to cook the the label won't come off. With the piece of paper you can pull of the packing tape and the recipe comes with it and you can put it near by to follow. See: trial and error and now we know.