Meal/cooking options

[James]

Would anyone consider private meal deliveries rather than that provided through council services to enable independent living but at least with the knowledge that diet is healthy?

[no1mum]

As long as you know the place you are getting the food from is clean, hygienic and reputable, also important to make sure the food meets the dietary requirements of the person it is for.

[Brindleboy123]

Hi James, not sure of your personal situation but when I was caring for my Mum I used to buy meals that I knew she enjoyed from supermarket and freeze them. Also I used to freeze portion size cottage pie soups and other things that I cooked. I knew Mum would enjoy these and it just left the care agencies to take a meal out do the freezer each night and then someone to heat it through for her.

So Mum was involved I made a list and she could tick off what she wanted with full knowledge of what was in the freezer.

Bell x

[jenny lucas]

Not sure what your caree is capable of, but my MIL has now gone beyond being able to help herself from the fridge to a cook chill meal, or assemble one herself - eg, if I had left her a nice chicken pie in a cardboard pack in the fridge, and a cook-chill mashed potato with a plastic cover, she can no longer unpack the pie, cut it up, take off the cover of the mashed potato and spoon it out on to the plate, and then put the whole thing in the microwave to heat up (she 'could' physically, but mentally won't do it - it's all 'too much' for her to think about and perform now, as she has got too usedto (me!) placing a nice meal in front of her as she sits by the telly!).......BUT, she has said that if the meal were 'plated up' and left in the fridge, she could (maybe!) put it in the microwave to heat for a couple of minutes, and take it through herself on a tray to the TV chair.....

So that might be a possibility for your caree to do themselves???? You could plate up several meals like that and leave them in the fridge that might last them a day or two? Certainly an incoming carer could heat them up and serve them.

Anyway, just a thought, and it might well not be appropriate for your caree's situation.

Personally, I would most definitely use a 'delivery service' for a suitable meal, and your caree might like the 'someone else' delivering it.

On the general issue, though of a 'healthy diet', to me, if the caree is elderly, I don't see any reason to 'plague' them with healthy food they don't like! My 89 MIL will NOT eat any non-potato vegetable other than possibly mushrooms in a sauce, and won't eat fruit either. But so what? She's 89, and to me, once you get to that age and don't want to eat vegetables, well, I think you've earned the right by then!

If the caree isn't elderly, then it's a different matter of course. But a lot of elderly people seem to revert to 'nursery food' - lots of comfort food that is easy to eat and tasty and not too heavy. And what's the harm at that age?! Personally, I don't see any. So many elderly people were brought up in an age when vegetables were cooked to mush and consisted of overboiled cabbage and carrots - no wonder they aren't keen on them.

[James]

I think the ready meals from supermarkets are just too processed but like you say if that's what they like, then it's more about finding stuff that they will eat. At least they're eating something.

thanks for all your responses though

[Scally]

The main problem with processed food is that most of it is high in salt (for preservative and flavour reasons) - and salt is a cause of stroke, which is a killer. So I would avoid supermarket ready meals at all costs unless specifically labelled, as containing well under 1% sodium (or salt). A lot of older people lose their taste and add far too much salt on top, out of habit. Meals on wheels etc are generally better, and replace all table salt in the house with lo-salt alternatives.

[James]

Absolutely, I don't rate processed food myself. I never quite trust those packets or companies who make them! they're loaded with salt like you say or sugar or fat and the portions aren't good sizes either. How much money are meals on wheels services?

[Juggler]

My Dad used to have Wiltshire Farm Foods. I had a few and found them quiet tasty and there was certainly a good variety of meals and portion sizes. What I particularly liked was that the same driver delivered and put them in his freezer each week and gave Dad someone else to get to know and pass the time of day with. I ordered them online while Dad chose from the catalogue.

[James]

Thank you for that, I'll have a look online. I'm relieved I'm not the only one considering different options to the ones that are pushed on you as being the best. You can feel wrong for looking at other options