Food Swap

I despise to cook!  I like the idea of it, but I hate how messy it gets my house.  I really love the slow-cooker, and I don't truly consider that cooking.  Living so close to my parents and siblings, I've survived the past few year "showing up" for dinner at their houses.  However, entering my 30s made me realize it was time to buck up and shut up!  So, my sister and I decided we would initiate a food swap.  It works really well.  We both cook two days a week (the same ones), and swap our food two others.  Then, the weekend is on your own.  So, on Saturday or Sunday we discuss which days work for our swap and then plan for the week.  Here is my menu calendar I started.

I write down what I'm going to cook and the ingredients.  Then, I highlight what I already have and create a grocery list (in the bottom right hand corner) of what I still need.  Then, I take the menu calendar with me.  My sister and I both have outdoor fridges, so during our swap days we stick each other's food in the fridge while we're out running errands.  It is fabulous!  Now I am eating home cooked meals, but I'm not having to do all the cooking.

Also, to make my life a little more sane I've organized the ingredients in tubs for the week.  Then, I can grab the tub and cook from it.  This allows me to actually "know" I have everything I need.  Here is a picture of that too.