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!

I think the COOK children’s meals are microwaveable from frozen, and they contain one of your 5-a-day.

Thanks everyone for some really helpful suggestions. As is so often the case, this situation is coming out of a crisis and everything is being put in place hurriedly ahead of a hospital discharge . For one beloved but very strong-minded mum who knows best and likes to do everything her way despite extreme frailty and multiple issues. And breathe!

Feel for you, op. It's not easy x

@WearyElf You’re right OP - and it makes it all the more stressful trying to get everything in place quickly.
Hopefully once the caters are in and your Mum gets used to the idea she’ll be more accepting of the help.

Hope you manage to get everything sorted. It’s not easy. Remember and look after yourself too 💐

We used to order the Wiltshire Farm Foods mini meals for my MIL. She liked everything we ordered except the fish and chips which really needs to be done in the oven. If we tried any others she always complained they were too big. We also used to order their hot desserts which she loved - never complained they were too big!

We also tried the parsley box meals which don’t need refrigeration but she put them in the bin - I think she thought they’d been left out of the fridge by mistake.

We use Cook. They deliver as well as have shops, and their food is either oven cooked or some are microwavable - you can filter on their site for which are which

The quality is really good - we’ve had quite a bit of their stuff for entertaining

I bought the kid size meals from Cook for my dad. Just the right amount for his small appetite, no waste (war child, he hated food waste), and the right type of simple home cooked things.

Ditto re the small M&S food. Mum loved these. I found when we moved Mum nearer to us that she needed us more and more for even simple things (she was in a retirement complex).

I suspect that she had been barely coping in her old place and it was just more obvious when she was around the corner. Lots of fibbbing and if I am honest massive woppers to cover up what she could and couldnt do.

My biggest tip is to keep boundaries. I have a friend now who doesnt feel she can go away on holiday because her Mum just frets and tbh makes a bit of her nuisance of her self by ringing friend abroad about little things (which are big things to an elderly person!)

@WearyElf solidarity and absolutely to the teenagers being a walk in the park. Firstly the Charlie Bighams meals for one are now the ONLY ready meals my mother will eat. Convenient for her as they cannot be frozen and always have very short dates on them - hence we have to visit her and shop more regularly. She refuses to have anything in the freezer - another joy of her behaviour. M and S mini meals are actually pretty good. What I do is whatever I try my mother out with I also buy and eat so when the inevitable moan comes in I have some ammunition. Any how she will only eat the CB ones now and also a very narrow selection of them. Aside though Waitrose do some really nice ones. They also do meal deals for 2 and what I have done is cook them and split them into 2 so she gets something abit more interesting-say like beef bourguignon with mash and veg. Before none flames me I have cooked every meal under the sun from scratch for her and she has dismissed them all as being on a range of ‘too salty, too bland, too rich, too spicy, revolting’. Yes she is a delight but I persevere. Good luck! P.S our mother refuses a delivery so we are quite tied

It's only just occurred to me that when I am old and frail and can no longer cook for myself, I might have very few options when it comes to eating healthy food. I don't like the thought of having to eat crappy, junk food, in the form of mass-produced ready-meals (including those marketed by M&S Waitrose etc) on a regular basis.
Oh well, perhaps by that time/age (if I'm lucky enough to get there) I won't care so much about my health as I do now.

@Fleecedandzipped i understand your concern but our mother has 3 children as in me my sis and brother plus 3 of our partners. She does not need to eat ready meals we are all excellent home cooks. Unfortunately unless we physically turn up at meal times she will not accept portions of our meals which often we just make a bit more of to portion up. Think coq au vin, fish pie, fresh tomato sauces to add to pasta ALL FRESH INGREDIENTS- all home cooked. All quality ingredients. She won’t accept anything unless we bring the ingredients cook it in front of her and then take her criticism. So Charlie B seems to be the son she really wanted. It’s ridiculous. And yes we know she is doing it for company but the pressure on our own family and partners is distressing

Charlie Bigham and M&S - both available on Ocado. Also Cook, who do frozen deliveries.

@Ilovemyshed we know but thanks. Our mother refuses any deliveries-literally refuses to accept them. She has full capacity we have everything tested. She is just not happy with life - always been the same. Hopefully your reminder will help others

Oh, that sounds very tiresome! I do hope I don't become "difficult" like that when I'm old!

I love the thought of one of my DCs going to the trouble of batch cooking home-cooked meals and passing some on to me. It's a great shame that your mum doesn't appreciate your efforts. Her loss.

@Fleecedandzipped quite. Nothing is right. Never has been. Let’s hope we learn to be better. Quite honestly my sis and i feel like we just need to move nearer. We detest where she lives but she won’t consider moving. Selfish does not even cut it. My husband has gone back to our main home in Europe. We keep a base in the UK but solely because of my mother. I’m utterly devastated at what she has done, but unsurprised. She is a control freak and possibly a narcissist….putting my hard hat on to be flamed by all the MN people who have never walked in my or my siblings shoes.

Cook https://www.cookfood.net/menu/main-meals/meals-for-1?srsltid=AfmBOorXlBdhh3SQNH4DIx0KLASsC9ss_sYO7unTxolz6E6vO0k0OUE1 cook meals for one]

My Mum's carers sometimes cook her a meal like a Charlie Bingham's fish pie or fish and chips. Baked potatoes with beans are good too.

I would speak to one of the care managers and make sure you have a care plan in place with what's required. My Mum's carers will do light housework, a weekly shopping list and other things. They are very good

@topofthepopsers that sounds great. Unfortunately our mother refused to accept our DF needed carers so the Deprivation of Liberty was invoked by the NHS and we had to find a nursing home - but hey on the bright side she didn’t need to have a bed downstairs or bother adapting anything at the house, but she did get the platform to tell anyone who would listen ‘ but I really wanted him home’. She didn’t. She is now refusing carers /home help. She simply expects us to ‘rally’. Doesn’t care we are on our knees and before any ne flames me she has full capacity. We have paid for numerous tests etc. Sadly there is no pill for stubborn. I genuinely think she wants the accolade that one of us has got seriously ill so she can parade it around the village and berate our DF for ot being his fault. Sorry for the vent I a missing my own family so much at the moment.

I'm a carer and as long as the house is safe it's fine. Keep medication in one place and have a communication note pad.
Make sure you have somewhere where they can wash their hand properly. Pump soap and kitchen roll. You won't believe the amount of people who think it's ok to have a bath towel that everyone uses!

Meals wise m &s do good little ones. I would also make sure there frozen and tinned vegetables which they can add. It always looks a bit sad if it's just a ready meal.
The frozen McCain jacket potatoes are good too for something quick.

Totally get how you feel. My parent has made things very difficult for me by being stubborn about things even when she had full capacity. Not easy is it lol