We've had a mini-baby boom here in our neighborhood, with 2 cute little tots born to good friends of mine within 3 weeks of each other. One of the very, very best things the moms in our neighborhood do for each other is well-organized meals when someone has a baby. It's truly a lifesaver to have 2-3 weeks worth of meals lined up and taken care of, particularly when the novelty of the baby wears off, all your family goes home, and you're left to stare at each other wondering how the heck you're going to get a shower, let alone cook a meal.
Here's my favorite recipe to take to someone when they've had a baby (or surgery, or any other life event warranting the delivery of food and a good old "bless your heart!"), Ina Garten's chicken stew recipe. You can find it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stew-with-biscuits-recipe/index.html
It's an amazing recipe, and freezes/travels perfectly, and can always be made ahead of time. That said, it also has about a million steps, and given that I just don't have that much time in my day, ESPECIALLY when I'm cooking someone else dinner, I use the following shortcuts:
1) Use a store-bought rotisserie chicken, getting as much meat off it as possible, instead of separately roasting chicken breasts.
2) Instead of separately dicing and parboiling carrots, I just buy a 10oz bag of frozen peas and carrots, and skip that separate step altogether.
3) If I don't have any chicken stock in the freezer, I use Kitchen Basics chicken stock (comes in a box). It's a million times better than the canned chicken broth we're all used to, and really does make a difference in the taste.
3) I don't use the pearl onions.
4) Use frozen, pre-made biscuits. Pillsbury Southern Style are the best. Really, you can't beat them.
If you're making this for someone else, make the stew, put it in a disposable casserole pan, cover with tin foil, and deliver with the biscuits still separate in their original bag. That way, they can either freeze the entire recipe until they need it, or heat the stew that night and add the biscuits themselves. Don't precook the biscuits for them or they'll get too soggy during delivery.
Dinner tonight: chef salad with...what else...ham and hardboiled egg, french bread. Happy eating!
