Page 114 - Parents Magazine (December 2019)

LIFEÑ Community

HOW TO
ACE
A MEAL Cook for a Neighbor in Need
TRAIN
No one has less time for meal prep than a mom or a dad in
survival mode, and no one appreciates a nourishing dinner more.

by AMY PALANJIAN

pancakes, sausage, hash
Seasoned meal trainers
Not Just for recommend scheduling browns, French toast,
just a few meals a week and baked apples,” says
New for two to three weeks. Eliza Neary, of Pella,
Iowa. “And I like to make
Parents! More dates can be added breakfast burritos for
if the calendar fills up,
but too many empty slots others because they can
Meal trains can be a bummer for the be frozen and reheated
are great for major family to see. individually,” she says.
crises and small Also consider packing
bumps in the road. Invite dozens of families extras like snacks for late-
to participate if your friend
Here are just night feedings, dry goods
a few examples of is in a long-term crisis like toilet paper or diapers,
other times in (such as facing a cancer coloring books for the kids,
parenthood they diagnosis), and be sure to or a favorite drink.
include a clickable
can help.
alternative like a restaurant Ensure a Smooth
Cook a meal for or an Uber Eats gift card Delivery
the friend who is ... for noncooks and out-of-
town friends. No matter what you
On bed rest with make, pack it in inexpensive
Remember that every
twins storage containers or
family is different. Some
About to file for might benefit from meals zip-top bags—and be
divorce for just a week; others clear that you don’t need
them back. If you send
might have an ongoing
Home with the a meal to be popped into
need. Arranging just one
kids while a spouse a slow cooker, include
meal a week indefinitely
is deployed a disposable liner to
can make a profound make cleanup easy. And
Dealing difference in the life of a label the containers with
with anxiety or single parent or any family the recipe name and
depression coping with a chronic the heating instructions
stressor.
Suffering from a since a new (or stressed)
bad case of Cook the Right parent may not have the
brainpower to remember
mastitis, the flu, Stuff
bronchitis … verbal instructions.
Get Organized to support you with a Consider meals with As the saying goes, food
meal train.” It’s harder to you get the picture separate elements that
When people are can be assembled (or is love, and meal trains
adjusting to life with a new say no when there’s no Adjusting not) so that picky eaters make a real impact.
baby or enduring an question posed. Got her to a crazy new Lauren Morrill-Ragusea, of
on board? Send the commute can enjoy them too. Easy
illness, a hospital stay, or winners: tortillas with Macon, Georgia, recalls,
another stressful situation, family a questionnaire to Nursing a sick assorted taco fillings, “I was on the receiving
making dinner can seem learn about their favorite kid, a sick spouse, buttered pasta with sauce end of a meal train when
like a Herculean task. And foods as well as any or a sick parent and meatballs on the my 2-year-old broke his
yet it can be hard for them food allergies and dietary leg the day after we
restrictions. Ask if they side, lettuce in a zip-top
to accept help, especially Renovating the bag with chopped salad brought his new brother
when it’s a coordinated have space for meals in kitchen toppings in separate home from the hospital.
and “official” effort to their freezer, if the meals bags, or a deluxe cheese Six weeks with a toddler
deliver food on the regular. should be delivered at Coping with a plate with fresh produce, in a body cast and a
Megan Tucker, of Arvada, a certain time of day, and spouse on a long newborn … that meal train
whether they can put a work trip meats, and crackers.
Colorado, has organized saved us!” When you’re
more than 50 meal trains, cooler by the front door Grieving the loss of While casseroles are going through a hard
and she suggests a small for nonintrusive drop-offs. a family member make-and-take classics, time, just knowing people
tweak in how you make Then use this information there are so many other care enough to cook
the offer. Instead of asking to create a meal train at Parenting solo options. “We specified and deliver a meal is
FOOD COLLECTION/OFFSET.
a friend if she wants a a site like TakeThemAMeal every single day that we love breakfast for often as meaningful as
meal train, try: “We’d like .com or MealTrain.com. dinner and received the food itself.

E N O U G H L A S A G N A ! These heat-and-eat crowd-pleasers freeze just as well:
burritos, chicken soup, blueberry muffins, chili, baked ziti, meatballs in marinara sauce, pancakes or waffles, veggie frittata, enchiladas, beef and
vegetable stew, macaroni and cheese, stuffed shells, butternut squash soup, calzones, chicken cacciatore, pesto, Bolognese sauce

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