2010_02_11-FreezerMeals.jpgHave you ever heard of a freezer meal group, or cooperative? We just saw this idea for the first time, and we think it's brilliant! Basically, a group of six friends decided to help each other cook dinner, and so every few weeks, they come up with 12 meal ideas and divide them up among themselves for cooking — and sharing!

We saw this idea in action when Angie at Blonde Designs blogged about it and just how well it was working for her. The idea is so simple. A group of six (or more) people decide on a certain amount of meals for a six-week period. Angie's group does 12 meals. Then each person prepares two of the meals, and freezes enough for all six people in the group. (It's obviously a lot easier to prepare and freeze a lot of one or two recipes, rather than 12 recipes!)

Then they distribute the frozen meals among themselves, and everyone has a frozen yet homemade meal for their family twice a week.

We think this is a brilliant way to share cooking skills and get organized for the month. It's also very community-oriented, which is great. It's like a home-cooked answer to those meal prep centers which have been popping up across the country in the last few years.

Have you ever done something like this?

• Read more about Angie's freezer meal group: Freezer Meals - She gives a couple of her favorite meal recipes here, too.

Related: Soup Swap: Have You Tried It?

(Image: Angie/Blonde Designs)