GUIDELINES:
1) All meals need to feed 8 ADULTS - not 2 adults and 6 small children. Basically if you do a 13x9 pan it needs to be pretty full. If you do chicken it needs to have 8 large servings. Things like that. I know this may be for some more food in a meal than your family will normally eat, but look at it as 2 meals in one for you.
2) Since we are doing 6 meals (5 to exchange and 1 to keep ourselves) our budget should be $60 - $70....just due to the cost of food rising. Now how this works is, if you get a great deal on meat and your meal comes to say $50, then you should also provide a box of pasta, chips, anything non-perishable that goes with your meal to get you to the budget goal. This way we are all spending the same amount. But if your bill comes to $58.50 I think we can call it good that month. ;) Or you can just buy us each a candy bar! lol!
3) You need to get your meals in the freezer at least 2 days before the exchange but 3 is better. Please try and freezer your meal if in ziploc bags as flat as possible so it is easy for us to stack in our own freezers.
4) When using freezer bags, please use sturdy ones that are made for the freezer. When using foil pans place a piece of plastic wrap then foil on top. Then make a note that we need to remove plastic before cooking.
5) Make sure your area is clean when assembling or cooking anything for this group. (I know this is a given.)
6) MOST IMPORTANT!!!!!! Eric Yates is ALLERGIC to NUTS! Like go to the hospital allergic. Do not have Peanut Butter or anything that says it may contain nuts in your dish or near the area you are assembling/cooking - not even a spoon you stir with that may have touched something with nuts or nut oil.
POST LABELS:
Please make sure you label each post with your name, the type of meal (ex. chicken, mexican, pasta), and the month it is for. In your post you should have your recipe so we can make it again for our family if it was a hit, and also instructions on how to cook it after it is frozen, in case that falls off the meal itself.
LABELING MEALS:
Put each person name on one meal. This helps make sure everyone gets one of each of the meal when we exchange. Use a permanent marker for this. Then staple to bags or attach to foil on top of pans with tape - the name of your meal, and instructions on what to do with it. Example - "Pork Ribs - thaw then place in crockpot on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours and serve with rice." "Lasagna - thaw and cook at 375* for 45 minutes".
