One night for Family Home Evening last month, Tim taught a lesson about choosing to be kind and a good neighbor. He pulled out his carefully curated Lego characters and some pieces for two teams to create some situations where (Lego) people were being kind.
The beauty of this lesson was the good time we all had together. We laughed and cheered for one another. We needed that.
Here are some things I have learned about delivering meals to people.
Disposable pans are a blessing because there is little cleanup and the people are usually sick, grieving, or too stretched to keep track of your dishes. I keep a stack of foil pans in the pantry. You could consider providing paper plates, too.
The visit you make when you deliver a meal may be just as important as the food. They may need to talk or want you to help them with a task around the house. Most people won’t volunteer information without you asking how you can help. Not everyone will be chatty or want you to stay. They may want privacy or they may be embarrassed about their need and want you to leave quickly. The idea is to be flexible and aware.
For families with teenagers, you need a lot more food than you might think. Mashed potatoes, pasta of any kind, and rice are filling and universally liked. Women tend to get excited when you include good fresh vegetables. Everyone loves fresh fruit salads. I usually include rolls or bread with each meal because even picky eaters will eat bread.
It’s so important to find out if there are food allergies. It’s good to remember that people in bed really need the fiber and nutrition from fruits and vegetables.
If they are receiving meals from people over many days, don’t try to give more food than can be eaten in one sitting. I have seen refrigerators full of unwanted leftovers when I have visited the sick.
Here are some of my favorite menus for delivering to others. Everything is easy to transport in disposable pans. I put soups in Mason jars.
If they have young children, avoid casseroles and most mixtures. Kids prefer to eat their foods separately and if it can be dipped in ketchup or dressing, all the better.
Carry your food on a tray or cookie sheet so if it spills, it won’t ruin your car interior.
Have your family help you prepare it and deliver it with you if it’s appropriate. This way they can have the experience of giving with you.
Try to make enough of everything so you have a meal to come home to. You’d think that would be obvious, but I’ve not always been good at this. It really is easier to make two meals at once than to come home to a messy kitchen and have to begin again for your own family. Sometimes my family doesn’t eat the same thing I prepare for another family because I don’t have enough ingredients. That’s okay.
Other than telling your family, keep your service a secret.
I believe that food is one way we can make our love visible. People feel remembered and loved when you take time to make food for them.
It was another long-list Monday.
One thing on my list was to deep clean the mudroom while doing laundry.
It’s no longer covered in dust, lint, clutter, and grime. I love spring cleaning.
I am teaching an important topic in Young Women tomorrow. I have spent so much time working on it and thinking about it. I read all of the suggested lesson materials, scripture references, and watched a handful of Bible movies. I read General Conference talks with the girls in mind.
Then I decided that I should anticipate questions they might have. I listed about 30 questions. I chose 22 of those questions and found scripture references to help answer each question. I typed up this list of 22 questions and scriptures to give to the girls. After printing them out and gluing a picture of the Savior on each copy, I finally realized that I had gotten carried away. WHO would take the time read 80 square inches of words in a small font that are only meant to make them THINK?
Planet Angie felt like a lonely place right then.
My hours of preparation are now whittled down to asking the girls to consider one question of their choice from only five possibilities. After the girls have had a chance to read scriptures and other materials about their topic and ponder for a bit, we’ll sit in a circle and share what we have learned and felt.
And then we’ll talk about how their understanding can influence the choices they make this week.
I will consider it a success if the girls can remember one thing that we talked about one week later.
30-22-5-1
These frames are at Michaels in the dollar bins. These are Easter time pictures of each of the kids when they were about two years old. They were all such little sweeties.
I still have so many blank walls in the house. It’s daunting for me to decorate because I don’t put something on the wall unless it is meaningful to me, and that’s a tall order. I’ve been working on a few photo projects to cover some of these empty spaces in the house. I found this collage frame and filled it with photos of Richard and me for our bedroom.
As you can see, it’s still not on the wall. I have so many ideas, but perfectionism gets in the way.
Look at this picture I found:
Tres chic, I know. The baby’s hat! The scarf! The distinguished young man!
In other news, Richard had a birthday.
I made him good things to eat. What did he ask for? Lentil soup, steak, and lemon bars. Steaks are for the weekend. The Young Men were short on rides to the mountains for a night sledding expedition, so that’s what he did on his birthday. He went night sledding with the neighborhood teenage boys.
Paige took her first sick day since going to public school this week. She’s working on an art project with this selfie. She’s feeling better today.
Daniel is working the microphones for the school play. He goes to school at 6:45 a.m. and comes home for dinner, then back again for the performance. He likes working on the stage crew. He got his first taste of it when Paige was dancing in Arizona:
He’s a lot taller now.
I am going to begin teaching violin lessons next week. You have no idea how I agonized over my inability, then my lack of time, and finally my monthly rate. All of my creative energy this week went into that decision and then I took to my bed for a day in exhaustion and with an upset stomach. I’m such a Victorian that I should carry around smelling salts. Despite my turmoil, I believe it will help me to be teaching again.
We stopped by at dusk last night to see the progress on my parents’ cabin demolition. It felt a little surreal to walk among the piles of rubble, and looked something like the pictures you see after a tornado.
We took my dad to dinner to celebrate the demolition, an early birthday for Richard, and a reading goal completed by the little boys. My mom was out of town to help take care of my grandpa who had surgery for cancer today. My day has been largely devoted to hopeful waiting for news. So far so good.
I see some essentials in these photos that Richard captured. We have brothers who are also best friends, markers, a project, and lots of candy. There’s not much more that you need in life.
A couple of weekends ago Richard and the big boys had a blowout winter sport extravaganza. I stayed warm and enjoyed a visit with my sisters.
This post looks short, but it took an hour to get these photos to post. I wrote and deleted a long post while I waited. You’re welcome. Now go have a great weekend.
My brother-in-law Richard tells me that in Utah, the holiday is called Washington and Lincoln Day. Well, we celebrated it by climbing rocks.
Did you notice that Sparky is smiling in that one?
Well, that’s all for today. I need to get back to sorting papers, magazines, and toys from all of the baskets on our shelves. So far I have discovered that we have missed several non-required school assignments, allowed numerous gift certificates to expire, and that I need to stop hoarding personal letters. I also need to part with about 15 years of Taste of Home magazines. I just know that if I get rid of them, I am sure to be called to the Relief Society and have to plan meals for masses of people again and I will need those “recipes for feeding a crowd”. Come to think of it, perhaps it’s good insurance to keep them around.
We decided to take the kids to Snow Canyon on Saturday. Richard’s parents, his brother Russ and his family, and his sister Shari and two of her sons, and Rebecca’s daughter Susannah came with us. We had a great time walking beside the red sandstone cliffs. The cousins were very happy together. We brought a picnic lunch of fried chicken, rolls, and fruit which we ate ravenously after our adventures on the Johnson Canyon walk.
It seemed that the uniform of the day was fluorescent colors for most of the kids. They made a pretty rainbow along the path as they hurried ahead of the group.
We saw many families on bicycles in the park, and someday maybe we’ll do that. It seems funny that we haven’t taken advantage of this canyon before with the kids.
We landed at Rebecca’s house and ate cinnamon rolls and played on her swing (well, some of us). Sparky treed one of her cats and generally bothered Rebecca’s other cats. The adults went out for Mexican food that evening and had a great time.
As we talked about the day, Richard remembered all of the years of hearing about family gatherings and not being able to participate. Now we’re living a very different life with our parents and many siblings nearby. I am glad to be able to be within a few hours drive to the red rocks of southern Utah and the nice folks that live among them.