Small ready meals

[WearyElf]

Hi everyone . Solidarity with anyone caring for elderly parents . It makes raising teenagers look like a walk in the park.

Finally with my mum,there is some acceptance that some outside help might be a good idea. (I will believe it when I actually see it though!) so I am thinking of trying to get her prepared by stocking up the freezer etc. For those of you whose parents have care visits, do the carers go with the flow if the house is a bit muddly or have you made everything very organised and regimental to help them? Feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs sorting!

Also can anyone recommend any supermarket ready meals for a small appetite ? I know some of the deliverers do them but I can already hear her moaning about paying double the price for half the size!

Thank you in advance!

M&S do a range of mini-meals. I've not used them, but have earmarked them for the future!

I was going to say M&S too, they do a nice fish pie and shepherds pie, but they don’t come with veg.

Was going to mention M and S. Used to buy them for my mom years ago.

Toddler meals an option?

Charlie Bingham also do small meals. I think they are aimed at kids but I saw a fish pie in the shelf the other day which might be nice.

M&S do mini smaller sized ready meals for around £3 - £3.50 a go. I think they - and other smkts also do child sized ready meals - but they tend to be in child- friendly packaging (ie cartoon designs/kids in large letters) which puts my dm off them.

Re: ready meals, M&S do small portion ready meals I think if that's any use - mini meals? or that might be Tesco. The carers we have are OK with doing a light lunch for them eg scrambled eggs, heat some soup or beans on toast etc.

I'd like to know what other people say re care visits though as they've just started for us and my family member isn't sure what to ask them to do.

my parents have morrisons ready meals they have things like macaroni etc that they can heat up on not hungry days.

The packaging on the M&S small portions isn't for kids and the dishes were quiet traditional, cottage pie and such like so presumably aimed at older people

my parents still manage though so I can't help with the care aspect.

Have a look at cook meals too. Also Wiltshire farm foods deliver- and will put away. Dm found them bland, though- try several alternatives to see what suits.
check what local meals on wheels provision there is in your area. Contact age uk or county council website for info.

My Dad is on his own now after we lost Mum, who was a very good cook. He doesnt eat fancy food or anything spicy, rice or pasta although he will eat lasagne now. We cook him four meals a week and extras for his freezer when we can. Outside of this he gets Charlie Bighams ready meals which he said are delicious. The portions do not look huge from what I have seen, although my Dad does have a very good appetite. Dad does not have carers but my inlaws did. I would suggest labelling any food/ready meals with larger dates and putting a note on the fridge to ensure that food is rotated properly so that nothing goes out of date or gets wasted. Perhaps put a magnetic board on the fridge so that you/the carers can keep a list of anything which needs restocking and a general shopping list.

@WearyElf I have cared for 2 grandparents as my parents weren’t able to so have some experience 😊 I second all those saying M&S meals - although double check cooking instructions - I’m sure some have to be defrosted before they’re cooked which was a bit less convenient for us as my Nana usually liked decide what she wanted that night at dinner time rather than earlier in the day.
Wiltshire Farm Foods is definitely worth taking a look at. I had the freezer stocked with them as they can all be microwaved from frozen so they were really convenient for carers or anyone to be able to prep relatively quickly 😊

As for the house, I wouldn’t worry too much about things being in a muddle. What kinds of things will your mum be needing help with? Personal hygiene? Medications? Meals?
Im sure all carers are different but from my experience they wouldn’t rummage or go through cupboards etc to find something unless it had been pointed out that’s where something was kept.

My nana needed personal care so I kept a labelled cabinet in the bathroom well stocked with pads/wipes/body wash etc. Same with medication - it was all in a labelled container in the kitchen.

I also found it useful having a notepad thing stuck on the fridge and just asked the carers to pop a wee note on there if they noticed anything was running low or if there was anything that they felt would be helpful to them that they didn’t need etc.

*helpful to them that they didn’t have.

I second what has been said about date rotating fresh food too. Carers are usually in a hurry in my experience and tend to just grab what’s handiest so if you’ll be buying and putting the food away I would be sure that you’re rotating things well 😊

M&S meals for one which Ocado sell/delivery if you can’t get to a M&S

mil used to have Wiltshire Farm, to me I could not of eaten those.

Morrisons do some lovely ones, dmum used to get them for dgf when he was with us

Mum is 90 and often has Wiltshire Farms meals, think they come in a variety of sizes but all made for smaller appetites. She's get M&S occasionally but often they can't be microwaved from frozen which is an annoyance.

Try Oakhouse instead of Wiltshire. They do 2 sizes of meals - they do a mini version. They’re good quality and ideal for elderly. My parents use them.

Parsleybox have a selection of small ready meals. We used them during Covid times for elderly relatives.

I've been on a diet so have been having a range of these meals in the evening for more portion control.
Charlie Bighams, m & s and Waitrose.
But my friend has and elderly parent whom she gets Wiltshire farm foods delivered, frozen every Wednesday, she ticks off what meals she wants and they deliver them. X

The little Charlie Bighams meals are lovely but they can't usually be microwaved because they come in wooden trays, and most care visits wouldn't really be long enough for the carer to cook a meal in the oven and serve it.

I used to get the small M&S meals for my mum, which she enjoyed. As her dementia progressed, it became harder for her to understand about keeping food fresh and eating it before it went off and I was constantly finding really rancid food hidden Away in her fridge and oven. I started buying Parsleybox meals, which are long life and so didnt need refrigerating. They were great because they only took less than three minutes in the microwave and at the weekend when the carers didn't come in, I was able to talk her through how to heat one up over the phone until things got really bad.

I order the M&S mini meals for my DM - we get her a weekly shop from Ocado. They deliver it in bags and put it on her kitchen top for her. She occasionally has the Wiltshire Farm food ones - the delivery driver puts them in the freezer for her.

The carers can cope with a muddly house. Be available for phone calls in the first few weeks so if they need to know where things are kept, you can tell them straight away.

Be careful with freezer meals, though. Carers won’t have time to defrost before cooking, nor cook in the oven for 40 minutes + and a lot of supermarket ready meals can’t be microwaved from frozen.

That’s why the home delivery services (Wiltshire, Parsley Box etc) are necessary.

Can’t carers microwave one and put a second one in the fridge to defrost over 24 hours?

Carers will make up some nice sandwiches, and put in the fridge to have later. That was always popular with my mum who wanted to eat at different times.
I found a milk delivery service was always really helpful. They do lots of nice fresh cake, bread and yoghurt etc for delivery too.