Our winner this month is Julie. Julie has a great story to share about how her experience cooking the 30 Day Gourmet way has grown into a ministry at her church.

Julie says:  

"I purchased the 30 Day Gourmet Cooking Manual when I was 8 months pregnant with our second son; we thought it'd be handy to have prepared meals in our freezer for after his birth. Then after doing Freezer Cooking for over a year, I thought it'd be a fun thing to do with a larger group; so I asked a few girlfriends from church to join me at the building and give it a try. The software was incredibly helpful, and continues to be a huge benefit to our ministry, which we call Meals For A Month.

Our trial run was July 2004, and we offered Cooking Sessions for the next year, until we moved into our new church building. During the break of getting settled in, we had 6 months off, during which we tweaked and improved Meals For A Month even more.

Participants contribute $90 for a 10 entrees, serving 6-8 people each. The leadership team buys the groceries and selects the recipes for the month.

Participants come on the designated Cooking Day and, in VERY ORGANIZED team fashion, make 10 meals for each participating family for the month. We have four menus which we rotate over the year; in the winter, we substitute the grilled recipes for more winter-friendly foods.

Beginning in April of this year, we expanded from one Cooking Session to three. Participants reserve their spots for future Cooking Days by registering and paying in advance. Checks are not cashed until the first of the month, and until then, people are free to change their minds about participating.

The foods are all healthy--- we have calculated Weight Watchers Points for each entree; every participant takes home a packet with a refrigerator list- a summary of what non-perishables are needed to cook each entree, how they're prepared/served, some tips on Crock-Pot Cooking, business cards, and information about what we believe at our church.

At the halfway point of each cooking session, we break for brunch and a short Bible study and prayer. MFAM’s mission is to reach out, invite and involve people who might not otherwise come into a church building, and who don’t know Jesus. It provides a non-threatening way to ask someone to come to church. After all, we all eat, enjoy new healthy foods, save money, and like feeling organized. What a fun way to bring along a guest, introduce them to other Christians, and have fun all at the same time! We stress that this is a non-profit ministry. The planners/leadership team do this as a ministry, not a job.

Another thing we do is prepare Sharing Meals at each session. Those are freezer meals which are assembled, and come with all non-perishable ingredients and preparation instructions, to be distributed to someone who could use a pick-me-up. A friend who's feeling blue, a new mom, someone recovering from surgery, a new person who moves to the neighborhood, etc.

*Over 2700 meals prepared so far, plus more than 230 Sharing Meals prepared
* Over 160 people have participated, including 62 who aren’t members at our church
* 27 Bible studies

http://www.westhoustonchurch.org/connections/ministries/mfam.htm

Thanks for reading...and thanks even more for all of the help you have provided to our ministry, and to over 160 families in the Northwest Houston area!"

Wow... what a great story! It is amazing how cooking for a month for your own family grew into such a great ministry and opportunity to share your knowledge with others. Thanks for sharing your story with everyone! 

So, how do you make 30 Day Gourmet work for you? How do you use it to help you deal with a challenge in your life? How do you use it to help others? Do you have a funny cooking story to share? Email me at carol@30daygourmet.com to be entered in our contest.