Great Tips! I am a new mom of a 3 month old and it's amazing how little time you have. In addition to these tips, if she's breastfeeding avoid foods that can upset baby - broccoli, cabbage, beans, cheese, onions...
Stick to gentle foods like potato, sweet potato, and carrots. This is also good for mom who is recovering from a big event.

In the colder months, I make a pureed vegetable soup with a little cream and package it into microwaveable cups, so moms and dads can just pop it in the microwave, warm, and then drink it up one handed, like a Campbell's Soup at Hand, really. In the warmer months, I often do the same thing, but with a chilled soup (especially in strawberry and peach season). I also make quick, filling meals that new parents can share in just a few minutes, so that as soon as baby goes down, they can heat, eat, and go to sleep themselves. Usually, it's a frittata with potatoes, onions, herbs, etc. served with a simple green salad. Just a few minutes to heat up while they dress the salad with homemade dressing I send with them, and they've got a really comforting, easy meal to share together for a few minutes. I always write clear instructions, so even if the less cook-savvy parent is preparing the meal, they can do it without too much trouble. (For some of our friends, we've found that microwave reheating can even be complicated, so we really try to make it as simple as possible.)

I'm a first time mom (holding my 3-week-old strapped to my chest right now) and if someone would just bring me lots of cut-up fresh fruit and washed-and-cut crudite, I'd die of happiness.

Fruit and veg are the first things to go when you're tired and desperate, and frozen cookies and granola bars do not a healthy breastfeeding diet make.

My friends who have had kids have requested chicken parm. I also make sure to package it in individual containers, so that they can easily be popped in the freezer and eaten for a quick lunch or dinner. Plus, I take along a package of diapers too, usually the next size up from newborn. Can't hurt!

My friends are usually more than covered with offerings for dinner and lunch - so I often bring over a big bowl of mixed fruit (blackberries, strawberries, nectarines, grapes, etc.) with a little bit of mint sugar to have for breakfast, dessert, or snacks.

Not only is it good for a quick bite, it doesn't upset the baby's tummy (like onions and/or dairy) and it helps with Mom's digestion.

Before I had my baby, I made and froze about a dozen entrees such as lasagne and enchiladas, both packed with veggies, that we could easily heat for dinner. I was very grateful for those after my baby came. My in-laws sometimes brought premade food like sandwiches but I agree that fresh food was what I craved in those days.

For nursing moms, oatmeal is recommended for helping increase milk supply, and I found that to be true.

When I had my son, only one person brought us food. We were shocked, actually, and very lucky that my mom flew out to help us. While she was there she made comfort foods like king ranch chicken and pasta dishes. Warm, caloric foods were what I craved.

The timing can be important, too. Many of our friends waited until the baby was 4-5 weeks old before bringing food over, so that we wouldn't be overwhelmed with visitors. But then that meant that we didn't have anything to eat in the first couple of weeks! Nowadays I try to bring food over in the first few days, and tell them that I'm only dropping food off and can meet the baby later.

Amen to Statgrrl's comment! Put together a pretty hand-written menu, throw in a few magazines, above all be thoughtful. But the delivery itself should be equivalent to ding dong ditching. I once had friends "drop off" a meal. They stayed for dinner. Awkward!

I think you should bring something that she could freeze well. Often young mothers get a lot of help in the beginning (husband stays home for the beginning, mothers come and help, friends come and bring food) but then the novelty is over and the mothers are expected to cope on their own, so if she actually has help when you bring the food she can freeze it and use it when she really needs it.

Yes to the fresh foods. All I wanted in the world the first month or two with both of my children was fresh fruit and veggies and something to drink. Things that are filling and easy to eat with one hand. I literally drop them off on the doorstop when I bring meals. I text them a few minutes later to say I left a little something on the porch.

I always call, tell her I will be dropping off a ready-to-go dinner and putting another in the freezer, and then make an appointment for the drop-off.
Ready-to-go I usually do a warm lemon chicken salad with potatos and snap peas, melon wedges, crusty bread, and brownies for dessert.
I put a large baked ziti in the freezer, also a loaf of bread and some ice cream. I label everything so if it's a visiting mother-in-law or other guest making dinner, there's no confusion.
And yes, literally drop off the meal, stopping only long enough to tell her she looks lovely, the baby smells divine, and her house feels serene.

Full meals were lovely in my first few weeks home with the baby...but I also loved it when people brought by simple things like banana muffins middle of the night feedings when I was starving. A simple, delicious treat was perfect. And I totally agree with all the comments about dropping the food off and waiting to visit until a later date. It's so much work to prepare your house/self/baby, etc. for visitors in the beginning.

My hubby & I had our first daughter on Christmas day. I'd prepared a few meals in advance--chicken pot pie, lasagna, soups--for the freezer, but having my mom staying with us for the first week and a half was a godsend! She and I made meals together, cutting prep time in half, and occasionally making enough to freeze. (Hubby napped with baby in the living room.) I imagine, though, that women who have babies in May have different wants than women who have babies in winter--I wanted hot meals (to counter the cold damp of a Pacific Northwest winter), and if it was comfort food, even better!

I am such a big believer in delivering already frozen food. When I had my son we didn't get much food but we got a few things, and even that was a little overwhelming because they were large pans of food. We were tired of managing and eating the leftovers. When I cook for people, I split it all up into meal-sized portions, wrap well, and freeze. Then I deliver it frozen (with a phone call before coming to make sure they have space in the freezer--if not I wait a week and tell them to make some space). That way they can eat it the next day or even a month on, when the food has stopped coming but they're just as busy and overwhelmed! I also like freezing some sweet stuff if I know the family likes that. Muffins are perfect so they can pop one into the toaster oven for breakfast or a snack. Unbaked cookie dough is also good, especially if there's an older sibling in the house.

I'm also a new mom, with a 7 w.o. baby. Around four weeks post-baby, one friend cooked us a quiche and also prepared fresh, simple salads (one bib lettuce, cherry tomato and leek, one mixed berries with agave nectar) in gallon-sized ziploc bags. I thought this was genius! Not only did these prepared salads stretch beyond the one meal, they were exactly what my recovering bod needed...

I guess it's different in Canada... no one brought us food. Ditto my best friend, who had a baby two weeks later. The only prepared meal we had was the one our post-partum doula made for us for when we returned from the hospital (she also made muffins).

But... well, I've had 2 children, and have never had a problem using both hands to eat, or with dribbling soup on a baby... so I am more than a bit confused at how hard it seems to be for so many new parents to continue to eat and cook without help from family and friends. (Our family doctor, mother of 3, convinced us to get a swing, which made a huge difference in being able to get things done -- even with a colicky baby; maybe that was it?)

For great ideas on what to bring new parents, I would check out Faith's casserole cookbook first, as well as Cook's Illustrated "The Best Make-Ahead Recipe".

When my best friend's husband suffered a heart-attack only 4 weeks after she gave birth, I made her jars of my best from-scratch chicken soup with matzo balls.

A good friend of mine just had a baby yesterday afternoon too. Thank you all so much for your tips on what upset babies stomach and the portioning of the food. I am just starting to have friends have babies and so none of these had occurred to me!

Most breastfeeding experts say that is a myth that new breastfeeding mothers need to avoid certain foods. Most newborns do fine on whatever the mom wants to eat. If some sort of distress show up it is more like to be an intolerance of some sort (dairy, soy, etc.) rather than cabbage.

New moms, me certainly, adore fresh fruit and veg especially if they deliver in the summer. So refreshing with hormone flashes and nursing taking a lot out of you.

My parents would bring us a tray of homemade sandwiches every time they came over and jars of sectioned grapefruit. It was such a lovely treat! My boss brought a chicken pot pie and all the fixings for a huge salad. My sister brought a big veggie burger meal, my sister-in-law brought containers and containers of treats from a specialty foods store near us.
Those first few weeks were a blur, but I remember the food people brought us cause that's all we really ate!
Never visit a new family without bringing treats!

A mom in my prenatal classes told us all about a shower she had given in her honor where everyone brought food for their freezer for after the baby was born. I thought it was a brilliant idea!

I try not to stay at a new mom's house when dropping off dinner (though we've been asked to do it a few times!). We try to avoid lasagna (because everyone else does it) and the only thing I didn't eat myself when I was a new mama was one of those processed casserole-y type things.

The other important thing we do is use disposable or cheap containers so no one has to worry about returning them later. When I have organized meals, I tell people to drop by a few days later to pick up their containers.

I also try to make enough for leftovers, and when organizing meals I go for every other day. This way they could make dinners they wanted with less stress, and the meals last longer! =)

I always bring food when there is a new baby. Generally I try to do a frozen food drop off (usually shepherds pie and/or veggie lasagna) in the first few days and then bring a fresh meal of their choice later on when we've been invited for an actual visit with the family. I love the idea of cut up fresh fruits and veggies though and will definitely be adding that in the future.

We COOKED and froze when I was pregnant and it was AMAZING. The best were pre-made and frozen breakfast burritos. I was always starving in the morning and in two microwaved minutes, I had hot eggs, beans, and vegis all wrapped in a tortilla. Other favorites were: spinach casserole, bean and cheese burritos, frozen pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

Haha- I wish I could have given the "don't stay" advice to my extended family who showed up National Lampoon-style in their RV and expected to be entertained. Oh! And they didn't bring food. We bought them takeout. (Money is not an issue for them- just social skills). As a newly breastfeeding mom, I craved diluted juice. Someone who would have brought a bunch of apple and cranberry juice would have been my favorite person! I couldn't get enough of lasagna and baked ziti- I felt like I couldn't get enough calories those first couple of weeks. I would have loved someone to call and see what groceries we needed- milk, cereal, etc. I got hungry at the weirdest times. I'm not sure if other people had troubles with strong foods, but my baby was totally ok with my garlicky, Sriracha-laden diet. :)

We had friends bring food over the when my son was about three weeks old. My mom was at the house for the first 10 days or so, my MIL fed us well the second week, and so we didn't really need any food during that time. I was craving conversation with friends by the third week so it worked well that that was when they wanted to feed us. Warm comfort food was fabulous. I also like MamaGigi's idea (and others) about breakfast foods--I never seemed to have the wherewithal to actually get it together to eat a proper breakfast and yet I was always starving.

Mschatelaine - it must be where you live! I had at least 8 meals dropped off when I had my little one here in Vancouver, Canada and my friend had the same. Yes, you don't need the meals - you'll survive without them - but its sure nice not to have to think about it!

When some friends had a baby recently, I first asked if they had room in their freezer, then brought them some dinners (packaged in microwaveable serving-sized containers) ready to freeze. That way, they already had ready-made dinners in the freezer before they came home from the hospital.

After the baby was born, we dropped off a real care package with some variety: a quiche and a coffee-cake (so they could grab a quick bite or offer something to family who might be coming by, or throw it in the freezer if they wanted to), a bagged salad and dressing, fresh bread, and (again, after asking about freezer space) more serving-sized frozen meals.

For the freezer, I made beef stew (no onions, and surprisingly flavorful even without them!) and a very mild pulled pork with slider-sized rolls (also frozen). It must have come in handy, because they kept calling me up to thank me every time they had dinner!

As a recent new mom, kudos to those who have or will bring food...this is such a huge gift. We didn't get any meals, but the only food gift we received was great = fresh eggs from their own chickens. Oh, and I say don't ask, just bring it (don't stay). We did some of the "oh no, we're fine" when really we should have just accepted anything.

I recently made and froze a bag full of empanadas for a friend with a new baby. A one-handed, eat-anytime kind of food filled with meat and veggies, and all she had to do was pull out however many she wanted and reheat. She said that they were greatly appreciated and tasty.

My boyfriend's sister had a baby when we had only just got together so I was sooo anxious to get it exactly right. In the end I went with loads and loads of easy to eat fruit (it was summer, so lots of strawberries and grapes and pre cut melon) and lots of fancy soft drinks. I'd read that fluids are good to take for breastfeeding mums.

Our group of friends uses takethemameal.com. The organizer can put the phone number and address of the new parents in and there will be mapping/directions. As people sign up for meals, they have the options to include the menu, leave their phone number, and their email address. If you leave an e-mail address you'll get a reminder sent.

I always include breakfast items that can double as dessert or snack. Quickbreads with fruits, brown sugar, applesauce, cinnamon, etc. It's often easy for a new dad to stop and get a pizza or drive-thru food on the way home from work, but getting up early to go grab breakfast is not as easy.

Spanikopita! It can be frozen, and can be eaten with one hand in small squares (or made into triangles).

No one brought us food, but before our son was born I filled the freezer with food. I was nursing and definitely over-relied on granola bars; next time I will definitely make some snack things, too, like muffins.

I think the breakfast ideas on here are great, too.