Food for ailing dad?

[Mumwithbaggage]

My dad is 93 and sadly very much on the decline - rarely eats much. I want to make him some easy to eat, not rich but more calorific meals. He likes soup and makes his own in a soup maker but it's basically vegetables. Small appetite - says he can't eat. Refuses to see his (quite frankly pretty shoddy) doctor as I know he feels if he gets sent to hospital he'll never come out.

So any ideas please of stuff i can cook he can microwave? Until a while ago he was eating most things so I didn't struggle with ideas. Now would like protein and calories without the creaminess please.

hank you very much indeed for any ideas x

The non dairy things I make my dm are old fashioned cottage pies, chicken soup, casseroles divided into portions with mash and veg.

DMIL had special high calorie drinks, but I think they were quite creamy.

My aged Dad used to enjoy paté on toast or water biscuits - it became more and more of a struggle to get enough calories into him, but that always worked.

Meaty broth as soup base.

Smoothies, non dairy. Lots of fruit, juice and bananas. My father drank them daily when he was in his final decline. He couldn’t swallow very well but enjoyed them and they are high calorie.

Agree with cottage pies, fish pies etc. Easy food to eat and again high calorie. Protein is important too, so eggs if he will eat them is a simple and quick meal.

Good luck.

Would he eat egg custard?

Have a word about protein shakes from the chemists, or on prescription.

I make my mum 4 eggs scrambled with 1oz of butter. Salt and pepper.

Porridge with a mashed banana. I add cream to increase calories.

Tinned pilchards or mackerel in tomato sauce mashed into toast.

Avocado mashed onto toast.

Chilli (not too hot) and rice with sour cream and cheese.

Pasta and bolognese.

How about a tomato and vegetable based lasagne without the béchamel sauce but with some grated cheddar? The cheese would add calories but be less creamy, unless he's avoiding all dairy?

Anything with nuts is also a good way of getting high calories in a nutritional way. Would he eat a nut roast?

Lots of lovely ideas to look through and try out! Thank you. He's not non dairy but after his stoma seems unable to cope with anything too rich and creamy . Till a while ago he was fine with the freezer meals I was making (shepherd's pie,pasta dishes etc) but he's totally lost his appetite. Dh persuaded him into eating a bit of fish at lunchtime today at least.

Smoothies are a good idea too.

Also smoked salmon/haddock chowder- with an egg whisked in.

Would he eat a savoury muffin?
A friend gave me a recipe for Cheese and Broccoli muffins ( google cheese and broccoli muffins and it’s the MummyPages recipe) that I made the first time with no great hope that anyone would eat them. They were absolutely delicious, freeze brilliantly, and once defrosted only need 20 seconds in the microwave.
I think they were intended as a weaning food but I still make them regularly now - the children love them and even my mum who is the fussiest of eaters will help herself if they’ve just come out of the oven.

You could try adding lentils and chia seeds (protein) to his soups

Dd has eating issues, I add olive oil to increase calories in her minuscule portions and she drinks complan

Justyouwaitandseeagain I actually found a packet of chia seeds earlier this evening!

millymae excellent idea!! Will make some first thing tomorrow. I think the texture will really suit him.

Rice pudding, omelette, jacket potato with cheese and butter.

Does he like puddings? A lot of the people I used to care for found their tastes changed and they were wanting sweet stuff
Things like apple crumble etc or even cake. Anything to get calories in basically

If he wants soup then let him eat his delicious healthy vegetable soup

How about things like cheese scones. They can be easily heated in 30 seconds in the microwave then Liberally buttered for some extra deliciousness. Could also be used to dunk in the veg soup.

Would he eat something like a casserole,maybe even a dumpling or two. Meat like braising steak when cooked for ages falls apart and it adds a lot of fat/richness to the gravy so would be good for getting calories in.

Sometimes it’s easier to eat really simple food. So things like scrambled egg on think buttered toast (add extra yolks for calories without bulk).
Something like a sausage sandwich.
Peanut butter or avocado on toast.
When my grandad was unwell and couldn’t eat a lot we fed him pork pies and sausage rolls on demand! Not nutritious but as an elderly gent rapidly loosing weight, they were just what he needed.
If he eats porridge a couple of table spoons of ground almonds packs a punch.

With my DGM, meals often overfaced her so I did little grazing plates.

Tiny cubes of cheese with halved grapes or cherry tomatoes, slivers of wafer thin ham with tiny triangles of bread and butter, little nibbly bits that she could pick at over time and that didn't go cold.

Any proper meals were also very small portions with seconds if she felt like it.

It is however very time consuming preparing the meals, someone needs to be there.

@QuizzicalEyebrows

If he wants soup then let him eat his delicious healthy vegetable soup

The point is the delicious healthy vegetable soup isn’t very calorie dense, which OP’s dad needs

Agree that small snacks are the way to go. Smoothies and yoghurt worked for my 93year old Dad.

Thanks, judgerindersminder - he's using all his food space on nutritious low calorie soup. I'd rather he ate high calorie snacks all day.

I'm going to spend a bit of time today making slightly more grown up kids party food - mini cheese biscuits, sausage rolls, savoury scones, biscuits - so he can have a pick and mix.

Cheese flapjacks - I use a Netmums recipe, it has eggs in too so very nutritious, and you can cut into bite size pieces. I often grate carrot into it as well.