1. In many areas, an option such as Meals on Wheels is available for seniors. Meals are often also provided at senior citizen centers. For our family these are not an option. Our senior has difficulty swallowing and chewing food as well as very specific likes and dislikes. Most food provided by Meals on Wheels is either too difficult to chew and swallow, or something on the 'dislike' list. In addition, many seniors have health concerns which necessitate watching carbs, calories, fats, or salt. It seems to me that most institutional food is difficult for this group.
2. As time has gone on, our senior is having greater mobility issues which make it difficult to spend much time cooking. As a result, her nutrition has suffered when she doesn't feel up to cooking. Lack of appetite is also a consideration.
I started this project by doing entrees for my seniors, but recently, it has made more sense to provide a complete meal. If I want to be sure my senior will eat the meals I need to find out what foods sound good to them and then prepare the meals in a form that can be eaten.
A couple of days ago, I was planning to make containers with meat, mashed potatoes and vegetables, but when I arrived to make the meals, my senior expressed a desire for Funeral Potatoes, so I cancelled the mashed potatoes for this time. She loves roast beef, so we stopped in at Lower Foods outlet store and got a 2 pound package of precooked, thin sliced beef ends. I put the meat into a food chopper so the meat would be easier to chew and swallow. Then I made a 9 x 13 pan of funeral potatoes. Last I cooked some peas and carrots to a consistency that she could eat.
I put 1/3 meat, 1/3 potatoes and 1/3 vegetables into fifteen 9.5 ounce containers before placing the containers in the freezer. A short warm up in the microwave makes a complete meal easy to prepare.
Since winter is almost here, I think the next freezer meal will be something warm and filling for a cold day. My senior is hoping for a nice meal of ham and beans.
9 comments:
Wow, these freezer recipes are nice options for seniors or the elderly. And making the healthy food for seniors is important to keep them away from the ills. We post one blog on freeze recipe too recently, and we recommend it for seniors to consider as their options. check this post 5 freezer meals for elderly recipes.
This is great. My mom turned 95 yesterday and I’ve lately I’ve noticed she’s eating slower and slight difficulty. I’ve also noticed she’s lost weight. I think this meal prep will be ideal for her.
I love that you took the consideration of something they wanted. Of course it’s for them… so it should be good they like!! Especially comfort food that you know they’ll eat
Great job, important one too ! I had my dad living with me for his final 12 years. As things became harder for him to eat, I went with lots of bean and veggie soups - American, Mexican and Italian variations of seasonings and canned flavored diced tomatoes, rice and pasta dishes ( farfalle pasta was his favorite as it was easy for him to pick up and looked fancy !) and omlets and egg bakes with discussions on different veggies ( precook his but I like mine firmer) ——- all went well the last few years. He always liked oatmeal -as do I - so assorted types or frozen fruit added was delicious and a good, easy to eat option ! Your freeze ahead ideas would have been added ease and nutrition ! Great work !! Pat. In NJ.
I make almost all recipes in bite-sized pieces so there is no cutting needed when eating the meals. It did take some experimenting with cooking times and such but few everyday recipes can not be converted to easy to eat versions. A favorite is chicken cordon bleu casserole. By dicing and combining the precooked chicken, onion and ham then mixing with undiluted cream of chicken soup and peas no cutting when served is necessary. I put the chicken mix in the bottom of mini loaf pans, top with some baby swiss cheese and top that with tater tots. Add bread or rolls and canned fruit and it is a complete meal. Half an hour in the oven and dinner is ready.
Thank you for bringing up this subject. I find myself in the same position as your friend, except the swallowing part. I hope you know what a special thing you are doing.
I am taking on meals for my mother-in-law so I thank you all for all this information. It is really important that seniors can eat healthy with minimal meal prep stress.
Son in law having back surgery with 12 weeks out of work. This is a
Great idea while he’s alone at home during the day, thanks!
This sounds perfect for my son and 2yo granddaughter.
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