The Food Pantry’s second annual Freezer Meal Workshop occurred in the Loft of Faith Community Center on Tuesday, June 9.
Amy Maxwell, co-owner of the Lafayette Dream Dinners, teamed up with the Food Pantry by providing the food and recipes for the Frozen Meal Workshop. Dream Dinners is a national franchise that provide about 12 dinners that busy families can store in their freezer. As described by their website, Dream Dinners “removes all menu planning, shopping, prep-work and clean-up by move the meal assembly process out of people’s kitchens and into specially equipped stores.”
I’m trying to help my family survive from month to month. That’s how I ended up here.
Maxwell simplified her company’s recipes so that the meals were made in a way that would be easier for lower income families to replicate in the future. Four different recipes were taught at separate stations: chicken and veggie fajitas, baked tortellini, teriyaki chicken, and one breakfast meal – mini vegetable quiches.
Recipes were catered to each family’s size. Some families cook for up to nine people, and some only have a family of two. At individual stations, each family was given a printed recipe and teenagers from Faith Church Youth Group assembled the meals in front of them. Maxwell provided tips at every station for families, such as substituting black beans for chicken if a vegetarian option was desired.
“I’m trying to help my family survive from month to month,” said Debra Nelson, who participated as a beneficiary of the workshop. “That’s how I ended up here.”
18 families and approximately 65 people were served at the Frozen Meal Workshop.
