All Aboard! Mastering the Meal Train

Mastering the meal train changes how we care for each other in times of need. Read on for tips on the best ways to use a meal train app and what to avoid.

When you have a baby or experience a crisis, chances are people show up with food. While this used to require phone calls and the risk of too much lasagna, Meal Train and other meal schedule apps make providing meals easy and straight-forward. Here are some meal train tips and dinner ideas for helping families when they need it the most.

Home-cooked comfort food hits the spot with new moms and families with kids. Tacos, baked ziti, and rotisserie chicken are all easy, crowd-pleasing favorites to bring to families. Pasta casseroles are easy to both freeze and reheat as leftovers. Bring a vegetable as a side, or fresh fruit, a win even with kids who have plenty of food aversions.

Enchiladas and burritos work well as a whole family dinner and also can be served individually. With new parents, or families recovering from COVID, schedules are off, and food is necessary at all times, with little prep. These Spinach and Chicken Burritos can be eaten together or one-at-a-time over a long, sleepless week.

Soups and chilis also work well after a new baby, during an extended illness, or after a death. When you make a big pot of something hot and yummy, groups can eat it for days or freeze it for later use. This white chicken chili recipe is a go-to for meal drop off. It's not too spicy, perfect for freezing, and if you double your batch, it dishes out comfort for days.

As a thoughtful bonus, bring along a few items for breakfast. Breakfast happens every single day and we all know how quickly the milk and cereal disappear. A bag with frozen waffles, fresh bagels, and orange juice could mean more than an elaborate dinner dessert.

When families are receiving meals, the fridge can fill up fast. Making freezer-friendly meals allows families to store food for later (when the meal train is over) and reduces the risk of food waste.

Families who have an extra garage freezer can easily store extra casserole dishes or soup containers for the weeks ahead. To make freezer-friendly meals, consider making an additional casserole already wrapped for the freezer that they can bake later. Or include zip-loc freezer bags with your meal, so people can dish extras into the bags to freeze for later.

If possible, use containers that are freezable and that you don't need back. That way, families don't need to find Tupperware or plastic wrap to freeze meals, and they don't have to worry about storing and then returning borrowed dishes.

Several popular restaurants now offer family meals for easy take out and drop off. Often the meal train scheduler will list the family's favorite spots on the sign-up page. Gift cards are always a generous option, but keep in mind, when things are stressful at home, the fewer decisions needed, the better.

Door Dash and restaurant gift cards do require that families order and facilitate payment. Use discernment in knowing if this family would benefit more by a meal showing up on the porch, with no further work required.

Zoe's Kitchen, Moe's, and Panera offer great family-friendly meal bundles that can include sides, drinks and fruits, and vegetables. Be sure you keep in mind food allergies and dietary restrictions when ordering, and be aware of what other people on a meal train signed up to bring. When you're in recovery, you don't need multiple days in a row of Moe's and their small containers of sour cream and salsa.

Remember, when you need some extra help, the best meal is the one you don't make or make any many decisions about. When you bring a meal train meal, make it as ready as possible. Don't drop off the box of pasta, if you can go ahead and make a pasta dish. Boiling water is not hard, but it's one more thing to do.

Connect with the meal schedule coordinator with any questions. Don't text the family. As grateful as they are for your help, they need to be focused on recovery and coping. Texts with questions create extra stress.

Drop the meal off as ready as possible, provide any instructions and freezer bags and then leave. Know this: what you're doing is everything to the people inside. When you don't need extra information, a formal thank-you, or your crockpot back, it makes the gift that much greater.