I try to organize a soup exchange once a year or so. I love the idea and think you will too. Here’s how to do it:

step 1) call two friends and ask them to triple a recipe for a soup they are currently loving.

step 2) tell your friends to keep one portion of soup for themselves and bring the other two portions already frozen in a ziplock freezer bag to swap.

step 3) as the host, put a pot of tea on, get the cream and sugar out, and collect two divine soups to store in your freezer for a day when you are just not feeling the cooking thing.

This is probably my favorite food swap idea because soup is easy to double or triple and you end up with soups you may not think to make yourself. I don’t freeze many food items because freshness is important to me, but soup does really well in the freezer and reheats beautifully. Sometimes they even get better with a turn in the freezer.

Soups to consider making for your food swap include: French onion, sausage onion and pepper, tomato basil, chicken pot pie filling, taco soup, beef stew, gumbo, chicken noodle, Mexican chicken soup, beef chili, white chicken chili, pea and basil…and that’s just off the top of my head.