I have a friend who just had a baby and I am taking her and her family a meal in a couple weeks. She has asked for healthy, light, fresh meals. I am not much of a cook at all and really don't know what to make for her! There is a toddler in the house as well, so I am hoping for a recipe that fits her description, but that he will also eat! Any help, recipes, suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
We like black beans and rice. it is a healthy staple and you can season it any way you like. Fresh veges like carrot sticks can accompany the main dish. Kisd like celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins. AF
I took an Asian chicken salad to a health-conscious friend when she had her 2nd child. I packaged everything up separately so that she could separate out anything her 2 year old would not eat and I also included bread because I figured kids will eat bread if nothing else. Here is what I included for the salad: romaine lettuce, shredded rotisserie chicken, green onions, mandarin oranges, diced red pepper, edamame, diced almonds, Chinese noodles, and Newman's own sesame ginger dressing. We LOVE this salad at home and eat it a few times a month, at least. Good luck!
I think lasagna is my go-to....everyone loves it and you can make it quite healthy...they have wheat lasagna noodles now - and it always tastes good as leftovers and lasts a long time. You can use various ingredients, but I always use ground turkey because it's lean and healthy, season it up with some garlic and italian spices, and layer that with the noodles, some low fat cheeses - like skim mozzarella and fat free ricotta - and fresh spinach leaves. I usually buy the store sauces because it's faster and easier and then do some sauce, noodles, ricotta, meat, spinach, mozzarella, then repeat and end with the mozzarella on top and sprinkle some parmesan and cover with foil - bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, remove the foil, and cook for another 15 minutes. The longest part of cooking it is the baking, which leaves time for you to do laundry, etc...and then it's done - very good, healthy, home-cooked meal that will be great for a couple days.
Chicken meals are easy and cheap. But I did find that when I got sunshine from my moms group (we make meals for new moms), 7 out of the 8 meals were chicken, so I try and do other things. If she wants light, how about a big salad of greens, and then in zip lock bags you can provide lots of toppings (peppers, cucs, tomatos, cut up grilled chicken - whatever), so each can make whatever kind of salad they want. I also do quiches. They reheat great and are a good light meal with a salad.
Mix 4 eggs, 1 cup of bisquick and 1/2 cup vegatable oil. Pour into pie pan and add whatever ingredients you like (ham and pepper jack is good, or zucchini and mozz for no meat ones, tomato, onion and bacon) , S&P to taste and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
I make two and they can reheat for lunches or breakfasts as well!
I always give a loaf of garlic bread - a frozen loaf from the grocery store works good and dessert (like brownies).
The breakfast burritos are great as well. I usually make some to bring with the dinner so they have easy breakfasts. Just scramble up some eggs (make sure they are not runny) and put them in the burritos wraps with cheese and cut up sausage. Wrap them in wax paper and lay them side by side in a gallon zip lock bag. That way they can take out one from the freezer and heat in the microwave. We laways have these in the freezer for mornings I don't have time to cook my hubby breakfast.
K.
Hi, A. - I usually take a casserole, but I don't know any that would necessarily be considered light. You might want to take a rotisserie chicken, a green salad, green beans, and a fresh fruit salad. Hope this is helpful. N.
Hi A., how about a baked chicken? It's healthy, safe and soft in texture for the toddler and can last a few days..Also a side of baked sweet potato with mixed vegetables...
I bet you can go on Weight Watchers website for something economical and light. Those recipes taste really good - even though I no longer follow their plan all the time - I still do alot of cooking for my family from their cookbooks. And they have many recipes online.
Also, my girlfriend brought me dinner after my son was born. With her busy family schedule she didn't cook - she brought it from a really healthy restaurant that we liked and it was pretty economical. I was really grateful to have it - and it didn't matter to me that she didn't make it herself. It was so helpful to have something come to the house that we didn't have to cook in those 1st weeks as new parents - I still remember her for that with MUCH appreciation. Blessings, S.
My "go to" is boneless skinless chicken breasts baked in fat free Italian dressing. Simply marinate the chicken breasts in the dressing for an hour in a casserole dish. Then put the casserole dish w/chicken and dressing in the oven at 350* until the chicken is fully cooked (approximately 20-30 mins depending on the thickness of the chicken). I add sliced onions, green peppers and some extra garlic. You can season however you wish (or think they would prefer).
As sides you could do steamed green beans, scallopped potatoes or even a pasta in a light sauce.
my meal to go recipe is fresh burrito wraps. Just get the regular inexpensive flour burrito wraps and fill them. The salsa you use is the key! If you belong to Costco, they have a really good one 'fresh' type. If you use a meat(ground beef or turkey)-precook it and then set up an easy assembly line of canned corn, black beans, refried beans, cheese, onions, peppers, salsa. Just put a spoon of each in the middle of the wrap and fold it up. then wrap that up in some tin foil (spray it first with no stick spray). This can then be warmed in the oven and served with sour cream and salsa OR popped in the freezer for another day.
SO easy and if you have kids- they will like to help on this one. If you have a good amount of salsa left, you can make mexi-rice too- just make a pot of regular white rice and when it's done- toss the leftover salsa in- the heat from the rice will warm the salsa just enough- so good!
This works with just about any combo of filling and really freezes well. Sometimes I make way too much breakfast so I can pre make breakfast burritos and put in the freezer. (hashbrowns, eggs, cheese & sausage).
PS> Everytime I have made this for someone esle - it's the husbands that love them the most!
A.,
I don't know if there's a Let's Dish or Dream Dinners by you in VA. These stores allow you to prepare meals (using only fresh, pre-cut ingredients) that are then frozen and can be pulled out when needed.
Here's a description from the Dream Dinners near me:
Dream Dinners provides everything you need to assemble delicious dinners for your family, store in your freezer and serve in the weeks ahead. We supply all of the essentials, from easy-to-follow instructions to fresh, pre-cut ingredients.
You can search for locations under the main site:
http://dreamdinners.com/main.php?static=index
http://www.letsdish.com/
Not all of the meals are light, but you can sort through the menu to pick and choose and then opt for serving sizes. If you and the new mother have a large group of friends, you can go in together on a few meals so that it's not so expensive. When I had my first, these meals were so helpful.
