Hi everyone! I have a friend who just had a baby and would like to bring her some food. I remember the meals dropped off at our house those first couple of newborn weeks meant the world to me and my husband. Does anyone have a suggestion of a meal I could cook that would be good in bulk and freeze easliy. I would like to make sure they support her in her breastfeeding too and avoid foods that might give her and her baby indigestion, gas, etc. Thanks for your help!
Thank you so much ladies for the great advice and links! I am going to the store today to get everything I need. I decided to do kind of a combo of all of your ideas. Thank you again!
These are my favorite recipe collections:
We're broke, what's for dinner - http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=224820
Top 25 Freezer-Friendly Recipes -
http://www.recipezaar.com/sitenews/post.php?pid=1044
Good luck!
You are so nice! Those first few weeks can be totally exhausting! I would suggest the following: avoid anything with caffeine in it; avoid gas producing veggies such as broccoli, green peppers, etc; avoid spicy food; avoid nuts (especially peanuts); avoid dairy if possible. A hearty stew would be nice - can easily be done with a variety of beans/lentils if they are vegetarian; and it can be easily divided and stored. Add rice or barley to it to make it last even longer. Breastfeeding can be SO dehydrating; you might want to give a bottle of juice or box of herbal tea, as well.
What if you made turkey with gravy or shredded bbq pork in the slow cooker? These are both easy to freeze and make great sandwiches. You could send her some veggies or a salad, sandwich rolls and a desert.
S.!
You have recvd such great sounding advice from the previous Mommas.
I just wanted to add (since being a mom of 6 nurslings) that the one thing that stood out all the times I had meals brought in was BREAKFAST!
My friend made homemade rich-grained pancakes with fresh blueberries. She also included a jar of Blueberry Syrup.
These were especially handy since not only could they be frozen but I could just pop them in the toaster and have an easy snack throughout the day. (as us nursing mom's all know, bf makes you hungry all day!)
So now, with every meal (dinner/lunch) we bring in to a new mommy, or veteran :), we take pancakes & syrup too!
The best to you & yours!
~D.
Spaghetti, or Veggie stir fry just cook al-denta so that when re-heated will finish cooking. Also soups! Also taking some quick snacks like Quaker Oat bars, or natural valley bars. Chicken and rise is always an option.
Good Luck and great ideal!!!! What a friend you are!
What about a turkey breast?
You can slice it for her in advance, and then they can have it for dinner, and the leftovers will make nice turkey sandwiches for lunch. Toss a garden salad to go with it, and include a fresh loaf of bread from the store (baguette or something). If you want, you could make some homemade mac n'cheese to go with it. There is nothing quite like homemade mac n'cheese~
Try my lasanga:
Bake at 375 for 1 hour.
Make as usual but mix ricotta with one baby food of sweetpotatoes, instead of egg. It makes the lasange lighter and sweeter, plus a bit of veggies.
YOu will need 2-2.5 jars of Prego sauce, depending on the size (square vs 9*13 pan) and lightly coat bottom of pan. Add uncooked noodles and then spread mixture upon noodles. Next add meat and top with Kraft mexican 4cheese. Repeat layer.
I loved my delivered meals! I guess part of the decision would be based on their typical food choices such as are they vegetarian or do they eat processed stuff vs all organic etc.... There is a super yummy chicken and rice casserole recipe on the food network website.... Look under Paula Dean. It is large, easy and can easily be reheated for leftovers. As for freezing prebagged or packaged meals you could do anything Italian such as stuffed shells, lasagna or even a cheese free sauce just in case there is a dairy issue. I don't think I would make something that completely avoids the likely sensitivity culprits for the baby such as dairy, wheat, soy etc unless it really happens.....a nice option for delivering anything frozen that is meant to be baked or heated in the oven is to send it in a dish or package that is already ready to plop into the oven.... The time saving factor is key!
My least favorite delivered meals (not that I'm complaining- hey I didn't have to cook it!) were the ones that were things I was making a lot of anyway because they are super quick/easy such as pasta with a jar of sauce....
Dessert is always a nice treat too :-) you are so nice. I totally loved getting meals when my son was born!!!
When I was nursing I couldn't get enough food it seemed. I loved having a slow roasted roast (pork or beef) with potatoes and veggies. It should freeze just fine. If you freeze them (or they do) in good zipper bags they can be put in boiling water for a few minutes to heat up. Homemade chicken noodle soup (stoup is what Rachael Ray calls it when it's between soup and stew). Homemade pizzas are great (they just have to throw them in the oven for a few minutes). Rice-a-roni with boneless skinless chicken is good. Good meatloaf with roasted potatoes are great. I hope these ideas work for you.
L.
Take some oatmeal cookies along with the other items...oatmeal increases breastmilk supply! :)
Mom here to 4 girls . I just had my yougest and my church came by a helped with meals. It was wonderful .
Try chicken veggie lasauna W/ salad and bread sticks.
you are SO nice!! I wish people made food for ME!!!!
how about some chicken noodle soup? cook up a whole chicken & you could strain out the chicken and put in a tupperware and also make some extra noodles (there are yolk-free wide 'egg' noodles or even whole wheat wide 'egg' noodles if you want to be 'healthy')& put on the side :)
a one-pot rice dish? I keep coming back to chicken, but you could make this with turkey sausage
maybe also a 'basket' of healthy snack foods; when I was breastfeeding I'd get RAVENOUS. so some baby-bel cheeses, whole wheat crackers, some kashi brand granola bars ('they' say to avoid peanut butter, so maybe not that 'flavor'), Newman brand fig-newtons, Fizze brand natural soda (no caffeine), etc.
again, you are so NICE:)
There's nothing that was more helpful to us as well! Lasagna freezes well. We got several pumpkin and banana breads and those were great because I could snack on them at all times of day. At first, I was hungry for every nursing session.
I have a recipe for "Tarragon Chicken" and a Brown Rice Mushroom maybe serve with a salad and I have a recipe for that one too. The salad has strawberry, granola/almond, feta cheese, and poppy seed dressing mmmmmmmm so good but it doesn't keep so the salad would have to be prepared and eaten all that night. I am not at home right now so I will have to look up the chicken and salad but here is the Mushroom Rice:
1 can of Beef Consome
1 can of French Onion Soup
1 small can of Mushrooms
1 Stick of margarine
Either some brown rice or white rice
Pour the cans of beef consome, french onion soup, and can of mushrooms into a casserole dish. Pour the rice into mixture but not too much to where the liquid cannot cook the rice. Then place the margarine in casserole and bake at about 350-375 until rice becomes soft-usually mushrooms will float to the top indicating it's done. So simple to make and taste so good.
You will not want to pass up on these recipes they are delicious! I will get the chicken and salad one to you later!
God bless you for such a sweetheart of a child. And God bless you for wanting to do this for a friend. You sure understand thst preparing meals is the hardest part for a housewife-first time mom to do.
I would suggest casseroles (just pop in the oven and they're done). Burritos cab be easy too, since you only cook the meat or chicken and the rest you cut up and add. Just avoid spicy hot sauces. Rice freezes very well and beans do too. Hearty soups just feel soooo good. Even canned ones! Think confort foods.
Just Google it. You will be surprised at all the meals that come up.
I know this is a little late, but the Once-a-Month Cooking books are full of ideas of make-ahead meals that are tested to be freezer-friendly.
