Where I’m from, the temps today are in the low 60’s and just yesterday a beautiful little yellow leaf fell right next to my bright pink tennis shoe as I was buckling my little in his car seat. My pumpkin spice candle is crackling downstairs. Fall is in the air. This morning I dressed the boys in pants and sweatshirts and felt myself swoon. My big boy Gavin came running in from outside the house and said;
“Mom! Come out here quick, you HAVE to smell it out here!”
At that time it was in the 50’s. I went outside and took a big inhale in, the cool air making its way into my nose and lungs.
“Wow, Buddy, this is my favorite time of the year. Do you know what that smells like? Fall. Crisp.”
“Crisp? Crisp. I like the smell of crisp.”
“Me too buddy, me too!”
Preschool has started for my big boy. Kindermusik has started for my little boy. The mister is working Friday’s again. I’m waking up at 6:45am regularly to get ready before my kids are up. Routine has begun again at our home. While I really do love summer and the free range of it all, I wouldn’t be telling the complete truth if I didn’t say I personally thrive on routine. Fall brings routine. Maybe that’s why I love it so much?
With routine come busier schedules, amIright? One game changer that I started one year ago was a group of women that were willing to come alongside of me and join a freezer meal exchange group that meets monthly. Because, let’s be honest, our families ALWAYS want to eat. This is where the group “Fix, Freeze, Feast” was born. I put myself out there and was very pleased with the positive response of women who were like “This would help me too!” “Count me in!” “Yes! I would love to join”. The true testament to their love was that they ALL decided to join again this year. I was so happy.
One of my favorite things about being a Mom is the sisterhood of motherhood. It’s a bond, a community that I’m proud to be a part of. I feel like this is where I belong. Motherhood is my jam. High school was not necessarily my jam, college was not necessarily my jam, early married life was not necessarily my jam, but this…this current stage of life…THIS is my jam. I feel like this is what I was made for and I thank God for that daily. I really do love to cook/bake/serve delicious food to my family. It’s one of my love languages. Something about seeing all the planning come full circle to bless the people I love the most just about always fills my cup. Pair that with cooking with a glass of Moscato (or two) and quiet background music playing and my cup overflows. BUT this is real life. And in my real life there are two very loud, busy, demanding, wonderful boys who are with me most of the time. The truth is I don’t have the time to make delicious meals all the time. Are you in the same boat? If you are, this might be for you.
Please know right off the bat there are so many variations to make this work. I just want to share what I have come up with for my group. If you want to take parts of it and change it, by all means do!
When coming up with my group I thought about people who were in similar life situations with a similar family size. Six group members have worked very well for us. I tried to make sure there were no dietary restrictions such as gluten free, vegetarian, etc for my specific group. I asked the girls if they would be willing to commit to a 6 month trial period initially just to make sure no one would drop out after 1 month. We all ended up loving it so much we continued past the 6 months and made it 9. In our group most of us have 1-2 children therefore one serving of a meal is considered an 8 x 8 or if you are making soup a half of a normal recipe. If you’re group all has 4+ kids, you are going to all need a 9 x 13 and the full amount of soup. My group consists of full time working moms, part time working moms and stay-at-home moms. We are ALL busy and our families ALL need to eat.
We run our exchange monthly from September to April. We take the summers off mainly because of vacations, grilling season and just to have a break.
As far as the menu goes we think simple, family & freezer friendly. We aren’t culinary experts. That’s not what we’re after. Maybe you are? Maybe you could gather a group who is as well. Maybe you have friends who are also gluten free or vegetarian or healthier eaters ask them to join you. Maybe your group only wants to do crock pot meals. Do what works for your life. There are no real rules.
Okay, so here’s the nitty gritty of how the exchange works. We all prepare SIX of the same dish/soup/casserole AT OUR OWN HOME ON OUR OWN TIME BEFORE THE EXCHANGE DATE which for us is the first Saturday of the month at 10:00 at my house. You are making one dish for yourself and 5 for the other people who are also in the group with you. We have a secret facebook page where we tell each other what we plan to make for the next month and then share recipes if requested.
On the date of the exchange you bring your meals which are already prepared, portioned, labeled and ready to go to the place of exchange. For our group, this is my kitchen. I’m so thankful they are all willing to come and it’s always fun to chat a little bit while we all make our way around my island dropping off what we’ve prepared. Kids are absolutely welcome to come to our exchange. Yoga pants or straight up pajamas are welcome too. We’re about real life here! We aim for the exchange to take around 15-20 minutes. Maybe you would prefer to make the exchange more of a social thing and have it take longer. That’s an option too. It would be a fun way to have a monthly girl’s night.
As the person who hosts the actual exchange I have all the girls’ names written on little orange laminated index cards on my island that I set out at six different spots. That way there is no confusion whose pile is whose. ☺ Everyone leaves with 6 different meals. This year as a thank you to the girls for returning to this group I made a little “starter pack” for each of them. I used Hy Vee re-usable bags which are wonderful for carrying all of your meals and taking the new ones home, a laminated card with all the exchange dates on it to put on your refrigerator, some 8 x 8 disposable pans, some freezer Ziploc baggies and some fun colored labels to use. This is all optional but I love nothing more than to love on those people around me and this is how I saw fit to do that.
This group has been a game changer for me and has helped me feed my family instead of getting take out more often or serving cold cereal. I have had a couple of the husbands in the group voice their appreciation of the group as well which is awesome!
Is this something that interests you or could benefit your family? Get together and talk with your friends, co-workers, other Mom’s you see at school drop off, church, etc. The worst they can say is “no” and then you just ask another person. This is a great way to come alongside each other and do motherhood together!
XOXO,
Tina
Tina Kroeze is Amber’s dear friend who is a monthly contributor to Mommy’s Me Time. Most importantly, she is a child of God, saved by grace. She is a registered nurse recently turned full time SAHM to two sweet boys, Gavin Andrew (4) and Spencer Declan (almost 2). Five years ago her first pregnancy ended in a devastating and unexpected miscarriage at 12 weeks. While she misses that sweet baby, she takes comfort knowing that he/she is in the arms of Jesus and she looks forward to seeing her first love again someday. She (mostly) single parents in the months of December to April 15 as her golf-loving better half works as a CPA. This summer marks their 7th wedding anniversary. She love to encourage moms (especially those going through postpartum depression) through writing as she is a fellow survivor. AND she loves Jesus, organizing, the sun, diet Pepsi and chocolate. 🙂 For more encouragement from Tina, follow her on Instagram: @tinakroeze or feel free to email her at tinakroeze@hotmail.com.
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