Make It Snappy!

Three friends make dinner a breeze.

For some, preparing dinner is just one more thing on a never-ending to-do list. So wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to think about it? Wouldn’t it be nice if everything was planned ahead and your time in the kitchen was kept to a minimum? Even for those who love cooking—the process, the smells, the result—it takes time, which is a precious commodity.

But maybe there’s a happy medium. A trio of women just outside Philadelphia has found a way to make healthy dinners in a snap while still enjoying the essence of cooking. Sarah Wagner, Susanna Schweikert, and Rhea Lee met nearly a decade ago when their oldest children were babies. Today, they each have two young kids and run a busy household with school schedules and after-school activities. But they’ve made a promise to not let their hectic schedules keep them from what they enjoy: cooking, eating healthy, and having dinner as a family. How do they keep this vow? By organizing their own cooking club.

Friendly Cookin’
There are many cooking clubs around the country, from national franchises like Supper Suppers to local establishments like The Kitchen Studio in New Market, Maryland. Most of these enterprises offer customers preplanned meals that can be cooked in the studio and then brought home and placed in the freezer for a quick dinner fix. But Wagner, Schweikert, and Lee decided to start their own supper club. Every two to three months, they break out the music and cocktails and spend an entire evening in Wagner’s kitchen preparing 12 delicious meals, only they do things a little differently than commercial clubs. Instead of precooking meals, they prepare frozen premade kits, each containing a meat, the sauce or dressing, and all the chopped ingredients.

While many clubs include a great variety of recipes, these ladies have a truly varied palette and strive to create meals to reflect that. Recipes on their menus include dishes like Soy Ginger Chicken Over Rice, Asian Flank Steak, Bourbon-Glazed Salmon With Couscous, and Pinchos Morunos (Moorish Lamb Kabobs) With Asparagus Salad.

“We’re well suited to cook together,” says Wagner. “We’re not picky eaters, enjoy eating healthy, and have the same size families and the same tastes.” The women also truly enjoy cooking and prefer to prepare frozen kits rather than precooking everything. So instead of actually cooking when they’re together, their bimonthly gatherings find them marinating, preparing sauces and dressings, and chopping. The main entrée is then packaged with all the premeasured accoutrements and instructions so that when the time comes, they’re actually cooking everything fresh. They also include side suggestions like steamed broccoli, couscous, or garlic green beans.

“We enjoy using the freezer kits,” says Wagner. “It gives you everything you need to cook dinner instead of a frozen precooked meal that goes right into the oven. Our method allows you to use fresh ingredients and actually cook, but the time is reduced because all the measuring, chopping, and marinating has already been done.”

Schweikert agrees that their kits help speed the process without taking away the joy of cooking. “For me it’s not so much the cooking that I don’t like but the thought process. I love to cook, but I also want to spend time with my family. This allows me to do both,” she explains.

From preparing the menu to shopping for ingredients, the women rally together for it all. “We plan 12 meals and everyone typically picks three recipes that they want to prepare,” explains Wagner. “Then they send their shopping lists to me to organize. Susanna and I will do the shopping, Rhea will pick up the Asian ingredients, and we’ll just pile everything on my dining room table.”

While they haven’t come up with an exact figure, the women estimate their savings to be quite significant. “I’d say we spend about $80 to $100 each for the 12 meals,” says Wagner. “I look at it this way—any night I’m not getting carry out, I’m saving.”

Their prep evening typically starts around 8 pm on a Sunday and doesn’t end until after midnight. “It’s fun but a marathon,” says Wagner. “We don’t like to take a whole Saturday, so that’s why we choose Sunday night—after everyone’s had dinner and the kids are in bed. It is a fun evening and very satisfying when we’re done, and we each have 12 dinner kits packaged in 1 gallon bags with instructions.”

After several years of cooking together, the group decided to try something a little different. Many of their summer days were spent at the pool with the kids, so their evenings at home started a little late. “Even throwing a flank steak on the grill or boiling a pot of pasta takes too long when you come home at 7 pm with a 4-year-old,” says Wagner.

So instead of their normal freezer kits, the women decided to each pick one day a week and cook for all three families. “I like to cook,” says Wagner, “but cooking each day becomes a chore. But I look forward to cooking for my friends. Then it becomes fun.”

The summer meals are light and refreshing and include pasta salads, cobb salads, pork tenderloins with grilled vegetable relish, and Vietnamese spring rolls, which are a huge hit with everyone. “It was really great because it allowed us to use the fresh produce that is so abundant during the summer months,” says Wagner.

For Schweikert, the summer cooking club proved a little more difficult. “I like to make something really delicious and usually pick things that are a little more complex. I tried new recipes and meals that were very time consuming. That was my problem and I’ll know not to do that again next time,” she says.

Wagner believes this summer idea saved her time and money. “I was spending a lot less because I wasn’t buying food for dinner every night. My weekly grocery bill was generally $50 to $60 each week at the store and that was for the kids’ lunch, cereal, and snacks. And many times, we would have leftovers for lunch at the pool,” she says.

Keep It Small
Good friends, delicious food, and more quality time with the family. For Wagner, Schweikert, and Lee, their supper club has been the perfect answer. And while they’ve had others ask to join them, they’re pretty cautious about letting their group get too big.

“Three people is the perfect number,” says Schweikert. “I always tell people who want to start their own group to find friends with similar tastes and who are flexible and willing to do whatever. You also want to find people who are sincere and will follow through. The rewards are good—you’re making meals for your family, spending time with your girlfriends, and creating a sense of community with your family and friends.”

Wagner agrees: “Our kids are home from school at 4 pm and that is our prime time with them. Now, dinner is ready and we’re spending less time cooking and more time with our family.”

— Jennifer Mellace