For seniors that have trouble shopping or just don’t like doing it, meal planning is a great way to cut down on trips to the store. With home care assistance to help with things like chopping, cleaning vegetables, and portioning food seniors can prepare many of their meals in advance so that they don’t have to cook every night to have a healthy and delicious meal. Home care assistance also will help seniors clean up after prepping meals which can involve a lot of pots and pans, utensils and gadgets. Some expert meal prep tips just for seniors are:
Label Everything
It’s very important for all the food that is prepped to be clearly labeled. Seniors who have trouble writing with a permanent marker or who have poor handwriting should let their home care provider write the labels. Every label should include the date the food was prepped, what it is, how much of it there is or what the weight is if it’s meat or cheese, and what the directions are to heat it up. That way seniors will always know what they’re eating and how to cook it.
Mix And Match
One of the secrets to prepping meals that seniors will actually want to eat is to prepare a number of mix and match options. Prepping a variety of vegetables, individual portions of rice or noodles, and then a variety of lean proteins and sauces gives seniors more choices for what they want to eat. If your senior loved one only has one meal prepped and they have to eat that one meal if they don’t feel like eating that then they probably just won’t eat, which isn’t healthy. But if they can choose any vegetable, any side, and any lean protein they want they are much more likely to sit down and eat a great meal.
Invest In Specialty Containers
Prepping containers that will last can require a bit of a financial investment. But they are typically heavier duty plastic that will survive the microwave and dishwasher better than cheap plastic. Plus, having specialty containers that will hold things like soups makes meal preparation really easy. It’s worth the cost to buy high quality containers designed for meal prep.
Leave An Option For Each Meal
It’s also important to give seniors an option for each meal. Prepping is economical and a great way to make it easy for seniors to heat up a delicious healthy meal, but no one wants a proper meal for every meal. It’s a good idea to make sure that your senior loved one has a quick option if they don’t want any of what they have prepped. Keeping peanut butter and good bread, some canned soup, pasta, beans, and other quick but healthy foods in the pantry give seniors the option to just have a sandwich or some soup if they’re not that hungry and they don’t want to cook a whole meal because they just want something light.
If you or an aging loved one is considering home care assistance in Turlock, CA, please contact the caring staff at Provident Care Home Care today at (209) 578-1210.
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