Forget flowers, send comfort meals to grieving or to help new mums

If you know someone who has just had a baby or is grieving for a loved one, then what about sending them a home-cooked dinner, rather than a bunch of flowers?

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A MUM has launched a new business which allows people to send home-cooked comfort food to friends and family in moments of celebration or sadness – instead of the traditional bunch of flowers.

Monique Treder, 37, from North Balgowlah, said when she was living in New Zealand, someone she didn’t know very well delivered a home-cooked meal to her door after the birth of her second son, which really touched her.

“That person had no idea what an impact that had on me,” she said. “It brought me to tears.”

North Balgowlah mum Monqiue Treder has launched a new business where people can send meals instead of flowers. It is aimed in particular for families that just had a new baby. Pregnant Rachel Keeling and her daughter Lily, 2, is receiving a box of meals from Monique.

When she recently lost her grandfather, her grandmother’s house was full of flowers, but her fridge was bare.

She said years ago, gifting food was common and she wanted to give people the chance to send food parcels to people they love.

“It’s such a wonderful way to let people know you are thinking of them,” said Mrs Treder, who has two boys, Max, 4, and Will, 3.

North Balgowlah mum Monqiue Treder has launched a new business where people can send comfort meals instead of flowers.

She has had more than a dozen orders in the last month through word of mouth, some as far away as Wollongong and the Blue Mountains, with her Happetite Food Gifts website only launching this week.

“This isn’t lean cuisine, it’s good solid Italian cooking,” said Mrs Treder, who employs a chef to replicate her 90-year-old grandmother’s recipes.

Baked lasagna, one of the comfort meals made by mum Monique Treder, from North Balgowlah, offered in her meal packs.

Monique Treder prepares fresh, home-cooked dishes to send to friends and family in need. Here's her rustic traditional British bread and butter pudding.

The food gifts can be for one, three, five or seven nights, and feed two adults and two children. They include condiments, salad and sweet treats, plus desserts for the five and seven day packages.

Go to happetitefood.com.au.