Maiden Voyage

I think our first attempt at the freezer meal group was a success. Overall things went smoothly but we (mostly I) also learned a lot for next time. Although we set out to do 9 meals we ended up completing 14 meals (three double servings) due to extra ingredients.

1. Chicken Pot Pie
2. Mexican Lasagna
3. Ranch Chicken
4. Italian Chicken
5. Creamy Ham and pasta – with egg noodles
6. Enchiladas x2- (2 pans)
7. fajitas- (veggie bag, meat bag, tortilla bag)
8. Pizza Braid x2- (2 braids)
   
9. Ribs- (meat bag and seasoning bag)
10. Apricot Chicken- (one bag)
    
11. Ziti Bake x2- (2 pans)

Things we learned/solutions-

• It takes longer than expected to do the meals. Next time I think we all agreed to do the meat/veggie preparation prior to meeting. Possibly do fewer meals and pair harder recipes with easier recipes (soups)
  
• Disposable pans can be purchased at All-A-Dollar- 2 for a dollar
• Bring 2 coolers instead of 1
• Recipes seem to make more than expected- I bought ingredients for 8 shares- some we only needed half- so that is why we ended up with double of some recipes and I had thawed more chicken than needed so we added the apricot chicken.
• Don't let Rob do your labels, or at least proof them prior to distribution. Sorry to any fellow Ute fans for his comments.
  

Jen and McCall volunteered to be the next group in charge. They will organize a time to meet (probably in Jan), choose the meals, do all the shopping and host the group. The feedback they get from this blog can help them decide what to repeat or do differently so please take the time to comment on the meals. I ended up spending $679.16 divided by 8 shares (Jen and Ginny got 2 shares)= 84.90/share. That comes out to be $6.06 per meal.-Time well spent-

Below are the meals with the cooking instructions in case your labels fell off.