(Family Features) Busy families looking to stretch their food dollars are discovering they can save time and money by starting or joining a cooking club. Three or four families team up, pool resources and spend part of one day cooking a week’s worth of meals together. It’s a fun way to put nutritious food on the table without spending a fortune.

Here’s how it works:

1. Each family chips in $100 per week.
2. The group determines host kitchen and shopping captain
3. The shopper visits a warehouse club, such as Sam’s Club, to locate all items for a week’s worth of meals.
4. The group prepares a week’s worth of meals in one afternoon.

To help families and the home chef start their own cooking club, here are some helpful tips and recipes.

• Alternate who does the shopping (it’s often easiest for the kitchen host to shop).
• Take note of the common ingredients in the recipes, add them up and have one person chop or slice it all at one time.
• Look for large quantity serving recipes to get best results. Simply multiplying ingredients may not yield the best results.
• It’s usually quickest for one cook to work on making one dish and then divide that into family portions.
• Dishes are better defrosted over night in the refrigerator, then heated in the oven or microwave.