It is such a blessing to share life together with friends.
One of the things I enjoy about life in community is food. Food, food, food.
In the Wilson House, we have a way of meal planning that I think is really cool.
Meal Planning
We plan meals a week (or sometimes two weeks) ahead. Once we decide on meals, we write them down on our decorative, dry-erase board which Kayla made.
How do we decide what meals to make?
For inspiration, we look to the coupons!
Once the coupons are located, they're listed on the fridge. This is a new innovation.
Jess is a coupon superhero. She spots deals on all kinds of grocery items—usually on items we were going to purchase anyway, like milk, and sometimes on unique items, like organic romaine hearts.
Once we choose what meals we want, we find recipes. We generate grocery lists from those recipes, which were, in turn, informed by the coupons. Then we shop.
To me, this is a great system. It gives priority to the values of economy and thrift, so it saves the community money. At the same time, it does not mandate that all meal ideas come directly from coupons. Instead, the coupons provide much-needed and much-appreciated inspiration for meal ideas.
Couponing is an involved task. It takes a lot of time, energy and organizational skills to make it work, and we are so happy that Jess uses her talent for the good of the community. Life in community is all about recognizing and nurturing each other’s strengths—because people come up with better solutions when we work together than when we work in isolation.
We take turns preparing meals. We plan five meals a week, and there are five people living in the house. So, this week for example, we each planned a meal.
This is the most egalitarian way to handle the task of meal planning and prep. It is what we strive for, though I think some members end up preparing more meals than me.
Not how we eat.
Common Food
The Wilson House has a common-fund which we use exclusively for expenses that we share. One of those expenses, of course, if food. We practice what I call “100% community food,” which means that, in general, all household food is purchased out of the common fund and used in common. (Though I have been known buy Doritos at the corner store with my own money and eat them secretly. Don’t tell anybody.)
This practice differs from what Amber and I did at Formation House, Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh we had a partial common purse, as we do in Liberty, which we used for rent, groceries, etc. The difference is that in Pittsburgh we used the common grocery fund only for groceries that were for common meals. Snacks, individual lunches, ect., were purchased separately.
In my experience, both systems can work. The important thing with any system is mutual understanding and clearly articulated expectations.
When we were initially discussing the practice of 100% community food, Tyler pointed out that this is how family units usually operate, too. Rarely does one member of a family purchase a bottle of juice (for example) put it in the fridge, and then declare, “This is my juice!”
Tuesday Night
Tuesday Night at LibertyCommunity is a wonderful time. We have a potluck-isque meal which we coordinate via email the week before. We cycle locations between the Wilson House, the Leonard House, and the Jewel House. We have a recurring taco night, which I love, and other than that, so far it’s something new every week, which I also love. Jordan brings chocolate sheet cake, which (you may be surprised to learn) I love. (I pretty much practice unconditional positive regard for food.)
After dinner, we do common prayer, discuss community business, and sometimes play catchphrase.
Three Personal Goals
In conclusion, I have three personal goals with regard to food at the Wilson House.
One: I want to take an equal share in the meal prep, consistently planning one meal a week, and more if necessary.
Two: I want to get a better a feel for the skill of shopping. I want to play an equal part in the shopping process: Practice, practice, practice.
Three: I want to get a better feel for the skill of improvising recipes. I am a logistical thinker—I think that people go to the trouble of coming up with step-by-step recipes for a reason, and therefore deviation from that recipe constitutes an error, and should be avoided. However, I am starting to get the feeling from my more advance housemates that only rank amateurs stick to recipes.
I got a lot of learn’n to do!
