what to make for neighbors who just had a baby?

[Anonymous]

Homemade chicken rice soup, a tray of cut up veggies, some bread. That's what I would have adored. Comfort food.

If baby is a newborn, mom might not yet know about dairy/soy sensitivity. Sometimes it shows up a little later, but definitely is kind to ask and be sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know. Maybe I had a more difficult time than most during those first few weeks, but I was a complete mess and really didn't want any unannounced visitors, even if it was just a nice neighbor asking what they could make me for dinner. If you want to make sure it's useful, I'd just give a gift card for the neighborhood pizza place.

And we were the exact opposite. When we had our twins, while we appreciated the gift cards, we appreciated the delivered meals more. The delivered meals we could pop in the microwave and eat in the small window between feeding the twins. With the gift card, either one of us had to go down for pick up or we had to call and wait 30-45 minutes. With the twins, inevitably, when the delivered food finally arrived one of them would wake up and we still wouldn't be able to eat. Sometimes there's only a one hour window when your new infant(s) is asleep. Do you want to spend most of that waiting for food to arrive or to just heat food up and eat? I realize that we had twins and OP's neighbor has a singleton, but I have friends who had singletons who also had small windows of freedom to shower, sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom and waiting for takeout or delivery was not really a useful option until weeks later. It takes up about 1 or 2 minutes of your time (or DH's time) to say what your food preferences and/or allergies are and then a few minutes when the food is delivered. I still stand by my recommendation to ask first and prepare a meal.

I agree, and would only add that we are very capable of ordering and paying for pizza - but that's not what you want when you are overtired, overwhelmed, exhausted. You want homemade ... *something*. For us, a big homemade meal was exactly what we needed. Not a slice of pizza - a plate full of brisket, potatoes, vegetables, bread. Heaven, at that moment in time.

[Anonymous]

OP - is there another neighbor who might know them well that you could ask about food preferences?

[Anonymous]

I'm a vegetarian, which I'm sure a neighbor who doesn't know me well wouldn't know. A brisket, meatloaf, chicken dish, etc. would have been useless to me.

[Anonymous]

Don't over think it or ask the neighbors...if you don't know them well but something store bought...rotisserie chicken, salad and rice and dessert....or from Costco any of their prepaid stuff in the back, pasta Alfredo or croissants and Costco chicken salad. Yum.

[Anonymous]

I like a cold meal personally like Tuna Mac or some sort of bean salad. However I agree, I would get their preferences.

I have a few friends that are so picky, they eat worse than my 2 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't over think it or ask the neighbors...if you don't know them well but something store bought...rotisserie chicken, salad and rice and dessert....or from Costco any of their prepaid stuff in the back, pasta Alfredo or croissants and Costco chicken salad. Yum.

Fucking disgusting and classless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a vegetarian, which I'm sure a neighbor who doesn't know me well wouldn't know. A brisket, meatloaf, chicken dish, etc. would have been useless to me.

I would never presume to make meat anything without asking first. I gave brisket as an example, but wouldn't make it without first finding out if meat was ok.

[Anonymous]

A loaf of good bread (from Whole Foods or Marvelous market), good cheeses (e.g., a nice English cheddar, Swiss mountain cheese), a fruit/veggie tray, fancy sparkling water, and a homemade baked good (brownies, cookies) would be perfect.

As a neighbor who doesn't know the mom very well, I would avoid a meat dish, or something that needs to be heated. Think low-maintenance that can be left on the counter for a couple of hours without worry. Bonus points if it can be eaten with your hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't over think it or ask the neighbors...if you don't know them well but something store bought...rotisserie chicken, salad and rice and dessert....or from Costco any of their prepaid stuff in the back, pasta Alfredo or croissants and Costco chicken salad. Yum.

Fucking disgusting and classless.

Agree. All of these things make me want to vomit. Gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't over think it or ask the neighbors...if you don't know them well but something store bought...rotisserie chicken, salad and rice and dessert....or from Costco any of their prepaid stuff in the back, pasta Alfredo or croissants and Costco chicken salad. Yum.

Fucking disgusting and classless.

Really? With your crude language it seems that you are quite familiar with what constitutes "disgusting and classless."

[Anonymous]

A Taco Box! http://www.thekitchn.com/new-baby-taco-box-167963

[Anonymous]

Banana bread, turkey lasagna, pulled pork with potato rolls and coleslaw, stir fry or noodles in peanut sauce with veggies, red beans and rice with sausage. Call to say you'd like to stop by and bring something and find out what day would be good for them. Then ask if there's anything they don't eat or are craving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Banana bread, turkey lasagna, pulled pork with potato rolls and coleslaw, stir fry or noodles in peanut sauce with veggies, red beans and rice with sausage. Call to say you'd like to stop by and bring something and find out what day would be good for them. Then ask if there's anything they don't eat or are craving.

And this is why some of us suggest you call and ask. Half of what you list one of us cannot eat. One of us is severely allergic to peanuts (we would probably have to ask you to take it home as it would be difficult having it in the house...depending on how you made it, it could be aromatic, which would be very bad) and gets bad indigestion from beans. One of us cannot have mayonnaise. We'd be grateful, gratious and extremely thankful, but we wouldn't be able to eat those things. The point of making a meal is to help the neighbors during those difficult first few weeks with the baby at home. So, the best way to do that is to ask them if they have any dietary or allergy restrictions and then cook accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't over think it or ask the neighbors...if you don't know them well but something store bought...rotisserie chicken, salad and rice and dessert....or from Costco any of their prepaid stuff in the back, pasta Alfredo or croissants and Costco chicken salad. Yum.

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