Nutritious ready meals

[TeaChocKitKat]

My parents are elderly and my dad has terminal cancer. My mum has always been a terrible cook but her inability to cook a nutritious meal is now a real problem.
We are trying to see if we can get some nice ready meals organised for them to take the pressure off. Someone suggested Wiltshire farm foods but I've had a bit of a look online and they don't have great reviews.
They have always been meat and x2 veg people so pasta/ curry etc. wouldn't be suitable.
Any suggestions?

I am in Ireland but our local community have a service called meals on wheels for elderly people, people who have limited mobility etc. I think there is a similar service in the UK.

Meals tend to be a soup, a meat main course with two veg and potatoes and a dessert. It is not overly expensive compared to ready meals.

I voluteered in our local Meals and Wheels Kitchen while I was finished one job and waiting to start my new job and the food was excellent. Also voluteers checked in with the people who they were dropping in food and made sure they were ok.

There is Oakhouse foods which my MIL had before going into a care home. They are ok, like Wiltshire, but there are a lot of choices that should be ok for them. Failing that deliveries from a supermarket with microwave or oven meals? Maybe think about foods that are a bit softer or have a creamy based sauce for your dad making it a bit easier to chew. How about the microwave bags of vegetables to go alongside and a pudding to accompany. Cancer patients also find it easier to have small snacks than meals sometimes so perhaps plenty of things like scones, pancakes, yoghurts, cream cakes that he could have instead of a meal?

Oak house and Parsley Box are alternatives to Wiltshire - from what I’ve heard they are all worth a try, it’s very much an individual taste. And echo above about meals on wheels.

With meals on wheels, at least in our area, you are also getting someone checking on the recipients every day.

DH and I are volunteer delivery drivers.

If the client doesn't answer the door we phone them to check they are ok, then ring the office if no response.

The MOW office then call the person's next of kin and the wheels begin to move.

Obviously a commercial company wouldn't do this.

M&S ready meals were our saviour in similar circumstances

Waitrose also do some good ones, the frozen fish pie and chicken dinners especially good

Other tips - tubs of pre made jelly help with hydration, boxes of chocolates left open encourage a few more calories to be taken in, milky coffee mid morning with a biscuit too

With my parents in law, we did online Sainsburys shops for them, which was mostly ready meals that they could load into the freezer and microwave as needed, and fresh soups. When we visited them we would batch cook some meals and or shop in person for them at M&S. Not perfect but they didn’t like Wiltshire farm foods or parsleybox and there was no meals on wheels in their area.

It’s also worth checking if Cook meals are delivered in your area, as although they are quite expensive the quality is very good.

I don't suppose you live in Devon but if you did I could recommend devonfarmkitchen.co.uk/
The meals come on plates with clear instructions for heating (very easy) but understandably relatively expensive.

It could be worth googling to see if there is a similar local enterprise in your area.

DM has Cook meals, they can be delivered although it is convenient for DSis or me to pick up.
Wiltshire farm foods aren't always unacceptable ...it is probably worth having a look for the convenience and ubiquity.

Charlie Binghams - avaliable in Sainsburys, Waitrose, Tesco - I think aswell they are expensive but very tasty quite a large range very homemade no rubbish and very tasty and so easy to just pop in the oven .

Meals on wheels first try as that means someone is also checking on them regularly.

Cook ready meals are very good and they deliver if you don't have a store nearby.

When I was shopping for elderly neighbours in lockdown they were keen on the microwaveable frozen veg in steam bags as it was all portioned up and easy to do.

About 40% of LAs still have a Meals on Wheels service so it’s worth checking.

MIL has Wiltshire and loves them - they get v good reviews on Trustpilot. She’s tried a few but likes the variety, choice, and ability to vary portion size and food consistency. You could maybe try a few and mix/match them with some of the supermarket brands like M&S and Charlie Bingham?

Wiltshire Farm foods were great for my dad.I’d recommend.

My mum used to like the individual pieminster and higgedy pies.that you can get from Ocado Waitrose etc. Higgedy do really good quality steak and ale or chicken and mushroom pies but also vegetarian ones like feta and spinach. They have excellent pastry and are quite calorific which was important to us as my mum was losing weight from forgetting to eat. No tricky packaging just out of the box and into the oven.

Charlie bighams we found were too big, too rich and too salty btw

M&S ready meals hit the spot for my elderly parents. Not cheap but they do a great range of microwaveable traditional meals: cottage pie with veg, liver and bacon, pork roast dinners, cod in sauce with mash & peas; then traditional desserts: jam sponge, apple crumble, rice pudding, trifle etc.

No meals on wheels in our area. M and S or waitrose ready meals were ok. Lots of salt and stodge so could be constipating- try to encourage veg alongside!

My parents did best with a variety of ready meals - Parsleybox, Wiltshire, Waitrose, Charlie Bingham. The Wiltshire puddings were very good and dad would often fancy one when he didn't want anything to eat. They also were complete meals so they didn't have to think about extras. Parsleybox are shelf stable so were great for keeping in and quick to heat but quite limited.
I'd try a few meals from different places and see what suits.

I use waitrose ready meals and Charlie Bingham for myself - health problems mean I struggle to cook regularly. The waitrose ones are much cheaper than Charlie Bingham though.

Pieminster do good individual pies and Higgidy do good quiches.

Iirc all of these have ingredients lists that suggest you could make them yourself, are relatively tasty and help me feel I'm eating OK.

I often use some bagged salad to throw on the plate too.

Cook will deliver for the freezer ... expensive but very good. Agree that Waitrose & M & S ready meals are also nice. My elderly mum does cook for herself but alternatives with ready meals as well. She does find her appetite is much smaller than it used to be so is often happy with soup & fruit and chocolate.

You can get M&S stuff delivered by using Ocado I guess

M&S do a “mini” size version of many of their ready meals and they are a perfect size for the smaller appetite of elderly folk like my mum. Cottage pie, shepherds pie, fruity curry and rice, chicken casserole etc. Her carers say the majority of their clients have them. They may not be perfect nutrition wise - but she wasn’t eating properly at all before she had carers and is doing so much better having at least one hot meal a day.

If you live nearby, you could try making your own. I do a batch cook every couple of weeks for my dad and then freeze each meal in plastic boxes. I do things like chilli or chicken stew etc and then dad tops them up with bags of frozen steamed veg.