7.13.2009

Meal Delivery for New Parents

Not being a parent (new or otherwise) I can't imagine what it is like the first few weeks home with a new baby. I can imagine that menu planning and cooking are probably not high on the list.

We attend a young couples Sunday School class at our church and with 2 or 3 couples expecting at any given time, the class provides a phenomenal meal ministry. For 12-16 weeks after new babies are born, members of our class provide meals to the family 2 times per week.

We do have one person that coordinates the project, but the coordination is pretty minimal now that we are using Foodtidings.com. The site makes it easy to coordinate and schedule meals from a small or large group and no one person has to take responsibility for the calendar. The site even sends out a reminder and lets others in the group know what meals are being made for the family to avoid the same meal being delivered over and over again.



Next week I am dropping off meals for 2 different families. My go to meal is homemade lasagna and a salad. When I have signed up for meals:


1)I usually deliver the dish in a throw away pan with a lid. Easy for saving leftovers and clean up and no dish to return (I know, I know-it's not very green).

2)I take the dish ready to go either straight into the oven or back into the fridge or freezer. While dropping off a hot, ready-to-eat meal is really nice, this way the family can eat on their own evening schedule or save the meal for a later day if their plans have changed or they are still eating left overs.


3)To make things a little easier on me I try to sign up for several families with in a few days of each other and choose meals that I can make in a batch. Most of the time I make extra for our dinner as well.

Four lasagnas almost ready to go; we also had baked ziti for dinner with the sauce that was left.

Meal delivery schedules don't just have to be for new parents. You can also coordinate a group to provide meals after a hospital stay, health issue or death in the family. Maybe even a meal share with a group of neighbors to make family dinners a little easier to get on the table.

2 comments:

  1. That sounds like such a great way to help someone! And lasagna is always a good meal! I tagged you in my blog, I know you don't read my blog but I really enjoy yours so I tagged you, but don't feel like you have to do it if you don't want! Have a good day!

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  2. What a fantastic idea!

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