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Cannelloni!
Cabbage Rolls!
Soups!
Stews!
Spaghetti Sauce!
Bread!

burritos!

breakfast: warm a tortilla in a cast iron pan (unless you have them fresh made from a tortilleria), spread some refried beans toward the bottom of the tort, toss in some hot sauce and/or salsa, a little cheese if she likes it, a little meat (bacon, chorizo, ham, etc) if she's into it, and top with scrambled eggs. Roll it up, wrap it in plastic wrap, sharpie it to mark what it is/when you made it, and freeze. I made about 20 last time I did a batch, with a dozen eggs scrabmled and one can of refrieds. Throw a movie or your ipod on and it's like it's not even work. Tastes best if you thaw it out for a whole day in the fridge, but you can nuke them straight out of the freezer too.

I plan to make some bean/rice/cheese/hot sauce/salsa burritos as well for an even cheaper and less-breakfasty supply of burritos in my freezer.

I did this recently for a friend who was ill. I made eastern nc bbq, chicken pesto pasta, white chicken chili, sausage egg & cheese breakfast sandwhiches, chicken nuggets (for the kids), blueberry french toast casserole with blueberry sauce, apple-sausage stuffed pork chops, asian ginger marinated flank steak, chimmichurri marinated pork loin, pot roast, and brown and serve rolls (made bread, shaped into rolls, and parbaked). She said everything froze and cooked/reheated very well.

Avoid creamy things, as they tend not to freeze well. If you are making something cheesy, leave the cheese out, shred it, and store it in a separate bag for your friend to add when she reheats/cooks. Make sure you label things very well, include clear cooking/reheating instructions, and double bag/wrap everything to avoid freezer burn.

This is a great thing you are doing! Your friend will remember this for years to come.

@professorchaos, I want to be your friend!
I make and freeze King Ranch casseroles for this purpose. Make them less spicy for families with kids and nursing Mothers.
I also do oatmeal cookies for Moms with new babies because someone did it for me a long time ago.

@joyy there isn't really a recipe. I toss a bunch of cubed bread, blueberries, and a block of cubed cream cheese into a casserole dish. Then I mix a bunch of eggs, (usually half whole eggs and half eggwhites), some milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and a bit of sugar. I pour that over the bread, blueberries, and cream cheese and freeze or bake. If you freeze it, let it thaw in the fridge overnight before baking. Give it a stir a little ways through baking to get swirls of melty cream cheese throughout. The blueberry sauce is just berries, a little water (I think about a half cup to about 2 cups of berries), a few tablespoons of lemon juice, enough cornstarch to thicken (maybe a tablespoon? I just shake some in), and sugar to taste. Cook it until it thickens. Works very well with strawberries, also. It's almost as good as my regular french toast. I only make it when I make challah. I soak day old challah in the same eggy mixture above over night. Then fry up like any other french toast. The long soaking time makes the center of the toast custardy. Soooo good with some great maple syrup and fresh berries.

@ocarol I'm always happy to have new friends! I live alone so I need other people to cook for.

@annatr you bring up a good point about freezer space. Before undertaking a big freezer food endeavor, I always find out how much freezer space the recipient has available. Sauces are a great option for people with limited freezer space. Things like pesto freeze really well in ice cube trays. Then pop out the cubes and toss them into a freezer bag, and it's very easy to make exactly how much sauce you need without having to defrost a whole giant batch; just pull out a few cubes.

Salmon or crabs cakes, individual mac and cheese squares, homemade mini pizzas using English muffins or pita bread, meatballs (naked) add a few individual sauce such as marinara, Stroganoff ect sauces. Chicken anything.

Just about everything can be done - if you've got a Food Saver. I've cooked whole chickens, steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket etc. Let 'em cool and then stuff into food saver bags - suck the air out and seal. Drop em in the freezer. Oh and when you freeze this way, it takes up less space.

For the new family - baby coming home, having gone through the process a few too many times, your efforts should be well appreciated.

I love the frozen sauce in ice cube trays idea! Sauce freezes well, and that will be great on space.

Fresh pasta would be wonderful, and that can be frozen. Sure, she could boil some boxed stuff, but if you have a pasta maker, nothing beats fresh. Or filled pasta (ravioli, tortellini, pierogi) would be amazing. Bread also freezes well, and if you slice it up before you freeze it, she can defrost individual slices as she needs them.

The frozen stuff is great, but I also like taking a few ready made sweet/snack things after baby comes. Sometimes there are meals out of the wazoo, but a new breastfeeding mom who is learning to eat one handed loves to have a stash of banana muffins too.

Damn I wish my wife and I had friends like you. We never got any help from our friends when the kids were born. Blankets, some clothes for kids yes, but no food, and next to no visits or anything. I think it has to do with the fact that most of them are scared of kids! Oh well. Sauces are better then prepped pasta I'd say, and stews and soups are always nice, Maybe even some desserts.

Avoid spicy food as it changes the taste of mommy's milk which can be undesirerable. The less messy the food the better, as sometimes you're just too tired to clean up the mess! (which leads to a nice help, offer to come over and watch the baby so mommy can rest, or even help out with some chores, especially if it's a ceasarian birth!), and yes one handed eating, or something you can eat while moving about is a good choice.

More then anything, ask the new parents what they would like to eat. Different babies bring different changes. With my daughter, we could still do everything much the same, though I was doing almost all the housework as well as cooking because she was a C-section and wifey couldn't do everything, doctor ordered her to rest as much as she could till the incision healed (and I enforced this far more then she liked.) With My son (2nd child) we could sorely have used another set of hands for a few days, just to help keep up with everything, or even take my daughter for a few hours to give us some extra time to get things done.

I'd go for individual portions more than big things that take a long time to cook. They probably won't be entertaining too much just now! Actually, I'd probably be more inclined to do some grocery shopping for them--fruit, salad items, a plain cooked protein (like a chicken or veggie burgers) that can be used in lots of ways, bread, peanut butter and jelly, and so forth--than make lots of meals. Also, remember that 'mom' may be trying to shed some pregnancy pounds (based upon my cousin's recent experience).

When my friend had a baby in February, I made, froze, and brought her revved up mac & cheese, lasagna, and chicken fettuccine alfredo. I made them all in square aluminum pans to keep half pans of lasagna from going to waste.

I also made and froze a few dozen cookies and some pans of brownies. With everyone stopping by to see the new baby, she wasn't going to have time to make anything to offer guests, so I was able to help her out there.