Bless you for doing this - I delivered MOW for two years and unfortunately some of those meals were pretty nasty. I'm sure you will get some great ideas here.

Meat loaf....chicken pasta veggie casserole, beef stew, ham scalloped potatoes and pineapple casserole.
If you need recipes I have some.
Linda C

Shepherd's Pie

1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
1 onion chopped
1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2 While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3 Sautonions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4 Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5 Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6 Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Serves four.
Simply Recipes http://www.simplyrecipes.com

Chicken and Dressing Casserole

* 3 cups cooked diced chicken
* 1 can cream of mushroom soup
* 1 can cream of celery soup
* 2 cups chicken broth
* 1/2 cup melted butter
* 1 package herb-seasoned stuffing mix, (6 to 8 oz)
* 1 cup shredded cheese, Swiss or Cheddar

PREPARATION:
Combine soups and chicken broth; add diced chicken to the mixture. Add butter to dressing mix. Combine chicken mixture with the dressing mixture. Place in a 2 to 2 1/2-quart casserole and bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Top with shredded cheese during the last 5 minutes if desired.
Serves 6.

I have been getting Meals on Wheels for almost 4 months now, since my last hospital stay, and it looks like it will be an indefinite arrangement because my illness is long-term.

When I first realised I had to rely on MOW, I had awful visions of Pig-swill. I suppose it does depend on where you live.

However, I'm perfectly happy with the meals, actually, have no complaints at all (except they keep putting in turnip and pumpkin which I've requested they don't - sometimes they just forget!). Just the sorts of things my mother used to make, so think 'good old-fashioned home-cooked'. After all, most MOWs are intended for the elderly, and are prepared by the almost-elderly!

I suppose if I did have a complaint to make, it would be the lack of a thick juicy steak or a lamb chop or two to get my teeth into. However, the chicken legs make a good substitute to satisfy the hungry savage!

Off the top of my head, meals have included the following:

Spaghetti bolognese (usually served with cheese melted/baked on top and a grilled half-tomato).
Meat lasagne
Vegetarian lasagne
Shepherd's Pie
Sausages and Onion Gravy (sausages cut into chunks)
Sausages in Tomato, Mushroom and Onion Sauce (ditto)
Crumbed fish (served with tartare sauce)
Crumbed chicken legs (with gravy)
Marinated pork strips
Meat or chicken pie
Chicken mornay
Sweet and sour pork (or some other meat)
Roast meat and gravy
Corned beef with parsley sauce
Cubed meat in a sort of mushroom sauce
Apricot Chicken and rice
Meatloaf (several different kinds)
Herbed Rissoles (meat balls)
Salmon Patties (with some sort of white sauce - parsley, or chives, or cheese or something added, usually)
Curried meat casserole and rice

There have been 2 or 3 different casserole-y type things, very delish.

It doesn't sound exciting and is definitely not 'gourmet', but really they are very nice indeed, and it's one of the few pleasures left to me to open up the package to see 'what I've got today'. Almost as good as a wrapped gift! It has pleasantly surprised me to find that everything is cooked to perfection - nothing over-done, nothing-underdone. I don't know how they manage it.

Now, it's midnight as I type, my memory is a sieve, and I've had many meals, but not too many repeats, so this isn't a comprehensive list by any means.

Each meal comes with at least 3, and up to 5 different vegetables per meal. So far I've counted 16 - carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, pattypan squash, swede, pumpkin, beans, peas, corn on the cob, cabbage, asparagus, grilled tomato, potato (mashed, jacket, baked, au gratin), sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, occasionally a medley. Sometimes the carrots or zucchinis are cut into rounds, sometimes into sticks - it all helps with the 'variety'.

With each meal, we have a choice of Soup of the Day or a side-salad. I'm not a soupy person, so I have the salad, and pad it out with something else for dinner later. These vary enormously, too. I've had coleslaw, pasta salad, potato salad, rice salad, always with 'something else' like tomato and lettuce. Additions may be sliced gherkins, corn niblets, tomato chunks or slices, lettuce (sometimes shredded), asparagus, pineapple pieces, grated or cubed cheese, grapes, cucumber, grated carrot or zucchini, boiled egg, beetroot, peas, celery etc. It's different every day. No dressing because that would mean soggy salad.

Desserts are the real old-fashioned delights like bread and butter pudding, baked rice pudding, apricot (or peach or apple or almond or berry or cherry) sponge (cake) with custard, meringue and fruit with cream, chocolate or butterscotch self-saucing pudding with cream, a sort of blancmange thing with a scoop of cherry something on top, rice with prunes or other fruit, a vanilla slice or some other slice (which you'd call a bar cookie), fruited jellies and cream, apple pie, fruit salads, fruit crumbles and custard, trifle. The desserts I get may be limited by the fact that I have requested NO raisins, sultanas, currants etc.

We also get a small orange juice each day. On Fridays, I get 2 extra meals (frozen) for the weekend. No desserts except for 2 little snack-packs of fruit in juice, and 2 individual serve packets of Milo (a chocolate milk drink base).

I think I do pretty well for $aus6 per meal. I get an occasional loaf of bread tossed in when available, too.

In my area, around 200 meals are prepared and delivered each day.

Speaking as one now dependent on MOW for my survival, I have to say that I admire anyone who volunteers for the service, and that I for one deeply appreciate what you do.

Daisy, you are very lucky to get meals like that. The ones I've heard about in my area are horrible and unless you live in the city here you can't get any MOW at all. A big thank-you to any and all who prepare MOW's. It's a big, big job!

Turkey roll-ups in gravy...roll turkey around stuffing or mash potato cover in gravy with a side of green beans.

Good old fashioned comfort foods

Chicken & Dumplings
Beef Stew
Meatloaf and mashed taters
Spaghetti

The MOW meal that the people we delivered to used to love was Poor Man's Pierogies, or Lazy Man's Pierogies.

9 lasagna noodles, very al dente
8 cups mashed potatoes
1 large or 2 small onions, diced
2.5 cups of cheddar grated cheddar cheese
1.5 cups of diced ham
.5 stick unsalted butter
.5 cups of parsley, diced
1 Tsp ground black pepper
1 pinch salt
Optional
Garlic, either in the taters or in with onions
.5 Tsp cummin
Freshly chopped chives instead of parsley

Boil lasagna noodles until they are al dente, they should still have a bite to them. Soften the onion, and garlic, in the butter with a pinch of salt, and the black pepper. Make mashed potatoes the way you normally would*. Spread a thin layer of taters in a lasagna dish, followed by a sprinkling of buttered onions, and then followed by a thin layer of cheese. Put a layer of noodles down then repeat the taters, onions, and cheese. After the 5th layer of taters, onions, and cheese, there should be 3 layers of noodles, sprinkle the ham over the top. Bake in 350F degree oven for 35 minutes covered, remove cover and bake for another 10 minutes. Add parsley after baking.

Note, instant taters work really well for this dish.

*Ingredients and recipe for mashed potatoes NOT included.

Thank you all for your imputed. It is always good to brainstorm others for new ideas. We live in a small rural community and we provide meals for aprox. 35-50 people, twice a week. Each church and service club take a turn once a month. This way the volunteerism is spread around the community and there is not much burn out of volunteers. Our meals are $3.00 and we provide the main dish and desert. We use fresh vegetables and fruit that are in season and we try to keep the meal colourful, as it makes it more appealing.
I would recommend anyone reading this who might be thinking of doing any volunteer work to pick up the phone and call around your own community. The rewards are great!
Thanks again everyone.