Dinner Delivered

This week a dear friend of ours had surgery and another dear friend of ours arranged a schedule so we all could take meals to her and her husband. I love to cook so this is something I volunteer for and enjoy! Between all our friends having babies and family illnesses I have done a lot of what I call "Dinner Delivered". Actually it would be a great business to start! But back to the point, what are things you can take to someone who has just had a baby, surgery or someone who just isn't feeling well and what is the easiest way to do it?

Think about things you would want! I love a good southern comfort meal when I am sick, or a rich Italian meal! So that is what I always go with! This summer I have done Baked Spaghetti with a vegatable medley and a breakfast to go, but my go to is Pot Roast! It is easy for me and I have yet to have any complaints from the recipients! 

So here's the menu:

Pot Roast with carrots, potatoes and onions

Corn Pudding

Yeast Rolls

And..........

Apple Dumplings!

Since it is friday night and I like lazy Saturday Mornings I am also including a fresh baked loaf of pumpkin spice bread, yogurt, granola and fruit for them to have for breakfast tomorrow. Or maybe it's because I am an overachiever, the jury is still out. 

It is easy to make a great meal but to transport it, is not so easy. Never, ever, ever send a meal to someone in something they will have to wash! It's not against the law but I never do it, because if I am in need of a meal being delivered I not in the shape to wash a dish! So the disposable aluminum pans and glad ware are the way to go. Also you need to put in instructions for reheating (if you are taking it early) and label! 

In a recent trip to the office supply store I discovered a whole new world! The LABEL AISLE!  Avery now has a whole design center on line and it was so easy to make cute labels! Great thing about these is that they are white so you can personalize them with any color and really anything. Avery has now created a monster! I personalized these with a fall color and a few scrolls! Also these help with organization, so I can remember my menu and make sure nothing is left out of the bag/box.

These are the containers I use:

A little something extra that I throw in for pets: 

 Now on to a few of my recipes. Some will remain a secret! (These apple dumplings will win me a prize someday!) Here is the pot roast: 

It is a great easy recipe! I always use my slow cooker and a Rump Roast. Throw it in the crock pot with a can of mushroom soup, beef consommé, onion soup mix, carrots, onions and potatoes and set it on low for 6 hours and there you have it! 

The corn pudding recipe is as follows:

1 can niblet corn, drained

1 can sweet cream corn

1 box of jiffy corn muffin mix

1 cup of sour cream

1 egg

1 stick of melted butter

Simply combine and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Sorry no picture of this one! This is a great side for anything! We have had it with steak a lot and it is perfect for the holidays.

Here is a photo of the final spread! This is the first time I have done the labels and it really added a nice touch to the ugly packaging.

 Never under estimate how much someone will appreciate this! And never under estimate your abilities as a cook or baker. Everyone tells me how they admire my cooking ability. I started with this: 

The calling all cooks yellow cookbook as I call it! And now I don't let any recipe scare me! It helped me master some basic southern cooking and it has a ton of the recipes my mother and grandmother still cook to this day!

**A little piece of advice, you don't have to make everything from scratch! Mix homemade with store bought when you can! 

Here are a few other "Dinner Delivered" ideas!!

Roasted chicken with a few side dishes

Roasted beef tenderloin with twice baked potatoes

Baked Chicken served over a salad

Taco Soup and Cornbread

Chili

Beef Tips and rice

Chicken enchiladas

Chicken Casserole

Chicken Spaghetti

Lasagna

Breakfast Casserole

Most of these also can be taken so families can freeze and have later!

Thanks for reading my first blog post and please excuse an grammar issues or misspellings!! I am still learning this blogging thing!

B