I’m here to tell you that the best gift you can give to a mommy with a new baby-whether it’s baby #1 or #5, biological or adopted-isn’t a cute outfit or diapers or bottles. The best gift for a family with a new addition is DINNER!
After having my son and bringing him home, let’s just say my world was rocked. Wow! Lack of sleep, recovering from giving birth, hormones, nursing every 3 hours and trying to figure out how the heck to do this thing called mommyhood. A lot of days, feeding myself and my husband wasn’t even on my radar. I didn’t even have the energy to make a peanut butter sandwich some days.
Thankfully I have lots of friends who know that meals are the best gift ever! Ya’ll, I had meals 2-3 times a week for almost three months! Spoiled…I was so spoiled! In the first few weeks, meals just ensured that we actually eating something other than fast food take out or cereal. After the fog cleared (it took at least 6 weeks for me), the meals were still so welcomed! I could focus on spending time with my baby, learning how to be his mom and actually getting a shower or a nap in while he slept instead of having to pull out a cookbook and prepare something for dinner.
The best thing about this gift is that anyone can give it! You don’t have to be a gourmet chef. You don’t even have to “know” how to cook!
If you’re not up for cooking, here are two ideas:
- Pick a restaurant that they like, call in their order, pick it up and deliver it to their house. Easy peasy!
- Swing by somewhere like Central Market, Short Stop or Eatzi’s. They all have yummy ready-made casseroles and sides and also meals in a bag.
If you are up for cooking, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy.
I have a go-to recipe (easy and fast) that I make in a disposable 9×13 pan…disposable is key so the new mom doesn’t have to worry about returning anything. I promise it is easy…even my little brother who just graduated from college and is learning to cook can cook this! It can be made the night before if it’s easier for you to assemble after bedtime rather than when the kids are awake…just keep in the fridge until time to cook/deliver.
King Ranch Chicken Casserole
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can mexican corn-or plain corn is ok too (drained)
1 can rotel
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cans chicken (drain them first and then I usually rinse the chicken off to get off the “canned” taste and then shred it up really good. Or if you’d rather boil 2-3 chicken breasts and shred them, that works too-just a little more work)
2 c. shredded cheese
flour tortillas
- Mix all ingredients except tortillas in large bowl (saving some cheese for later).
- Spray a 9×13 inch pan with Pam. Put a very little bit of the chicken mixture on the bottom.
- Tear flour tortillas up into pieces/strips and put them on top covering up all the mixture.
- Cover tortillas with half of remaining chicken mix.
- Cover with tortilla strips again.
- Top with the remaining chicken mix and then tortilla strips.
- Cover top with shredded cheese.
- Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (til it’s hot and the cheese is bubbly)
I serve it with a side of Spanish rice (there are lots of rice in a bag mixes to choose from). I go ahead and cook it and put into a disposable tupperware container…it’s easy to reheat and tastes just as good.
If you want to include a dessert (definitely not necessary), you can always pick up some Blue Bell or brownies from a box or slice and bake cookies.
So if you know someone who just brought a new addition home and you want to put a smile on their face, take them dinner! I promise it will be a much appreciated gift!
