Funny (actually not funny at all), I just did this for a friend. There are these nice foil containers that have foil lids at the store. They are small square containers. I used these and made some chicken pot pies, lasagna, beef stroganoff, mac and cheese, chicken noodle soup, vegetable soup (I didn't put the soup in the foil containers), meat loaf, and mashed potatoes. I also put in some marinated chicken breasts and pork tenderloin. Put instructions on how to cook on top that can be ready by a non-cooker in case someone else is heating up food for her. It was a full weekend of cooking, but it was enough food for dinner for 2 weeks. I chose frozen food because so many other brought ready made stuff. I also took over some more of the foil containers for any food brought to her that would freeze well. She has a full freezer right now which gives me peace of mind.

I would highly recommend that you do what you can to make sure all of the meals are "meal sized" and not big dishes. For my friend, anything big made her feel her loss even more sharply. She felt she needed her husband to help share the food. I also chose to minimize the mess with the foil containers because just coping with life is so hard right now. I know its not environmentally friendly, but it is friend friendly.

^ Wow, what a great friend! I think you actually captured all my ideas and then some!

Someone at work recently lost her father, and we sent some fruit from Harry & David. I love the idea of homemade gifts as well.

Also, my friends and I like Edible Arrangements-- pretty & healthy (since many people are bringing heavy comfort food).

If it seems she will be inundated with food (as mourners so often are) think ahead to the next few months. She's going to likely need help or time to adjust for some time to come. Purchasing a few months from a local cleaning service or even a gift certificate to a local carryout or delivery place could be great. Cramming a freezer full can in and of itself be overwhelming.

In this case I would probably focus more on the toddler. Providing an assortment of easy-to-eat foods for the child will make mom's life relatively easier. If it's a typical toddler without any special dietary restrictions, I would get some cheerios, goldfish crackers, freeze-dried fruit, little cups of applesauce, graham crackers, muffins, edamame, etc. I wish all the best to your friend.

Using disposable dishes is a real help, even if it's not environmentally friendly or whatever. Aside from clean up, remembering which dish belongs to which friend can get very overwhelming.

I agree with Displaynamehasalreadybeentaken -it's been my experience that while in mourning, the last thing I usually think to do or want to do is eat, though I know I should, but taking care of her child is most likely an automatic priority, and easy is best... Maybe, if you two know each other well enough, you could offer to take her toddler to lunch and a park or the library, to give her some time to herself, but also to help her know that her little one is being taken care of, in this overwhelming time...?

My husband's grandmother passed away last year and we were flooded with six big dishes of lasagne. It was all tasty and it was given with good intentions but by the end we never wanted to see another pasta al forno. Also, most people brought them in stoneware which we had to keep track of and return.

Don't take lasagne, someone else is bound to have that covered. Take a ham, a strata, scalloped potatoes, an assortment of sandwich fillings and a couple loaves of bread, prepped salad ingredients and dressing, pot pies, frozen burritos, frozen soup or chili, fruit, breakfast pastries or coffee cake, gift certificates for take-out or delivery.

As Ladywild suggested, put everything in foil or in Ziploc type containers that you don't want back. Put cooking/heating instructions on each item or make a master list with instructions.

Keep in mind that during the first few days after a crisis there is usually a crowd of family to feed but in the weeks following it will just be the regular household inhabitants. Package things accordingly.

I think it's great to take distractions for children too - a new toy, colouring supplies, a costume - something quiet that requires minimal supervision. It's important to occupy children and make them feel like they aren't being forgotten in the chaos.

My friend's husband recently died. She was inundated with food. First, I would check to see what she's getting. So, one option is to get her something in a month or later. Second, I really love the foodzie monthly tasting box. My friend has been quite sad and so I thought, why not get her something fun she gets for a few months. Finally, her favorite thing she did get was some sort of mail order coffee cake, roast turkey and roast ham. She really loved that because it was different than what everyone else was bringing.

Maybe an invite to get out of the house and have tea (or stay in and have tea) is in order; if I lost my partner I'd want company (caveat, company who would also know when to leave but be available by phone). Sorry to state the obvious, but whatever she likes and needs should be the priority. I also agree that when I'm depressed, I often don't eat (the only consolation there is that I lose weight)! I know that long-term, coffee can stave off depression if she drinks that stuff.

If you are close enough friends, it might be nice to get something small and kid-focused now, and in a couple of weeks bring over something more substantial.

When my dad died, my mother hated going to the grocery store where she might run into people and have to make small talk about our loss. I would suggest that you ask your friend if you can run errands for her like picking up groceries. Help with thank you notes, stamps, return address labels, etc. would probably be appreciated as well. Anything that makes daily living easier would be appreciated.

The best thing you could do would be to organize food for her. Check out foodtidings.com. People can sign up to bring food (3 times a week works well) and leave it at the front door in two coolers- one for hot and one for cold. My church just did this for a family that lost their dad and we were able to feed them for three months. It's just one less thing for the family to have to think about- and helps with expenses.

My friend wrote an article about how to help people in that situation, based on her own experiences, and one thing she specified was that gifts of food are great, and they're best when individually packaged in meal-sized portions and freezable. Nobody wants to cook or eat, but at some point they will get hungry. Being able to throw a single serving of food in the oven or microwave is much easier than having to deal with a whole lasagna.

I'm planning to make some granola for a sympathy gift this week - I have to ship mine.

There's a great website called takethemameal where you can set up a family- share the link and people in your circle can sign up for meals in the months ahead. I find that is the easiest way to help schedule meals for families in need- they know what days to expect a meal and people can space out when to do the drop offs.

I just made a big batch of sloppy joes (Rachel Ray's recipe, but with ground turkey instead of beef) for a friend who just lost her grandmother. I gave her some ready to eat, then put another four servings or so in a quart freezer bag, along with buns and some Alexia sweet potato fries for the freezer. She said it was the "Hanukkah of sloppy joes!" They were able to eat for several days while she was getting photos ready for the funeral and not really thinking about eating. Pulled pork freezes really well, too. I love the quart freezer bags because they hardly take up any room in the freezer if you lay them flat.

Have you checked out www.GrandmasChickenSoup.com - - my company sends comfort food designed especially for a grieving family! We send chicken soup, macaroni and cheese, sweet breads . . . etc.

Our website, www.goodiesforgifts.com has an entire category of boutique food companies that ship foods gifts anywhere in the country. My favorite idea is soup. Here is the link to a fantastic company that I am sure your friend would love: http://www.goodiesforgifts.com/listings/three-month-soup-of-the-month-gift/

All of these sites are awesome - just lost a friend of a friend - she left behind a husband and a 2 yr old son - meals are set until the 28th - everything is accounted for and well documented on the site - no duplicates, no unwanted foods, allergies and dislikes noted

Having just lost my brother-in-law last week, I kind of took over the responsibility of feeding the immediate family. Thankfully, my mom, who is a fantastic cook, provided me with several great Italian meals so that I can feed my husband's family. Those meals were certainly greatly appreciated during such a difficult time.

If you are not geographically close to the recipient, your schedule does not permit a house visit or you simply do not care for cooking, send your friend or loved one a delicious home-style meal from www.theTLCkitchen.com. All of our meal gifts are chef-prepared in our USDA approved kitchen and we ship everywhere in the continental United States.