A Quick Dinner Idea for a Sick Friend
One of the families that we are close with recently experienced a loss and, like any good Southern community, a meal train was immediately circulated. Do you have meal trains where you live? They are called different things in different places, but we had a group of women in a texting group who arranged to make and take dinner to the family for two weeks. I thought I’d share what I took, in case anyone else needs a quick meal train idea.
Their family has two boys that are about my kids’ ages, so I knew it needed to be something very kid-friendly and hearty. It also needed to be a crockpot meal because I was signed up for a Monday delivery and since I work, I was going to use my crockpot to help me out.
I ended up going with one of our family favorites – meatball sliders. I bought a frozen bag of Italian-style meatballs and put them in the crockpot with a jar of spaghetti sauce. I set the crockpot for four hours and started it when I left for work that morning.
On my way home from work, I stopped by Publix and picked up a pound and a half of their macaroni and cheese from the deli (because who can make mac and cheese better than Publix?!) and then got a Cesar salad kit from the produce section. I threw in a box of chocolate chip cookies from the bakery, a half gallon of lemonade from the deli, and a pack of Hawaiian slider buns from the bread aisle. I was in and out of the grocery store in under 10 minutes.
To package it up, I bought a disposable casserole pan with a lid from the grocery store. These are only a couple dollars and they make deliveries like this so easy for everyone. I don’t have to worry about getting a dish back and the family doesn’t have to worry about cleaning any dishes.
I put everything into a big reusable grocery bag and delivered it on my way home. It’s a quick, easy, comfort meal that gives people a big warm hug when they need it most.
What about you? Do you have any go-to recipes for taking to others? Please share because I’m always on the hunt for ideas! For another of my favorites, read this post on feeding new moms.
5 Comments
Carlene
I have one and it’s a game changer. Ready for this!? Breakfast sandwiches. So easy to make, easy to reheat. Good grab and go meals for kids when parents might not be up for making breakfast before school. Good for new parents eating at weird hours. I buy 12 English muffins, a pack of bacon or sliced ham, a dozen eggs and sliced cheddar and provolone. I crack each egg into its own buttered ramekin (muffin pans work too but they’re harder to clean) and scramble it with salt and pepper. Put in the oven and bake until the eggs cook. Then blammo, assemble the sandwiches, wrap in individual chunks of aluminum foil. I package it with bottles of iced coffee and some dried berries. Everyone brings dinner during hard times, I like to round out the options.
Leslie J
I like the idea of meatball sliders and think my kids would love them, but I have a couple questions.
1) If you turned the crockpot to 4 hours, do they just continue to cook on the warm cycle for the rest of the day? I assume you work more than 4 hours….
2) Is the sauce pretty much gone after cooking (like it appears in the pictures), or are the sandwiches usually more saucy?
Katie
Yes, they stay on warm for the rest of the day. If I cook them any longer than the 4 hours, even on low, they burn. And, yes, most of the sauce is gone, but I don’t mind because I don’t want the sandwiches to be messy. They are still saucy, just not dripping with sauce.
Robyn
Crockpot baked Ziti is my go to. Its so easy . Depending on the family I sometimes leave out the meat in it, or will put it on the side so they can put what they want to. I will also include a loaf of crusty bread with Garlic Spread on the side because I have one child that hates Garlic, so it can be optional. My other go to is Stuffed Chicken Breasts. Split chicken breasts,, stuff with Stove Top Stuffing and season, usually for me its Italian Seasoning and MRs Dash Table Blend. Then I will send cut up baby reads that cooked in the crockpot with Chicken broth. Easy Peasy.
lmp
Ive been on a kick of making breakfast for dinner, egg casserole, fruit, muffins or coffee cake and OJ. They can eat it that night and/or have breakfasts throughout the week.
Meals are such a blessing. I am currently the recipient of a meal train at the moment. Someone actually brought a frozen pizza already cooked with a ceasar salad bag and it was perfect. It doesn’t matter what it is! just something to feed hungry people while we are going through a season of illness.