Thanks for the great tips. I think the neighborhood swap sounds great. I've always wanted to try one of those meal prep places where you leave with a bunch of meals to freeze. I know they probably aren't cost effective, but I loved the idea of fresh ingredients and convenience. One thing I've learned: it's tough to save money AND time..... a great tip I picked up from a girlfriend on a beach trip last week: she buys Flat-out brand wraps (I actually prefer Toufayan brand because they have 13 grams of protein and 8g of fiber), and she makes a bunch of wraps at one time...she wraps them in foil, and unlike sandwiches they keep great for a couple of days. They way she folds them in the foil, you can peel down the foil and eat them in the car or anywhere with no mess. They are great ready to go for lunches, snacks, etc. She puts turkey, cheese, and cole slaw on hers, which have a yummy crunchy texture. I prefer mostly veggies-cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, balsamic viegar, etc, of course the possibilities are endless! The best part for school lunches, is that they are so big and filling, you don't have to put much else in the lunch....some grapes and a yogurt and you're set!!

Great ideas guys! I'm buying those wraps at the store this weekend and will try that next week. I always bring my lunch to work and you can't pre-make sandwiches because they can get all soggy. Plus ... at five months preggers ... big and filling sounds pretty good to me. :)

As far as those prep places ... I've always wondered what the fat/sodium content was in their sauces and meals. They're sold as cost effective because in some cases when you're making something you have to buy a whole bunch of one ingredient, but only need a bit. Like fresh herbs, for instance. You might shell out $3.99 for a box of fresh basil and only need half of it. Then the rest gets old and you don't use it. At the prep place, the pitch is you only pay for what you actually need for that recipe. I see the argument, but I think there are probably better ways to save money (like planning a couple of meals where you need the basil or making a double batch to freeze, for instance).

I still think you could feed you family cheaper, but you have a point about the spices. Their dishes may be yummier than mine-but at what cost? Still, what a great "after the baby" gift-you should hint to some family members:-) Yes, I'm LOVIN the wraps! Today I made one with left over steak cut up, salsa and a little bit of sour cream. When I sub, sometimes I may get a call last minute, and it's so great to have something handy to grab. You can make them as full as you want. One of my daughters could only eat half of hers one day last week, so she put the other half back in the fridge when she got home, and then back to school the next day, and it still tasted great!

A few families in my neighborhood did a dinner swap for awhile. There were three families and on my night, I would cook for my family as well as the other two families. I would then pack their dinner up and deliver it to them. Cooking for three families was a mess, but two nights of the week, someone brought us dinner and usually between those three meals, there was enough food for one night of leftovers. It worked great, but I'm not too into cooking. It got to be a little stressful trying to find new and healthy recipes that were affordable. However, one of the women in my dinner swap group still does the dinner swap with another family in the neighborhood and they both love it.

Oh Natalie-that actually sounds like a great idea. I'd totally be into that!