It can be difficult to know what foods are healthy and nourishing as well as logistically easy to bring to a new mom or sick friend. You want to be helpful, but what hits all the marks?!
I’ve been on both the giving and receiving end of a lot of edible gifts. As an expert in the field of nutrition and a mama to two little boys and a husband – all with healthy appetites – I’ve curated my own go-to list of recipes and foodie ideas that can be delivered with love…
Be a Good Friend…Deliver Fab 4 Style:
One of the best gifts you can give to a friend, whether postpartum or under the weather, is the gift of blood sugar balance. Funny?! But it's true! Blood sugar balance is vital on so many levels for mom, baby and the rest of the family.
Just a few of the countless benefits the Fab 4 offers:
- Protein: Provides the building blocks for tissue recovery after birth. Also important for milk supply and quality. Baby needs those amino acids via mama’s milk to grow a healthy body and brain!
- Fat: Cuts cravings and gives the sensation of satiety. Important for hormone synthesis and balance. Practically speaking, this looks like a more stable mood and no more feeling hangry.
- Fiber: Keeps things moving, which we all know is important (and a little scary?!) post-birth! Also feeds the “good bugs” in your gut.
- Greens: Phytochemicals! …Greens are rich in immune-boosting and inflammation-fighting compounds. These are so important for mama and baby, but really the whole family.
While it might be tempting to send the congratulatory box of cookies or cake pops, I couldn’t more strongly recommend that you truly look out for your friend’s best interest during the precious (and sometimes overwhelming) seasons of sickness and/or postpartum.
If You Don’t Want to Cook:
Don’t let the fear of “not being a good cook” keep you from giving an edible gift. Nobody said your delivery had to be whipped up in your own kitchen! Here are some fabulous ideas for when you don’t have the bandwidth or confidence to cook:
- Purchase Proteins:
- FOND Bone Broth: Send a case! Ginger + lemon + cayenne is a personal favorite to send to mamas on the mend or friends under the weather. It’s anti-inflammatory and convenient for soups or sipping. Easy on the tummy and full of healing amino acids and collagen for mamas who just gave birth. Use code BEWELLBYKELLY for 20% off your first order.
- Protein-rich and ready-to-go soups: Bonafide Provisions makes an organic chicken vegetable soup you can order online or find in the freezer department of your grocery store. Super nourishing and easy to drop off or order to someone’s door. My version of “fast food.”
- High-quality meat delivery: Stock them with the highest quality healing proteins! Send a box of Force of Nature (code Kelly10 for 10% off your first order) or Pasturebird meats (code BEWELLBYKELLY for 10% off your order). If they aren’t cooking yet, the frozen meat will last six months to a year!
- Meal + Bakery Deliveries:
- Kooshi Gourmet - For my SoCal friends! You can note whether you want to order Keto, Paleo, Custom, etc. meals for delivery. And customize your plan – the number of meals and the length of service. It’s a fabulous no-cook option to nourish your friend Fab 4 style without spending a minute in the kitchen.
- Motherbees - Motherbees is a meal delivery service inspired by and rooted in the popularized book The First Forty Days. Motherbees offers meals to nourish mom and family during pre- and postpartum seasons. You can customize food according to Whole 30, Paleo, Keto, etc. as well.
- Trifecta - Ready to eat and organically sourced meals. This is another great option for those looking to offer Fab 4 nourishment, sans cooking.
- Unrefined Bakery or AWG Bakery - If you’re dying to send baked goods, then these two are my top choices. They offer grain-free, refined-sugar free options as well as several keto and paleo items. These items can be frozen, which allow for less binging and longer enjoyment. Like I said, I’d prefer to stay away from baked goodies, but these are the best of the best if you’re going there!
- Smoothie Bags: These are easy, fun, and will be incredibly handy for your friend to have on hand! I like to assemble several bags with all-but-the-liquid ingredients for Fab 4 smoothies.
- Each bag is portioned off for one serving. Practically speaking, one bag might have a scoop of my protein powder, ¼ cup blueberries, 2 tablespoons of nut butter, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and a handful of spinach. Freeze several of these individually-portioned bags and deliver them on ice!
- Pro tip: Runny/liquid items such as nut butters, lemon juice, etc. can be measured out by the tablespoon and frozen in silicone trays before popping them out and assembling the smoothie bags!
- While you can find all of my smoothie recipes here, some of my favorites include:
- Each bag is portioned off for one serving. Practically speaking, one bag might have a scoop of my protein powder, ¼ cup blueberries, 2 tablespoons of nut butter, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and a handful of spinach. Freeze several of these individually-portioned bags and deliver them on ice!
- Thrive Market Grocery Order: I love surprising my loved ones with a big grocery box full of their favorite pantry staples right to their door. Thrive Market is my go-to for all things healthier grocery shopping.
- Protein-rich and ready-to-eat options such as Chomps or Paleovalley beef sticks are great choices.
- For food inspiration, browse my list of go-to products from Thrive!
- If you order through my link → Thrive Market, you’ll qualify for Thrive’s latest discounts/promos!
If You Want to Mix It Up in the Kitchen:
For those who want to deliver some love right out of the comfort of their own kitchen, I’ve got you covered with the best ideas and recipes that are blood sugar balancing AND delicious!
- Deconstructed Mains and Slow Cooker Meals: Who wouldn’t want a healthy, home-cooked meal to show up at her door when she’s tired from sleepless nights with an infant or long days with a sick kid?! Timely dinner deliveries from friends will forever be any mom’s love language. The two types of meals I really love to deliver are deconstructed mains and slow cooker meals. Both are so simple, so practical and total crowd pleasers.
- Deconstructed mains basically mean I deliver the Fab 4 in deconstructed form, which gives the recipients the freedom to put it together however they want! It allows for flexibility to adapt meals individually. And it also just ensures the family has easy proteins and veggies on hand. This is a huge winner, especially for those who have kids.
- Here’s how it might look practically: I cook a protein like grass fed steak or chicken, then I slice it finely. I roast a bunch of fiber-rich veggies and wash + chop other veggies that will remain raw. Add a fat dip like a tahini or avocado dip. Put the roasted meat, roasted veggies, fresh veggies and fat dip each in separate glass Pyrex containers. Deliver it all together with some washed greens.
- Slow cooker meals, on the other hand, are perfect for your friend to pull from her freezer in a pinch. Give the meal along with a few directions so she can drop it in the crockpot - dinner made easy! Here are some of my favorite mains that work well with the slow cooker:
- Slow cooker Mississippi pot roast
- Slow cooker Chicken teriyaki, Buffalo chicken or Barbecue chicken for wraps, tacos, lettuce cups or bowls
- Saucy Paleo meatballs
- Slow cooker pulled pork
- Turkey squash comfort casserole
- Buffalo chili
- Deconstructed mains basically mean I deliver the Fab 4 in deconstructed form, which gives the recipients the freedom to put it together however they want! It allows for flexibility to adapt meals individually. And it also just ensures the family has easy proteins and veggies on hand. This is a huge winner, especially for those who have kids.
- Healthy Snacks: These are one of the most valuable things you could contribute to your friend for her to have on hand. Because snacking (for mom or for kiddos!) is often when poor choices are made. Crackers, pretzels, cookies or other carb-heavy and carb-solo foods are the quintessential “snack foods.” But they drive blood sugar up quickly only to see it plummet shortly thereafter. This means cravings, moodiness, fatigue, brain fog, and all the other things a new mom or sick family don’t need to add to their plate.
- Here are some fabulous snack ideas to throw together for a friend:
- Avocado hummus (along with Simple Mills, Hu Kitchen, Mary’s Gone Crackers, Flackers crackers or vegetable crudité)
- Freezer fudge
- Refined sugar free, dairy free chocolate chip protein balls
- Hard boiled eggs
- A protein salad such as my Pesto Chicken Salad or Viral Avocado egg salad or French salmon salad along with crackers (such as those mentioned above) or veggies
- Here are some fabulous snack ideas to throw together for a friend:
- For the Baker: Have your cake and eat it, too? You can! With my recipes, you can give a baked goodie and still support your friend’s blood sugar balance.
- These are my go-to Fab 4 baked goods:
- Veggie Heavy Salads: I get it. You want to offer something healthy and green, but you don’t know what will actually “stay.” And the last thing you want to give a friend is soggy lettuce! This is where we go with heartier greens such as brussel sprouts, kale and cabbage. These substantial salads are satisfying, but also hold up really well. No fear in giving them to friends!
- Try out my favorite salad recipes:
And a few from my friends:
- The lovely Alex Snodgrass of The Defined Dish did an entire series on freezable foods when her younger sister was pregnant. You can see how she did it via her Instagram highlights.
- My sweet friend Danielle Walker has a wealth of recipes on her website and in her cookbooks.
- These recipes work wonderfully for Fab 4 style eating:
- Paleo salsa chicken tacos
- Instant pot chicken and vegetable soup
- Gluten-free chicken and dumplings
- Instant pot Thai chicken stew would all make for excellent deliveries
- These recipes work wonderfully for Fab 4 style eating:
Pack it Up:
- When it comes to delivering food, I'd encourage you to stay away from plastic packaging as much as possible. Stick with non-toxic materials such as silicone or glass.
- Some of my favorite meal-prep + delivery containers are:
A Few Final Notes...
I want you to keep a few things in mind as you prep your Fab 4 foods for friends:
- For new and nursing moms, be aware of recipes containing dairy and/or beans in the ingredient list. Some moms prefer or must cut these items out for the health of their baby.
- Prior to planning what food to make or purchase, always ask about dietary preferences or restrictions. As a mom of a son who struggled with food allergies, I can personally vouch for how meaningful, important and appreciated this gesture is!
- If you’re delivering food to a family fighting sickness, consider throwing some of my favorite medicine in alongside the food. Genexa (use code BEWELL20 for 20% off your order) offers medicine without the icky dyes, flavorings and fillers found in most others! You can find others of my top supplements you may want to add in Kelly’s Clean Supplement Guide (which is currently FREE!).
- Finally, you can learn all about the Fab 4 along with gain access to more of my favorite and exclusive blood sugar balancing recipes in my books:
There you have it – everything you need to be a fabulous friend the next time yours is fighting a sickness or in the thick of the postpartum fog!
