A Conscious Feast by Nicole Aloni

A COOKING CLUB:
Save Money, Have Fun, Save Time, Use the Kitchen Responsibly

photo Manny Rodriguez

I’ve been writing and talking a lot lately (including on my radio show, TableTalk) about a very fun, practical solution for families hoping to put great meals on the table—even while their bank balances shrivel and their social lives fizzle.  It’s called  a Cooking Club and folks really seem to like it.

The catchy name describes the principle pretty neatly; you form a club and you cook.  3 or 4 families pool about $100 each and do some focused shopping at a co-op or club store where big packages of things are at bargain prices— if you can use it. 12 pounds of hamburger at half  price is only a bargain if you have a  way to use it up. The Cooking Club, with the cooperative production of 3 family’s dinners from each recipe, resolves this hurdle to buying in bulk.

The food can be as gourmet or downhome as your group’s particular taste buds decree. After you’ve saved a bunch of money on the super-sized packages of meat, seafood, cheese, dairy and packaged basics at your co-op or club store, fill in the fresh food necessities (organic produce, herbs, etc) with a trip to your farmer’s market. If you’re buying in quantity, they may even give you a price break, too.

Then the cook in the family (all right, it’s usually the Mom) gets together with the other 2 or 3 members of her club in one kitchen and they cook up a storm for 3 or 4 hours (max!). With a little pre-planning—not too many recipes using the oven, nothing too complicated, a balance of different proteins and some vegetarian dishes—they finish the afternoon with 7 yummy, nutritious dinners for their family. All for the $100 they invested!

I’m an enthusiast because it’s such a multi-tasking, environmentalist’s dream: cook wholesome meals for the whole week, save on time, waste and utilities, save money and have a cool time collaborating with my buddies for a guilt-free afternoon of schmoozing and sautéing. As we cook together, oven times are cut by 75%, there is less packaging to discard, and every bite of food is planned for and utilized so waste is at a minimum.

Here are some recipes on my site that work well for this strategic cooking. Cheers.

Portobello Mushroom and Potato Gratin

photo M. Rodriguez

Lemony Pork Picatta

photo M. Rodriguez

For another convenient solution for getting great food on the table without blowing your budget, check out my post on creating a Soup Exchange.