Suggestions for meals that elderly relatives can prepare for themselves

[deathbyprocrastination]

I've found this board to be so helpful and supportive in the past few months so I just wondered if anyone had suggestions for the above i.e. meals that can be easily prepared / heated in the microwave and aren't, ideally, super processed.

I'm putting together a meal plan for DM who is moving close by. She'll have a cleaner / carer going in for an hour every morning and I plan to pop by regularly but I also want to be realistic about whether it's going to be possible for me to go in every day and would like have plenty of stuff up my sleeve for when I can't.

DM can make porridge in the microwave in the morning and I'm asking her cleaner / carer to prepare lunch for her to have each day e.g. tuna sandwich with cherry tomatoes, half an avo with hummus and toast but then there is dinner. Provided I can get her using the microwave happily, I think she should be able to heat something up for her dinner. I think a ready meal once or twice a week is fine but it would be great if it wasn't just that.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Yes my mum and my dad both have used Parsley box and said the meals were good. They’re easy to use because they don’t need freezing or chillis so you can leave them on the side for them. They’re pretty small portions though, but that works quite well for elderly people. They do quite good deals on multi packs, it’s quite often advertised in papers.

[quote PerkingFaintly]Someone on here recommended Parsley Box, who do ready meals aimed at this market.

Their meals are sous vide meals rather than frozen, and can be stored in a cupboard without being chilled.

www.parsleybox.com/about-us/[/quote]
I came on this thread to recommend them too - they're in small portions (what I call "pensioner portions") but plenty for my relative. Selection is limited if they have dietary requirements (e.g. veggie) but apart from that I can't really criticise them.

Totally feel you about the quiche tins. My mother sighs over her cut glass celery holder. She doesn't like celery.

@PermanentTemporary today I found a cut glass icing sugar sifter - I'm told it will be useful

Great to know about Parsley box - thanks so much everyone for your feedback. Now I just need to make sure she can use the microwave!

Our local Social Services Elderly Team recommended Wiltshire Farm Foods for my Elderly Dad, as they are Nutritionally Balanced per portion, and do not contain a lot of additives or high salt content like some of the supermarket meals do.

The Sainsbury’s Roast beef dinner is quite a good fresh one, it arrives chilled, but can be frozen for use at a later date if needs be. Their frozen Breaded Chunky Cod Loins are very nice too, and can be oven cooked or even microwaved with a few micro oven chips, and a tub of frozen mushy peas for a change!

Dad also used to like the Heinz Big Soups, chunky Vegetables and pieces of tender meat with a variety of different meats or veggie options included.
Not so runny as ordinary soup, they are more like a Stew and go well with some fresh bread rolls.

I am a big fan of Iceland, especially their frozen vegetables bakery items. I also buy their own brand Cornetto ice creams, and a couple of boxes of those in the freezer makes a nice easy deserts treat for young and old alike. However, they are one of the worst culprits when it comes to high salt content, especially in their own branded ready meals!

Oh I tell you what else is amazing, for easy access meals: frozen fruit.

I particularly like frozen mango. Comes in a plastic zipseal bag: decant a few chunks into a covered bowl in the fridge, eat the next day. It's exactly the sort of thing the cleaner/carer could do for her, and then she has soft fresh fruit. Much easier than fighting with tin openers and sharp edges.

And if she can't cope with the zipseal (and which among us can ), the bag can always be pegged.

There was a thread on here about basic microwaves a while back.

The sort with a timer dial rather than ones which appear complicated enough for NASA to send a man to the moon. If your DM is intimidated by the microwave and her hands are strong enough, I recommend one of those.

Eg www.argos.co.uk/product/8999247?clickSR=slp:term:microwave:5:72:1

Wiltshire farm foods is awful, M&S ready meals are not that pricey and lovely, especially the ones marked as having veg portions. Then add in your own batch cooking

To be honest unless she dislikes them quite a few ready meals with a bit of batch cooking from you thrown in sounds like a good option. I know ready meals aren’t well regarded but if it works for her that’s the main thing.

Also cherry tomatoes in sandwiches are probably a no-no. They tend to make a bid for freedom even under the most controlled circumstances.

Cherry tomatoes on the side = big yes.

Ditto other finger food (could your mother cope with dips?)

When it comes to sarnies for the none-too-deft, if you're putting in multiple layers, especially of something slippery like sliced large tomatoes or cucumber, or any loose ingredients, think how it will all stick together, and stick to the bread.

Consider adding a "glue" ingredient (but not so much it drips out). So mayonnaise, pate, cottage cheese, hummous, mashed avo... Just stops the loose elements making a run for it.

[quote PerkingFaintly]There was a thread on here about basic microwaves a while back.

The sort with a timer dial rather than ones which appear complicated enough for NASA to send a man to the moon. If your DM is intimidated by the microwave and her hands are strong enough, I recommend one of those.

Eg www.argos.co.uk/product/8999247?clickSR=slp:term:microwave:5:72:1[/quote]
We decided to tape over every button except the start button (press repeatedly - it adds 30 seconds each time) and the cancel button.

It did the trick!

While DM was able to live independently, we arranged a carer for three hours in the morning to be there while DM showered and dressed then went downstairs to 'recover'.

The carer would cook of heat up something (M&S mini meals tasty but a good size fir a small appetite ) and leave a sandwich of something in the 'fridge for the evening.

All worked well until we needed live in help.

Have a look at Facebook market place in your local area
You may see someone local offering roast dinners & other meals
You could perhaps divide into 2 ?

My DM has a severe tremor although not from Parkinsons.

Her solution has been to eat/cook what she likes and then have a lovely cleaner who is v tolerant of sorting the massive mess on the kitchen floor. Once it's on the floor, it's staying there until the cleaner comes.

She likes the Covent Garden Soup and M&S ready meals when she isn't able to cook. When she can cook then frozen ready cut veg is the way forward - or again, she gets the cleaner to chop anything she can't.

Frozen fruit defrosted overnight is also a favourite for porridge/desserts.

She can't manage any of the zipseals, I think she just chucks them in the freezer any old how!

Recommend a coffee maker too where you just press a button and it fills a single cup rather than kettle. Anyone popping in just needs to check reservoir full.

DM is in situ now. So far I've been providing a lot of support because I just can't see her managing the microwave as things stand. I think what I'm going to arrange, if possible, is for a carer to go in in the morning first thing and then at lunchtime to heat her up a warm meal (i.e. stuff I have batch cooked) and she can just have a snack for dinner. That way on days I'm in, I can give her a proper dinner too but if I can't be there at least I'll know she has had at least one decent meal a day plus snacks.

Really basic things are proving a challenge: turning on TV, answering phone, getting dressed in morning so I think we'll have to keep it super simple.

She has a coffee machine which I think with a bit of coaching she'll be able to handle. Crikey it's been an epic amount of work getting it all set up.

Thanks for the update OP. How are you doing? You've had a lot on your plate by the sounds of it.

Do you have social services involved and coming to provide an assessment? Unfortunately, a change of environment can cause a decline in your DM's abilities that she may have had at her previous home. Have you thought about longer term solutions if this latest move proves too much/ not enough support?

Thanks so much - it has all been pretty stressful. I feel my various caring responsibilities have turned into a full-time job recently and while my DC are pretty self-sufficient (year 6 and 8) they too need a fair bit of support at the moment because it's been tough year for them too. I slightly despair of my career hopes surviving all this. But anyway, one day at a time.

But, she seems a bit better today so I think part of the problem has been confusion from all the change she's had recently. I'm going to keep a really close eye on the situation and see how well I think she can cope with a carer/cleaner once a day and regular checks from us. I've been waiting for two days for a call-back from the doctor so I can arrange an appointment for her and then, hopefully an OT assessment - after that I guess she will be in the system and we'll have a better idea what support is available. It may be that longer term she needs someone to move in with her. I'm going to start looking at the cost of that but she is very resistant.

We batch cook every weekend for elderly relations, freeze portions in plastic takeaway type lidded boxes and label them. Then all they have to do is reheat them in the microwave or, at most, boil some pasta to go with a sauce. The used boxes get collected and washed every week ready for the next lot.

Soups, stews and casserole type dishes are very successful. And puddings, especially soft ones.

Many local restaurants started to do takeaways to survive during COVID restrictions. My mum lives in retirement flat and many of the residents have taken advantage of this. The meals are delivered and are good quality.

We had to get them a very basic microwave (they'd never approved of them) like the one in @PerkingFaintly's link and they have mastered it.

Sympathy to you OP. It does feel very much as though one is being spread too thin when you are looking after DC too.