Food ideas for a new mom?

Question

My really good friend is fixing to have her first baby and I want to provide her with quite a few meals so that neither she nor her dh have to worry about food.  They live about 30 minutes from me, which makes it not so practical to take a meal every day.  I was thinking about making several things that I could put in the freezer, they could have leftovers, would be real easy for him to prepare (he is not a cook).  any ideas?  They do not like gourmet-type foods (which we would be too expensive for me to prepare anyway), but otherwise are pretty good eaters.  Help?  Thanks in advance!

kimhw · Answer

I cooked a freezer full if meals for a good friend after his wife passed. One of the best and most versatile is en papilliote. Slice onions and shallots, add herbs and white wine. Place a BIG handful of spinach in the middle iof a large piece of foil. Top with a piece of salmon or a boneless chicken breast. Spoon on a few large spoonfuls of the liquid and onions. (My mom uses just stock) top with some favorite flavors, olives, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, capers, goat cheese, feta.... I make it a little different every time. If you want to amp up the veg, add a few asparagus or baby carrots. Wrap tight. Lay flat and freeze. After frozen, store a number of them in large freezer bags. Even frozen it only takes 30-40 minutes on 400.
Congrats, a nearly fat free, sodium free TV dinner.

FutureChef · Answer

Speaking of meatloaf... I love the blackberry ginger sauce on one of the food52 meatloaf recipes, but I like to add ricotta to my meatloaf mix for tenderness and bacon on the outside for awesomeness. I recently read--or heard and can't remember where-- of a meatloaf with Mac and cheese baked into the inside. This would certainly appeal to the non-gourmands and be an easy make ahead.

Merrill S. · Answer

I wrote a post about this last year -- maybe it'll be helpful! http://food52.com/blog...

mainecook61 · Answer

A main course soup---corn chowder, pea soup with ham, chicken-rice soup and so on. These please many people, lend themselves to reheating and freezing, and make good lunches, too. A loaf of homemade bread is nice along with these. I speak from experience---I'm a new grandmother giving my son and daughter-in-law a helping hand. (They have also appreciated gift certificates for take-out, which are nice when the food donations disappear and you've spent a day with a fussy baby.)

drbabs · Answer

Oh, and this soup is wonderful and it freezes well also. http://food52.com/recipes...

darksideofthespoon · Answer

When I had baby, so many people brought me lasagna! It was wonderful, of course. Great for left overs. I also pre-made a lot of meals while pregnant, my favorite was meatloaf (from this site of course!) that I weighed out into individual sized servings and froze. Also, I breaded fish and froze it for easy baking. Meat pies were great too! Soup and Stews frozen in zip lock freezer bags were so easy to pull and thawed within an hour or two.

drbabs · Answer

I'm about to have surgery and won't be able to do much cooking for a couple of weeks after.  My husband also does not cook, but he can reheat.  In my freezer right now are two servings of pot roast, chicken soup and chili.   Before I go in, I will make a big pot of this stew (we love it) http://food52.com/recipes..., lentils and rice (for mujaddara), and probably some kind of meat and vegetable sauce for pasta.  Hope this helps.

Monita · Answer

Lasagna freezes really well. Make a couple in loaf pans so they can remove them as needed. Meatballs also freezes really well. Do the same; make a batch but package them in meal size containers. You also can't go wrong with soups -- carrot, squash, zucchini, broccoli, all freeze well.

Food ideas for a new mom?

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