Easy recipes that can feed two families

[lilac05]

A friend of mine is having an awful time with her pregnancy.  Debilitating headaches have kept her in bed for the last month & she has been in & out of the hospital.  I'm their go-to for school pick-up and childcare when needed, but I want to do more.  They have a housekeeper and I know she doesn't like other people doing her laundry.  I've offered to go grocery shopping, but so far, she has just been sending her H (or her parents have come to town to help).  He has a very demanding job & this is all taking a huge toll on them.

I'd like to take dinner to them a few times a week.  They live just down the street, so I can easily drop stuff off at their house.  I need some ideas of recipes that I can easily double at night so I can feed my family and theirs.  (This will also encourage me to cook more often at home for my own family.  Knowing that someone else will benefit will help greatly.)

Ive got an extra crock pot, so crock pot meals are good, too.  I need to make enough to feed 8 total.  No allergies.

Tonight I'm going to make Baked Ziti and send some garlic bread

[gerberdaisy]

Italian is always good, lasagna, meatballs/sausage, riggies. Pulled pork in the crockpot. Enchiladas are easy to put together, stuff for fajitas, soup/chili.

Personally, I'd love it if someone included a salad.

[tealblue]

Pulled pork is easy in a crock pot. Also- chicken fried rice www.cookingclassy.com/2014/05/chicken-fried-rice/

Pork roast

Taco/burrito bowls www.budgetbytes.com/2011/07/taco-chicken-bowls/

Lasagna

Chicken salad and rolls m.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/sonoma-chicken-salad

[lilac05]

Dec 14, 2015 14:16:14 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

Italian is always good, lasagna, meatballs/sausage, riggies. Pulled pork in the crockpot. Enchiladas are easy to put together, stuff for fajitas, soup/chili.

Personally, I'd love it if someone included a salad.

I don't think I have enough stuff to send a salad tonight, but I will definitely make sure to do that other nights.  

Ideally, she'd let me do her grocery shopping, too.  I'd need her to pay for them, as I unfortunately can't float all groceries for two families for long.  Plus, she'd be more likely to take me up on the offer if I "let" her pay.  I'm happy to do dinners, but buying breakfast, lunch, snacks, toiletries, etc. adds up too quickly.

[heygrey]

Flautas
Enchiladas
Soups

[DarcyLongfellow]

Tex Mex is good -- tacos, enchiladas, fajitas.

Italian -- spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmesan with spaghetti

iowagirleats.com/2013/10/07/crock-pot-thai-chicken

sotastysoyummy.blogspot.com/2011/09/beer-braised-chicken-thighs.html

www.target.com/r/recipes/barbecue-chicken-quinoa-skillet-recipe

This turkey meatloaf is awesome (I usually double the recipe and freeze half). thekitchenmccabe.com/2013/10/01/turkey-meatloaf

[sookie]

I love do to manicotti for things like this. It's easy, filling, and you don't have to boil the noodles before stuffing them. www.recipegirl.com/2011/02/21/spinach-and-cheese-stuffed-manicotti/

You can also do a meatloaf with mashed potatoes and another side.

Here's a bunch of crock pot option too. Chicken fajitas would be easy. ashleynoelbarnes.blogspot.com/2013/05/10-freezer-to-crockpot-meals.html

Other options --
Taco Bar: prepared meat filling, tortillas, homemade salsa, corn, and chopped/prepared veggie toppings

Meatball sliders with hawaiian rolls, mozzarella cheese, salad greens

Sloppy joes, buns, baked potato wedges

[spunkarella]

I love these enchiladas.

www.plainchicken.com/2012/07/chicken-ranch-enchiladas-and-rice-slow.html?m=1

[lilac05]

Thanks for all of the great ideas! I'll definitely be adding many of them!

I have been feeling so helpless, but am kicking myself that I didn't think of doing this sooner. I'm always making dinners for new babies or deaths in a family, but it didn't even occur to me until this morning that I could put food on their table!

[lilac05]

Dec 14, 2015 14:32:47 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

I love these enchiladas.

www.plainchicken.com/2012/07/chicken-ranch-enchiladas-and-rice-slow.html?m=1

Those look amazing!  I wish I hadn't already purchased stuff for tonight or that is what I'd be making.

Her daughter is here now, so I'm going to ask questions about what she and her brother will/won't eat.  The last thing I want to do is take food over and have it become a fight because they don't like it!

[redheadk]

Creamy chicken baked taquitos are easy, freezer-friendly, and child-friendly. I typically make a double batch which is 20-24 taquitos. Serving size is 1-2 taquitos. I serve with carrot sticks for an easy veggie. Our Best Bites has my favorite recipe (and dip recipe) but they are all over the blogosphere.

[redheadk]

Also, pork tenderloin with a pan sauce is easy to double. They come 2 to a pack at my grocery stores and 1 tenderloin is the perfect size for a small family.

[katiescarlett]

Chicken parm with egg noodles and salad or green beans or something. I do them by hammering down a breast, dipping in egg then breadcrumbs, bake till cooked through. Then pour on pasta sauce and mozzarella and bake about 10 more min. Easy to make more or less.

[charlotteandwilbur]

Breakfast for dinner--

Crustless quiche
French toast bake
Fruit salad
Muffins or scones

[trufflefries]

I made this last week to take to a friend who just had a baby, it's really good! Makes one dish for you and one to take:

Friendship Spaghetti Pie

[darnkatz]

Chicken tikka masala 
Skillet chicken lasagna 
Smoky sweet potato chicken stoup (send rolls along)
Beef and bean burritos
Quick and easy roasted red pepper pasta (send along bread and/or veggie tray)
Pork sandwiches with cilantro-jalapeno slaw (or buy coleslaw at the deli + veggies, chips, etc)

Spaghetti and meatballs is another easy-ish one, and you can send along sub rolls so they can have leftovers for lunch the next day. Add in a loaf of garlic bread and a salad and you are good to go.

[jackpackage]

I've been making this lately for new moms in my moms club. I always double it to make two, since H loves it.

pinchofyum.com/chicken-tamale-pie

[redheadk]

Dec 14, 2015 15:38:12 GMT -5 jackpackage said:

I've been making this lately for new moms in my moms club. I always double it to make two, since H loves it.

pinchofyum.com/chicken-tamale-pie

I make this, too! One of DH's favorite dishes. 

[toutsuite]

Others have already given good suggestions but I just wanted to say how nice of you to do this for them. Seriously. I was on both home and hospital bed rest with my first son for several months and a few of my friends would bring us over dinner sometimes and it was the best gift ever. It took stress off of my dh (who can't cook) and took a lot of the guilt off of me. You are very kind to do this for them.

[namasteak]

BBQ (jar of sauce + pork shoulder) would do several meals for them and would be easy for you to put together.
Meal one: rolls and a bag of salad or steamer vegetables
Meal two: tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, pickled jalapenos
Meal three: box or a precooked container of mac and cheese
Meal four - loaded baked potatoes

[namasteak]

You could do the same thing with salsa chicken (jar of sauce + chicken thighs)
Meal one - tortillas and whatever toppings they would like
Meal two - can of beans, can of corn, frozen rice, container of PICO de gallo, sour cream &/or guac
Meal 3 - tortilla soup (chicken broth, some of the beans & corn, chips, sour cream, cheese)

[lilac05]

Dec 14, 2015 16:38:23 GMT -5 toutsuite said:

Others have already given good suggestions but I just wanted to say how nice of you to do this for them. Seriously. I was on both home and hospital bed rest with my first son for several months and a few of my friends would bring us over dinner sometimes and it was the best gift ever. It took stress off of my dh (who can't cook) and took a lot of the guilt off of me. You are very kind to do this for them.

I'm just so thankful that she's letting me help!  I've been getting some good info from her daughter as to what they would like.

I wish I could organize others to help, too, but she's really private about her situation for now.  I need to be cooking more often for my family anyway, so this can serve two purposes!  And it costs me less to feed both families than it does to take my family to eat someplace!

[lolo]

namasteak I was thinking salsa chicken too. We use breasts because DH prefers it and also add black beans, corn and sometimes peppers to the mix to add more veg/reduce the amount of meat. I serve it with a green salad or steamed greens usually.

Soup is another easy thing to double. I regularly make lentil, potato and leek, chicken + rice or noodle, and butternut squash soup.

[lilac05]

Dec 14, 2015 20:25:07 GMT -5 lolo said:

Soup is another easy thing to double. I regularly make lentil, potato and leek, chicken + rice or noodle, and butternut squash soup.

Good idea!  I have a super simple crock pot baked potato soup that I know she likes.  I will make that tomorrow or Wednesday.

I think I'm going to ask her H to pick it up on his way home.  It's literally about 1 minute out of his way, it'll keep me from having to load both kids in the car, she won't feel like she needs to talk to me, and they will feel like they're contributing in some way.  

[MamaMaui24]

Made this today and it was a hit! Everyone ate it. Served over mashed potatoes:

www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/slow-cooker-spicy-marinated-eye-of-round