Cooking for a Community Fridge

[patti]

Hi, All! I’ve been away from eGullet for several years, so many of you may not remember me, but perusing current postings, I see many familiar names. 👋

 

I’m posting because I’ve been doing some cooking for one of our local community fridges, and I need help!  Once a week I prepare and package meals for the fridge and my goal each week is 24 meals. While I often achieve that goal, a few times I’ve missed because I’ve miscalculated amounts and/or I make my serving sizes too generous. Also, I don’t get specific critical feedback, and sometimes I need it (she says before actually receiving critical feedback).

My idea is to first share some pictures of meals I’ve prepared so y’all can see what I’ve done and then to post more in a sort of weekly blog about the meals each week. Any interest? I know many of you will have great ideas and guidance and feedback.

 

Last week’s meal was a bagged lunch of tortellini soup with Italian sausage and spinach, accompanied by cheese toast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sheet pan lasagna

 

 

Sheet pan lasagna, cuke salad, buttered toast.

 

 

 

Pasta salad, roasted sweet potatoes, buttered toast.

 

 

Baked penne, salad, garlic bread.

 

 

Corn salad

 

 

Pulled chicken sandwich

 

 

Pulled chicken sandwich and corn salad.

 

 

Ham fried rice.

 

 

Ham fried rice.

 

 

 

Tamale pie, salad, dressing.

 

 

Pork jambalaya, white beans, coleslaw.

 

 

 

Chicken fried rice.

 

 

Baked chicken thigh, baked potato, peas, buttered toast.

 

 

 

Baked chicken spaghetti, two ways, broccoli, garlic bread.

 

 

Red beans & rice with smoked sausage & ham, cornbread, two boiled cookies.

 

 

 

 

Chicken fried rice

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by patti
Remove a few pics, caption a few pics. (log)

[Shelby]

Patti it is SO good to see you! I definitely remember you and always loved seeing your cooking (and your gorgeous Christmas decorations  ) And I think what you're doing is wonderful.  I'm very interested in this and I am certain that others here will be, too , and will also have great feedback.

 

I'm impressed with the variety that you've made.  I imagine coming up with new ideas each week can sometimes be challenging. (reading this on a growling empty stomach was not smart on my part)

 

I have a few questions--and forgive me if they are dumb ones but I'm not sure about some specifics about how food pantries work.  Does the pantry have specific ingredients and budget that you must work with/use each week or do you choose the ingredients  yourself and it must be under a certain dollar amount?  Do they provide the packaging?  Do other people volunteer and do the same thing for the other days of the week?  Are there ever any gluten-free options or other types of options for folks with dietary restrictions?  Just questions I've thought of off the top of my head.

 

While it's not exactly the same situation, I thought of this topic right off the bat --Cooking for 50 Senior Citizens.  It might give you some helpful ideas.

 

I can't wait to see more and tag along with your weekly updates  

[rotuts]

@patti

 

Welcome back .

 

What a wonderful project .  Fine looking food .

 

looks to me that you"ve got this this down , pat .

[patti]

Thank you, Shelby. And I will definitely be perusing that topic!

 

The community fridges are public refrigerators with a “take what you need, give what you can” motto. The rules for prepared food donations are that you label the food with the date and what it is. They really want you to list possible food allergens. At first, I was listing every ingredient used in the recipes, but the fridge I am donating to does not require that. The budget is all mine because the donations come from me, although occasionally the people who manage this particular fridge get food rescues and offer some of it to me to use in my meals. They’ve given me some ground turkey, ground beef, chicken breasts, and blocks of cheese. I provide the packaging. 

 

To give some background, I’ll copy and paste from my Instagram:

 

“In 2021 I kept seeing posts on Facebook about Lafayette’s Community fridge and pantry. The way they work intrigued me because it seemed like such an easy way to do something helpful. At first, I dropped off pantry items, the kind most people give when there’s a food drive. But it was the idea that you could bring cooked items, even leftovers (good leftovers), that led me to making food specifically for fridge donations. From the fall of 21 through April of ‘23 I made over 500 meals. Eventually, something must’ve changed with the management (volunteers, all) and as they stopped promoting it, I stopped cooking for them. But now, the community fridge in Lafayette and Abbeville have been adopted by The Foodies of Lafayette and they are coordinating with restaurants and other businesses for donations, food rescues, etc. So now I’m back, and ready to cook! By starting this page, I hope to encourage others to participate!”

 

In May of 2025 I learned that a Facebook group called Foodies of Lafayette had adopted two community fridges and they were collaborating with restaurants and other food rescue groups to keep the fridges stocked. And then I learned of another community fridge that was connected to a church that has a strong mission to feed others. I decided to get back in the game and sort of adopted that fridge as the place I’d take my donations. I’d been looking for volunteering opportunities, but this one spoke to me. 

 

(Isn’t there a preview option before submitting posts? I’ve forgotten how to work eGullet!)

Edited 5 hours ago by patti
To fix the quotation. (log)

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, patti said:

Thank you, Shelby. And I will definitely be perusing that topic!

 

The community fridges are public refrigerators with a “take what you need, give what you can” motto. The rules for prepared food donations are that you label the food with the date and what it is. They really want you to list possible food allergens. At first, I was listing every ingredient used in the recipes, but the fridge I am donating to does not require that. The budget is all mine because the donations come from me, although occasionally the people who manage this particular fridge get food rescues and offer some of it to me to use in my meals. They’ve given me some ground turkey, ground beef, chicken breasts, and blocks of cheese. I provide the packaging. 

 

To give some background, I’ll copy and paste from my Instagram:

 

 

In May of 2025 I learned that a Facebook group called Foodies of Lafayette had adopted two community fridges and they were collaborating with restaurants and other food rescue groups to keep the fridges stocked. And then I learned of another community fridge that was connected to a church that has a strong mission to feed others. I decided to get back in the game and sort of adopted that fridge as the place I’d take my donations. I’d been looking for volunteering opportunities, but this one spoke to me. 

 

(Isn’t there a preview option before submitting posts? I’ve forgotten how to work eGullet!)

Ohhhh ok I see now.  (thanks for copying/pasting--I don't have Instagram).  Wow, you are doing a LOT.  So admirable.

[patti]

I’m not sure what just happened, but if I could delete this I would.

Edited 5 hours ago by patti
gross incompetence on my part (log)

[patti]

41 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@patti

 

Welcome back .

 

What a wonderful project .  Fine looking food .

 

looks to me that you"ve got this this down , pat .

 

Thank you, but I’m flailing sometimes when I’m trying to quadruple a recipe. Someone with more experience wouldn’t have so many “character building” days!

[Darienne]

Dear Patti,  You are for sure an angel in human form.  I'm exhausted just reading about and looking at all the meals you have put together.  I wish I could be of some use to you in your endeavor but I have no experience in this area.  I'll follow your blogs an perhaps I be able to come up with some ideas you can use.

 

I see that you use a lot of ethnic based dishes: Hispanic, Italian, Southeastern dishes, Chinese, etc...?  In our local hospital I was served several Indian dishes (I asked for a vegetarian diet in the hopes of getting some food I could eat...but beyond a rare leaf of lettuce, there was nothing.  I did receive a lot of good chickpea curry dishes.  However, I got Ed, my husband, to bring me in a big salad every dinnertime so I could survive.), but in Ontario Canada we have a considerable East Asian population and we eat a lot of Indian food at home.  I can understand how using fresh ingredients is a major problem in making prepared meals.

 

Good luck to you in this wonderful and generous path you have chosen.

 

[patti]

Darienne, you have touched on a few of the many dilemmas I have. I know I’m not helping any vegetarians with my meals. I know my meals are too carb heavy, but I try to add fresh ingredients when I can. A lot of my meal choices have to do with affordability (for me), my cooking skill set, and my desire to give someone a truly filling and satisfying meal. I often put too much meat in the recipe, or I make these gigantic servings. The large servings are actually because of my hope that even the biggest man could feel sated, and maybe those with smaller appetites might get two servings out of the entree. 

 

Today’s meal is going to be a chicken cobbler recipe that uses Cheddar Bay biscuit mix in the topping. Broccoli and a cutie will be the sides.

Edited 4 hours ago by patti (log)

[blue_dolphin]

What a wonderful thing you’re doing!  I’m impressed how appealing everything looks and sounds. 
As someone who mostly cooks for one and has banished much of my larger cookware to the garage, scaling up to 24 servings would be quite a challenge! 

[TdeV]

Hi Patti, glad to see you! The other day I was looking up something or the other and there you were. Then I thought about how much I had enjoyed your posts. Today, I am reminded how much I enjoy your posts!

 

[patti]

18 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

What a wonderful thing you’re doing!  I’m impressed how appealing everything looks and sounds. 
As someone who mostly cooks for one and has banished much of my larger cookware to the garage, scaling up to 24 servings would be quite a challenge! 

 

Thank you!

 

It seems so simple, just four times everything, but it doesn’t actually seem to work out that way. I get flustered and do some major cussing at some point during the prep or cook or when filling the plates. Or all three.

[patti]

23 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Hi Patti, glad to see you! The other day I was looking up something or the other and there you were. Then I thought about how much I had enjoyed your posts. Today, I am reminded how much I enjoy your posts!

 

Okay, y’all are being just too nice to me. Haha! Thank you.