Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

yum!

well, for me, bring on the carbs -- I like to do chicken and noodles with a veggie side and dessert. And maybe mashed potatos too if the people are carby people. :giggle

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

I usually call and see what others have been bringing them.
It also depends on the season.
Lately, I have been making a few staple meals:
1) Mild chili, cornbread, green salad and a winter fruit salad
2) Roasted chicken w/ baked potatoes and creamed spinach
3) manicotti ( the kind made overnight) with a greens/fruit salad and garlic bread
4) mexican chicken casserole, black beans and a green or fruit salad.

I generally don't include dessert because I have found that people always are bringing us dessert with our meal and we don't need to have dessert every night, and I figure other people don't either. But I always try to include either muffins or a quick bread or granola bars or something that can be munched on other times of the day.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

whatever i bring i make extra so theres easy leftovers for nights when someone isn't bringing a meal or for lunch.

I also try and make it in a throw away container - no dishes for them, no loosing my casserole for me.

I also do bring salad and bread. trying to keep it all balanced. although, i don't usually bring dessert. although, thinking back when dd was born i remember thinking, I WISHED they had brought me dessert.

theres a produce market close by that does hot dinners too, like whole roasted chicken or meatloaf and any number of "specials". I have been known to use them, but i don't feel like its fast food...its just like homemade actually, and they come with fresh veggies sides and a fresh salad and then i get the fresh bread too. (in fact, I've been known to buy 2 identical dinners - one for them, one for us!)

if i make it myself, i do tend to bring a casserole; but in the future I might think twice or call ahead since you all have pointed out how common and un appetitizing it is to get several in a week.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

I would definitely suggest a casserole type dish, with some biscuits on the side, and maybe a small dessert. I remember when I had Loralai, and I belonged to a MomsClub....the one dish that was brought to me, and that I still make to this day, was a cheesy chicken casserole. Basically, boil a bag of egg noodles. Chop chicken breasts into 1" bite size bits. Cook chicken breasts (that is a 'luxury' to me- I rarely use boneless skinless breasts, unless I get them on sale, but for a special occassion like this... ) and season. Get out a large bowl. Add cooked noodles, chicken, and enough cream of mushroom and cheesy cream soup (whatever it's called....Campbells makes it.. it's basically just a cream of cheese soup) to make the casserole 'smooth' and not dry. Add 1 or 2 cans of drained canned corn. Mix it all up, put it in a 13X9, sprinkle cheese on top, cook at 350 til cheese is melted (since everything else is already cooked, really... so you just need to bake long enough to melt cheese). Serve with biscuits and apple slices or apple sauce.

PS- the reason I sugggest a casserole type dish is that you can drop it off any time of day, and the family can bake it when they are ready. If you drop it off in the AM, you might include a baggy of shredded cheese (so they can sprinkle it on when they are ready to bake) You can bake the biscuits, and they can just mirco them enough to be warmed. This is a VERY simple dish (pretty frugal too, if you get the boneless/skinless breasts on sale... I typically only use leg quarters for meat, but this would be a special dish.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

Another good thing about casseroles is that you can usually eat them with one hand! I remember when people brought us some meals after my high need DD was born that I just couldn't get around to eating, because they had meat that needed to be cut with a knife and fork. Casseroles with bite sized pieces can be eaten easily while nursing, or holding the baby. Another thing that is kind of easy to eat but not at all healthy is the chicken packet recipe with the chicken, cream cheese, etc wrapped in cresent roll pockets. Serve with a veggie and a fruit salad. They are yummy but really bad for you, LOL.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

LOL!

Well, that is true- Loralai was my first child to be fully/exclusively breastfed.. and I did appreciate that I could eat this dish with one hand, while nursing simultaneously. Good pt about the casseroles :tu.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

Your casserole recipe is making my mouth water! :yum

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

I think the key is taking what will most bless the family you're feeding.. :heart

When I was on bedrest we had meals brought in 3-4x weekly. The ones we really appreciated were when people made an effort to find out what type of foods our family liked and what we'd had a lot of. (we went through a phase of everyone bringing meatloaf, spaghetti or pizza - we started just throwing it in the freezer and driving for takeout we were so tired of the same thing!) My DH eats very little meat and I loved the Mom who called and asked us to send some of our regular recipes so she could bring those!

A couple of other thoughts: try to tailor portions to family size, it stinks to not have enough food and use throw away dishes so Mom doesn't have to worry about keeping up with them!

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

The meal I most enjoyed getting was a carrot & potatoe casserole, along with crescent rolls. It was very filling & healthy while BF.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

I like to take chicken fajitas or chicken ziti with salad and bread.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

aseason, I would love to take something like fajitas over to someone...how do you transport? I guess the fajita stuff in one container and a bunch of cold tortillas in the other? Or do you heat the tortillas? If so, how do you keep them nice and warm?

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

I'd take them over cold. But if you could move fast to get them there, you could heat them, wrap them in foil, and pack them with hot rice packs, in an insulated container. The rice packs could then be a gift for later, as they are cheap to make, and reusable.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

I've gotten into the habit of making extra of cassarole type meals and throwing them in the freezer in disposable dishes. That way, any time I hear of someone getting sick or having a baby I'm prepared :yum The dollar stores usually have a great selection of disposable dishes and containers.

The last time I delivered a meal it was for a vegetarian family so I made tofu/ricotta/veggie stuffed shells. They were a big hit! The lady stopped me at church a few weeks later and asked for the recipe. They are great for non-veggie families too because the tofu is so well masked, they never know if you don't tell them. ;)

I know how important fiber is after baby so I always try to think about that when deciding on a dish. In oregon there is a local company called emerald valley kitchen that makes a really great 3 bean dip (and salsa too). I like to bring a tub of that with some of those thin triangle triscuits.

The last time I had a baby I had someone bring individual tv dinner style containers with enchiladas and rice and a big tub of chili. I loved it but it was such a PAIN to prepare because it was frozen. The chili took forever to thaw out. My suggestion is that if you bring a frozen meal you make sure it isn't one that needs to thaw for 6 hours before heating.

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

Chicken parmesan. I make two pans, one for them to eat right away and one to freeze for later. I bring along angel hair pasta, bread, salad and dressing, and a dessert (usually ice cream or whatever I know the family will like).

A friend of mine brought me a store-bought frozen lasagne and I was SO happy! She's not much of a cook, and I thought it was really thoughtful of her to bring me ANYTHING!!! I was so catatonic -- getting to the store to buy one myself was just too much mentally!

And, my sister made me a big batch of wedding soup (you know, the recipe on the Ronzoni orzo box).

Re: What meal do you take to a family with a new baby?
 

I am with other pp that I never knew people did this until the past year or so, someone asked me what I was taking to so and so and I was was :scratch ???

No one did it for me, but I could see how this would be something to be grateful for.

And yes, I am getting hungry reading all these ideas!

What a thoughtful thing to do for others!