My neighbor just had her second child and I wanted to prepare a couple of meals for them to lighten the load. Does anyone have any good dinner ideas?
Thank you for all your responses. I received various meal ideas such as lasagna, enchiladas and crock pot meals. Additional suggestions included preparing something in a disposable aluminum baking dish and freezing it so they can prepare it at their convenience; and making sure to find out if they have any food allergies ahead of time. This is such a great resource. Thanks again.
V.
I've always asked what time they eat and bring a ready to eat meal of comfort food hot in disposable containers complete with paper plates. Typically it's my mom's homemade meatloaf recipe, mashed potatoes, green beans or carrots and a salad. I've had people years later talk about the comfort meal and memories of childhood it brought back for them.
V.,
I would take them a lasagne with french bread and salad.
Be sure to call and ask if they have allergies to any foods first.
W. m.
Oh how nice. That is such a great idea! She is going to love you!
Here are a couple that are pretty easy:
Chicken Italiana
4-6 chicken breasts - boneless and skinless
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope of Good Season's Italian dressing mix
1 cup of dry white wine or chicken stock (wine cooks off so no worries about feeding alcohol to kids or new mommy but if you don't have it chicken stock is just fine)
1 stick of butter (real butter)
8 oz of cream cheese
On stove melt butter and cream cheese together in a pot and mix together well. Add can of cream of mushroom soup, mix well. Add envelope of italian dressing mix, mix well. Add cup of wine or chicken stock, mix well. Place chicken in 9x13 pyrex casserole dish and pour cream cheese etc. mixture on top. Bake uncovered at 350 for about an hour or until chicken is done. Serve with white rice and ceasar salad and garlic bread.
It's really good, yeah it's got real butter and all that but it's really good and easy.
One more chicken recipe:
4-6 chicken breasts-boneless and skinless
1 envelope of lipton onion soup mix
1-16 oz jar apricot jam
Place chicken in a crockpot. Mix lipton onion soup mix and apricot jam in a bowl together and pour over chicken. Cook on low 5-6 hours or until chicken is done. Serve with a salad and rice.
Sounds weird with the jam but it's really good too. and easy. Hope this helps.
When my baby arrives in a few weeks I would LOVE someone to bring over one of their "signature dishes" provided it was ready to pop into the oven. Everyone always brings the standards which is great but it would be fun to try something new that I normally would not prepare. Another great idea (in my opinion) is to make a couple of pizzas that are then wrapped up and put in the freezer. That way I get home made pizza and all I have to do it put it in the oven. What I have made for people in the past are enchiladas. I put them in a disposable aluminum baking dish, cover it with foil, and put it in their freezer. I make enough for leftovers too.
Hi. How about spaghetti for one and maybe a casserole for another.
Go to Kraftfoods.com they have great 30 minute meal ideas and very easy to make.
what I do for others is make bbq chicken or bbq ribs in a crockpot. Put it in the crock pot and add the bbq sauce and cook on high for 5 hours. Very good and tender. you can cook that with steamed rice, mashed potatos, salads, beans almost anything. Sometimes I will use enchilada sauce for the chicken with spanish rice.
Good for you V. for thinking of that. It really doesn't matter what you make as long as it is something they can easily heat and serve. Great idea!
Casaroles with bread and salad are good to bring to people. They can be cooked ahead then reheated. French/Italian breads are yummy and a bag of salad is easy too.
When I had my second baby I had a friend who came over with a crock pot meal. It was pork, but you could do any type of food in that. She came to visit and just asked me where to plug it in. It was delicious and best of all required no preparation on my part, I didn't even have to worry about putting it in the oven. When we were done I just washed out the crock and returned it.
I know you've already posted what happened, but I wanted to add something =o) When I do this for my friends I always bring everything in things they can throw away (I know, not very green but helpful with a new baby) and they can prepair the food in. I go to Whole Foods and get some of their containers from the salad bar area (the usually give them to me free) and pick up some plastic silverware, napkins and plates on my way out the door. I also make a huge salad there and bring bread and a container of fruit. I usually do this with a lasagna. Everyone I've done it for have really liked the complete meal.
Best of luck,
C.
I've done lasagnas a lot too, or a pot of chili with cornbread or baked potatoes and a salad (nice thing about chili is it's easy to scoop into containers and freeze leftovers).
Besides checking for food allergies, if the mom is going to be breastfeeding there might be certain foods she's avoiding b/c their affect on her milk makes baby gassy.
Another idea is to do a freezer meal, something they just have to defrost and pop in the oven - there are places that you can do this like Dream Dinners or Full Plate, and there are also web sites that have make-ahead recipes you can make at home and freeze.
When my daughter was born, a family friend brought over Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Chicken Tortilla casserole, a lasagna. But she put then in trays that feed about 4 people and could be frozen.
Have fun!
Another idea - though not exactly a meal... Get a gift card for Safeway.com. Having food delivered from the grocery store is awesome when you don't want to pack the baby in the car :).
Also, along with meals, drop off a pack of diapers or wipes or something else you know they don't want to run out for at the last minute. When my daughter was newborn, I was in the hospital for an extended period and my husband truly appreciated those that brought diapers/formula with the meals. He also expressed gratitude for paper plates/napkins etc. so he wasn't doing as many dishes. Remember too, breakfast food is also helpful (cereal, eggo waffles etc.) especially for the other child.
Hi V.,
When I had my 3 child someone brought us a pasta bake. You cook the pasta al dente (not too soft), then place it in a 13 x 9, add sauce and mix it up, sprinkle it with cheese, and bake at 350 until cheese is melted. My other kids loved it.
Also, I made a chicken enchilada caserole that my family really likes. I froze it and then my oldest was able to put it in the oven to reheat.
Cook and bone 1 whole chicken (to make it easier I buy the precooked rotisserie chicken and bone that.
In a large bowl mix 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 1 pint of sour cream, 1 can of diced green chiles, 1 can of sliced black olives, and 4 cups of shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese. Take 2 cups out and set aside. Add the chicken to the remaining sauce and mix.
In flour tortillas, spoon some of the chicken mixture into the tortilla, roll it up, place in pan. Do this until the pan is full. (I usually have enough for two dinners so your family can have it and so can your neighbor). Pour some of the set aside sauce on each pan you have made. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350.
This is a really mild dinner so she should be able to eat it without it affecting the baby too much.
D.
