I like separate things: a grain/potatoes, a protein, a salad, a vegetable. This way different family members can make a meal they like and you can get a couple different meal combinations out of it

Gift card to Door Dash so they can pick.

I’d love to receive soup or stew. It keeps well and is easy to reheat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My go-to is a roast chicken + sweet potato fries + salad. Works for picky eaters and easy leftovers.

+1

And a homemade pie w/vanilla ice cream.

How do you guys do fries? That seems like it wouldn't travel well.

Anonymous wrote:Please no soups or stews.

Why? I always consider them (and sometimes make them) because they get better if you make ahead. I sign up for meal trains all the time (people are always having babies at our school, it seems!).

In cooler months I have recipes for both a taco soup and a meatball soup that families with kids love. Send with shredded cheese, tortilla chips and of course ice cream or some sort of cookie or brownie. Times of stress call for dessert!

My other go-to is a taco bar setup. Have the meat already seasoned and cooked. Unopened bag of pre-shredded cheese. Chopped fresh tomatoes. Bag of pre-shredded lettuce. Containers of sour cream and guacamole. Taco shells.

Depending on the situation requiring the meal train, I might include a bottle of wine or 6-pack of beer for the adults.

What I like about these is that they are a break from all the standard cheesy heavy pasta-based casseroles, which are yummy but get to be a lot. They also mostly freeze well or don't need to be eaten right away, other than the chopped tomatoes and lettuce.

I personally dont eat meatloaf and would love a pan of salmon, but when I deliver to a meal train I always do something like lasagna or meatloaf because they reheat so well.

For those who say they drop off salmon and chicken dishes (not roast chicken because that works fine at room temp), do you literally drop it off hot right before dinner time? If not, what is your expectation re reheating? In my experience, salmon and boneless chicken become very dry when reheated, and you need to be flexible with meal plan drop off times because of your schedule and the recipient’s, plus they may have accumulated a lot of leftovers and want to use your meal on another night.

Sometimes I do a big pan full of baked chicken thighs with a couple of vegetable sides. Leftovers can go into sandwiches, chopped up for salads, etc. And it's a break from the casseroles.

Reheat not regret

The problem with something like roast chicken is that it doesn’t regret that great if you are bringing the food over in advance. That’s where casseroles, soups and stews are good.

It depends on what I think the family would like but I’ve done meat sauce and pasta, chili, chicken enchiladas, stuffed shells, chicken noodle soup, chicken pot pie

Anonymous wrote:Please no soups or stews.

Why?

— someone who has received and made a lot of meal train meals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make homemade sloppy Joes and then send with buns - easy to heat up or freeze until needed. Also I make chicken pot pies which can also be frozen, and I make them in individual serving portions because I often find when meal trains are needed families aren’t eating together at the same time, so easier to have individual servings that can be heated up as needed.

I don’t mean to derail, but any chance you’d share your homemade sloppy Joe recipe?!

Sure. This is a longtime family favorite.
1 lb ground beef —brown and drain. To that add:
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1 can tomato soup (the old fashioned campbells soup, no water added, just the contents of the can)
2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt

Bring it to a boil, partially cover, and simmer 1 hour.
I always double the recipe (and don’t worry too much about having exactly 2 lbs of meat). It freezes beautifully — tastes even better when it has had time to sit and meld.

Enchiladas but include things like a small salad, guac, salsa, sour cream, and rice and/or beans. You can buy smaller containers of most of the above.

We were recently on the receiving end of one. I really appreciated the healthy stuff. We had lots of casseroles and take out so the roast chicken and veggies was nice. Or a sheet pan salmon.

I would personally not be into eating a meatloaf a random person made but it is good to know so many are into it! Curious to know what the A-team meatloaf is.