Hi Moms! I have a friend who lives about 1 1/2 hours away in Northern New Jersey and she's been having some health problems and sick kids and doing grad school and I'd love to be able to help her out with a meal, but have no idea how to do something like that. I know of muffin baskets, fruit bouquets and stuff, but I'd love to send something more substantial. Anyone have any thoughts or has done something like this?
Thanks!
Also Shwans does meals (like the Ice Cream people).
http://www.schwans.com/
I live far away from my family and my brother and sis-in-law just had another baby so I ordered some food from here and they really enjoyed it. They said it tasted really good too!
You can find out if Schwans delivers in her area. They have lots of great choices. I haven't eaten anything from them in years, but they've certainly ramped up their offering.
What I do with long distance friends, is google their neighborhood restaurants, find a pizza / pasta place that has family meals. Call them directly, order a meal to be delivered. When I tell the restaurant what I'm doing they are always extra nice and helpful.
Each time I have done this the family so loves and appreciates the meals and has usually found a new local favorite restaurant that they had not tried before.
Also, I don't recommend chain style restaurants...try to find a truly local, family owned restaurant. They are much more willing to pack up a family style meal.
Omaha Steaks has a great web site were you can order complete meals. A steak/chicken/pasta/ and then sides with them. Sometimes the meats need to be cooked other times just reheated depending on which meal you purchase. I have used them before for sending food to new moms. Everyone says it is good food!
Hi !!!!! I had wanted to do something like this for
A friend of mine that lived across the country. I decided
I had 2 options - I could send a gift card for a local
Restaurant so she could go out or order take out. Or
I could Call her favorite local place and have them
Them send dinner over and her hubby to her as a surprise!!
I decided to go with the gift card, only because she and
Her hubby have such specific foods they prefer and I
Am not knowledgable in that type of food, plus she is
Vegan and I didn't want to order something she wouldn't
Eat!!! If you want to do something homemade, I know you
Can freeze/cool items and ship them with ice packets -
It may even be dry ice. I would contact your local
FedEx or UPS shipping store for exact info. But I
Do know it is possible. Just be sure you always cool
Your food before seal it up in the tupperware container
Never seal it up while its still hot !! Good luck
And I wish you and you friend good luck!!!!
~K.
Updated
Hi !!!!! I had wanted to do something like this for
A friend of mine that lived across the country. I decided
I had 2 options - I could send a gift card for a local
Restaurant so she could go out or order take out. Or
I could Call her favorite local place and have
Them send dinner over to her and her hubby as a surprise!!
I decided to go with the gift card, only because she and
Her hubby have such specific food needs and foods they prefer and I
Am not knowledgable in that type of food, plus she is
Vegan and I didn't want to order something she wouldn't
Eat!!!
If you want to do something homemade, I know you
Can freeze/cool items and ship them with ice packets -
It may even be dry ice. I would contact your local
FedEx or UPS shipping store for exact info. But I
Do know it is possible. Just be sure you always cool
Your food before seal it up in the tupperware container
Never seal it up while its still hot !! Good luck
And I wish you and your friend good luck!!!!
~K.
We live in oswego illinois but my daughter has been in several different states. She loves italian beef and rolls. We have shipped it to her in each of the different states. It is the best italian beef anywhere in the chicagoland area. I would do this. Here is the link to the website
ummm, it might be a good idea to go thru a vendor who deals in food products? such as harry and david? or look up others. that way, IF there is a dilema with the food going bad , you can get a refund. however, having dealt with them in the past, I have had a good experience. there are many other food vendors out there as well IF you don't want to just send dry products
best of luck to you and your friend as well.
You are such a good friend. Try QVC. I use their crab cakes and pre-seasoned meats all the time. It makes meals so much easier.
good luck.
ER
how about gift certificates for local takeout or restaurants that offer curb-side carry-out?
Tastefully Simple has GREAT products - they have so many gifts nicely packaged, too, or you could just order a soup mix, pasta salad kit, a beer bread mix and dessert mix to ship directly to them, with a message on the packing slip & box. Since they only have to add an ingredient or two, they can prepare the products when they want to, not have to eat a prepared dish just because it's there. Hope that helps!
Everything has a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so on the off-chance they don't enjoy what you send, you can get a refund ~ tho, everyone LOVES everything :>) Here's the link: http://www.tastefullysimple.com/Cultures/en-US/
Hello there. There are many great delivery services you could choose via the internet that reach North Jersey. One site you may want to consider is homecookingforyou.com
Check it out online.
Hope this helps!
D.Mace-Tasker
You might try to google catering businesses in their area. Caterers are experts at preparing and delivering yummy food!
Good luck - and kudos to you for your thoughtfulness.
H. S
We lived away from a lot of friends (Central NJ) when my first child was born, so anyone that made the visit with food was a God send! We also received a basket of precut fruit from Edible Arrangements that was WONDERFUL, and a cooler of food (fruit, ham, turkey, etc.) from Harry & David. We are also big fans of Omaha Steaks - if you get on their mailing list, you can work deals for family and friends at the holidays, and get discounts to their retail stores.
In Northern NJ, there are a ton of great food places that probably deliver. I'd call Wegmans and Trader Joe's too to see if they can deliver some of their preprepped food!
Good luck!
Another option is a gift certificate to a meal assembly place. Most of them give her the option to go and put together her own meals (adjusting seasonings, if necessary) or simply grabbing meals that are already assembled. There are a few national franchises (like Super Suppers and Dream Dinners), but I've also found a search site that lists smaller businesses: http://mealassembly.net/
I have some wonderful grandparents myself and they will occasionally order pizza and have it delivered to us. They simply use their card to pay for everything--including the tip--when they order it. The first time they did this for me, I thought the delivery driver was at the wrong house. I had pizza, wings, breadsticks and a 2 liter just show up at my house out of the blue. It was great :)
Also, what about non-perishable foods such as soups and mac & cheese and stuff like that? She may even appreciate a gift certificate to somewhere--including a drive thru. Good luck!
Find out which restaurants are in her area and set up a day to have one deliver to her house, just pay over the phone! Just let her know which day not to cook dinner, and the beauty is there's usually plenty of leftovers! If anything, you can call and pay at places that have at least pick up and have someone pick up but at least they won't have to cook, lol! There's pizza, Chinese, etc.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
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check out restaurants in her area and order a gift certificate. They can mail it to her or you with a menu. They may also have delivery. I did this for a friend before. ( you can ask her if she has a favorite place that she orders from) That's what I did...
