Food

Delivering Love In Every Bite

Kindness can come packaged as something delicious. Delivering food to someone who is going through a tough time is a tangible way to express concern, offer encouragement, or provide an excuse to drop by. We put together some ideas to inspire your next edible delivery of love.

If you are making a meal for an older friend or individual, small portions are a much better option than a big casserole (otherwise the person has to eat it for several days straight or freeze it). Think in terms of one or two portions at most.

A Snacking Box

Not everyone needs or wants a big meal. Sometimes the best thing is to offer a box of snacks that can serve as a meal.

We filled a cute little box with a variety of sweet and savory items. You can make these for several friends at once, or just make one and enjoy the leftover snacks in your own household. Good places to shop would be specialty markets or Costco.

What we included in our box

• Dried Tart Montmorency cherries

• Undercover Chocolate Quinoa Crisps

• Harvest Snap Baked Green Pea Snacks

• RW Garcia Sweet Potato Crackers

• Nature Bakery Fig Bar

• Roasted Mixed Nuts

• Club crackers

• Grapes

• Strawberries

• Blackberries

• Raspberries

• That’s It bar

• Cheese

• Reese's Dark Chocolate Thins

• Dove Dark Chocolate

• Cookies from a local bakery

• Water mixers — LMNT and Liquid IV

Cool Drinks

If your friend is spending some time in and out of hospitals or traveling for treatment, consider gifting a small cooler with some favorite drinks as well as some new ones to try. It saves money and is a thoughtful way to be with them in their time of need.

Meals In A Bowl

All bowls can be customized for allergies or special diets. (l-r) Taco Bowl, Sweet Chili Chicken Bowl, Nashville Hot Chicken Bowl readysetprepdmeals.com

Colorful bowl meals make delivery and eating simple. This meal can come from your kitchen, your favorite restaurant, or our choice here, which is Ready Set Prepd, a local meal prep and lunch location. You can take into consideration what your friends like or drop off a taste of something and a gift card for more deliveries (DoorDash is a good option.)

Fresh Bread And Butter

We think a homemade loaf of bread or a fresh loaf from the bakery and some specialty butter is a perfect comfort food if you aren’t sure what someone likes. Almost anyone can enjoy a slice of fresh bread with butter. We whipped butter with honey to make it especially sweet. You can always include a gift card for an entree from somewhere.

Maybe you’re known for your great chocolate cake, soup, chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, meatballs, or something else. We suggest that if you have a specialty item you make, you focus on spreading that kindness around. The recipients will look forward to it!

Need to Send?

Sometimes you can’t deliver, but you can send something, and these options work great.

Groceries: Send some groceries that you shop for through Whole Foods (Amazon), Kroger, or any local grocer to most areas. Shopping for some goodies and treats is a good way to gift someone.

Spoonful of Comfort offers several options, though soup and cookies are a mainstay. spoonfulofcomfort.com

Fruit or Gift Basket: You can send something local to this area. Paul’s Fruit Market is a perfect example of a place that sends out specialty baskets.

By Anita Oldham | Photos by Melissa Donald

Today's Transitions | Summer 2024