We’ve had friends and family show up with a meal for us during difficult times in our lives and I always think providing a meal is one of the nicest ways you can support someone who is going through a challenging time in life. Having also had three children, I look back on the meals that our neighbors delivered to us in those first tired days with a newborn with the utmost gratitude. Sometimes, all you can do is offer a meal and a prayer in support during a loss or crisis but having been on the receiving end I believe it can make a difference.
It can be hard to fit in cooking for your own family, much less for someone else. Today I have a very easy recipe to share with you for the next time you need to cook for someone and some other resources for helping friends out when they are in need. I often make this Macaroni and Cheese recipe when there are children in the family since it’s about as kid-friendly as you can get, it feeds a large number and can easily be reheated. While I wouldn’t serve it if I was exclusively cooking for adults {instead I’d go with this decadent mac and cheese recipe HERE} this is a super easy way to make a mac and cheese casserole, because no white sauce is required.
Before I get to the recipe {below} I wanted to quickly share a printable label you can download and print to label your meal before you deliver it. I do this just as a little extra touch to show friends we care about them, and it makes it easy to provide all the important info like heating instructions, contents and who it is from, and then they can just stick it in their freezer until they need it.
{click HERE to download a page with 2 labels, then print on full sheet label paper}
Quick & Easy Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
Cook elbow macaroni noodles as directed {for a gluten-free option, just purchase gluten-free noodles}, drain and rinse and return to pot.
Add to pot:
3/4 a stick of butter
1 cup milk
3 eggs beaten
Stir together, then add:
16 oz mozzerella cheese
16 oz cheddar cheese
Add some salt and pepper to taste and stir well.
Spray a foil pan {these are so much cheaper if you buy them in bulk} with cooking spray and dump the pasta mixture in. You can freeze it at this point if you want to deliver it frozen.
Bake at 350 for 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes {if this is frozen it will probably need to cook longer}
Quick & Easy Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
Quick & Easy Macaroni and Cheese Recipe, no cream sauce. Fast and easy!
Ingredients
- 1 box cooked elbow pasta
- 3/4 a stick of butter
- 1 cup milk
- 3 eggs beaten
- Stir together then add:
- 16 oz mozzerella cheese
- 16 oz cheddar cheese
- Add some salt and pepper to taste and stir well.
Instructions
-
Cook pasta, drain and mix together all ingredients in pasta pot.
-
Spray a foil pan {these are so much cheaper if you buy them in bulk} with cooking spray and dump the pasta mixture in. You can freeze it at this point if you want to deliver it frozen.
-
Bake at 350 for 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes {if this is frozen it will probably need to cook longer}
See, easy? No standing over the stove stirring a white sauce! I freeze it in a disposable pan then deliver to the family so they have it when they need it. Sometimes just a small thing like a meal can make a big difference when someone is going through a difficult time.
Here are some other sources for meal recipes that you can make for someone in need:
6 Freezer Meal Recipes {Chili, Soup, Pot Roast, Meat Loaf and more}
25 Healthy Freezer Meals {Honey Garlic Chicken, Beef Stew, Chicken Noodle and Tomato Soup Recipes and more}
More dinner ideas and recipes are available on our Pinterest Boards HERE and HERE.
I also get meal ideas from this great blog– Comfy in the Kitchen , I love how she focuses primarily on meals as a ministry.
If you aren’t a cook or just don’t have the time {I have been there!} a restaurant gift card {or even pizza gift certificates} are still a thoughtful touch. I have also picked up tubs of ready-made chicken soup at the grocery store along with some orange juice packaged it up and delivered it to a sick friend.
During one of my sicker bouts with my health issue, a dear friend gave me this simple gift basket. It was filled with thoughtful items–tea, lotion, chapstick, a mug, chocolate etc. but it was a tremendous lift during a challenging time.
Other ways to show you care can be found in this post here for gift ideas for a cancer patient that Christy shared {as a former oncology nurse} HERE.
We also offer printable bible verses which are perfect to include with a meal, see more HERE.
If you have other ideas to help friends and family in need, I would love to hear them in the comments!
Have a lovely day everyone.
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Love this, Amy! Thanks for sharing!
I love to cook for people and it really is a blessing to receive when we are in need. Thanks so much for the additional ideas and the labels! One of my favorite things to do is bake and share. 🙂
xo
Pat
Thank you so much for this recipe, it came just in the knick of time. My daughter asked if friends could come over Friday after school before they headed out the football game. They are all in the marching band and had just an hour at home to eat, change and recharge. This was so easy and all the kids LOVED it!! Plus it was perfect paired with hot dogs, veggies, and fruit. A definite keeper for a crowd pleaser. Thank you!!
Hi Heather! I am glad you like it and that it worked for your kids and their friends. It’s hard to get enough food in them when there is a tight turnaround for sure 🙂 Thanks for letting me know that it was a hit, I am so glad! XO, Amy
Is this for 8 oz or 16 oz dry macaroni? Looks good!
It’s a full box, so 16oz I believe. Thanks 🙂
You ladies know I LOVE everything you do and how you do it. This is a great idea for somebody needing help with food prep due to illness, etc. LOVE the labels! But Just to mention a couple of things. I’ve had cancer twice=ovarian and breast, ten years apart, .and the pink color signifying breast cancer gets sickening to many of us. One of my friends looked at the grey and pink large tote bag given to us by the breast cancer support group to carry items to chemo treatment and she threw it away. And the turbans? Nothing screams ‘”I’m an old lady with cancer and I’m on chemo!” like one of those things. Give me a baseball cap any day! I’m just saying, know the person before you give them all that stuff. What’s right for some people is a big turnoff to the rest of us. You want to feel normal, not stick out like a sore thumb. One friend came a couple of times and mowed my yard. Food IS appreciated. But between chemo treatments give me a snickers bar or a Hershey bar! Lotion for dry skin. Maybe a fun facial makeover since you have no face, ie, eyebrows, eyelashes., facial color(blush), tinted chapstick. And whatever items you use for chemo sessions, you may never want to look at again because you associate it with chemo and cancer. Pink is like looking at a pint jar of pepto bismol! ugh. Wigs are hot and itchy, and your head sweats all the time. The high school band kids told me, just wear a do-rag!
Hi Linda, thanks for your thoughtful comments. We have incorporated many of your ideas into Christy’s post on Chemo and Cancer gift ideas, we’ll make sure to add in anything we missed.
All the best,
Amy
I’m thinking of making this for my wedding as a side dish. would this need to be baked before I freeze it for the day of the wedding? or would I be good to freeze it after making it and then bake it that day?
Do I buy the 1 lb blocks of cheddar and mozzarella and then grate! Or do you use the 16oz packages that are already grated? Thanks! Betsy R.
You can use either, freshly grated usually tastes better but making life easier is fine too! Enjoy 🙂
XO,
Amy