Friday, March 07, 2008

Meals for a New Mama

I'm not sure if this is solely a Southern thing (you know, Southern hospitality and all), but in the South, when a child joins the family, whether through birth or adoption, a host of friends and family members line up to provide a calendar of home-cooked meals -- from pot roast, to lasagna, casseroles and spaghetti. It is truly a God-send to the sleep-deprived (and in our case, add jet lag) mamas and daddies. I was elated when friends and family volunteered to provide meals for us for a month after returning from China. It gave us a chance to focus on bonding as a family instead of running back and forth to the grocery, with a baby on one hip and a frantic new mommy plowing through the frozen isles at Kroger. A lifesaver! So if this is a Southern thing, and you've not ever organized this for an expecting mother, give it a shot. She'll be forever grateful.

Here are some recipes for a few of the dishes that friends made for us, as well as some of the dishes that I've cooked for other new moms.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Portobello Mushroom Almond Pesto Lasagna
Beef Daube Provencal
Greek Grilled Kabobs with Pine nut Orzo
Spring Vegetable Lasagna
Tortellini, White Bean, Spinach Soup

Thanks to all you lovely ladies who spent time in the kitchen on our behalf. Your dinners were perfect and baby girl was happy for the extra attention.

7 comments:

Kerry said...

Oh Courtney- You are so right. Having meals brought to us was the very best gift we received after coming home from China. It is such an exhausting trip home. When friends and family bring meals, it really takes a load off and we can enjoy our little darlings. It is so thoughtful and appreciated.

After both trips I wanted meatloaf!
Hugs,
Kerry

Kerry said...

Courtney-
You are so right- the meals that friends and family brought to us were so appreciated. It really allowed us to focus on the baby and took away a great deal of stress. It really is a wonderful gift for a new Mama!
After both of our adoption trips- I wanted homemade meatloaf (and I am not really a meatloaf girl ;)
Hugs,
Kerry

Anonymous said...

wow i miss the south! love elizabeth

Jboo said...

Wow -- that is a great tradition! And those recipes sound wonderful -- am going to try them out soon!

Janet

Pam said...

I love Southern hospitality but then again I am from the South. These recipes sound yummy.

Third Mom said...

I think it must be a mom thing, because one of my best friends is from Maine and she did just that when our son arrived.

Thank you so much for the link, by the way - I just linked you back. Elyza is beautiful!!

K said...

My church has always done this, usually for one to two weeks, and the egroup of single adoptive moms in my area also does it for a week and they call it the First Week Fiesta.

In Sacramento, there is a preschool my friend's son attends and they organize meals for the first week whenever a new student's mom has a new baby.

I'm looking forward to when it's my turn to receive and show off my daughter. It's always so fun to drop meals off and take a peek at the new baby, whether born to the family or adopted.