Meals for elderly person with carers supporting .

[limetrees32]

What do people think of these planned meals ?

Every morning muesli for breakfast
Piece of fruit after every meal

Evening meals

1 Dahl.,piece of bread of required

2 veggie sausages with frozen veg and bread
3 macaroni cheese and frozen veg
. 4 Dahl and bread if required
**
lunches -

1. homemade leek.and potato soup
Bread if required

.2. cheese and veg pie

3. hummus sandwiches

. 4. baked beans or cheese on toast

Nairn seeded oat biscuits to snack on .
And additional fruit .

What do they want to eat?

Apart from meals I know they devour ( if available ) chocolate biscuits ,crisps pizza.

I know there is concern about weight loss and diminished appetite.

How about adding natural/greek yogurt to have optionally with breakfast and/or with fruit snacks or with the dahl? Easy, palatable and nutritious. MiL used to eat a lot of it.

I take it they’re not diabetic - yet?
And that they’re vegetarian.

Does the person like the food you are proposing?
I would lose my appetite if that was all that was available.

No not diabetic .
TBH I think the crisps and biscuits were because not finding meals very appealing or satisfying .
It's not my meal.plan
Seems a bit austere to me .

That's my view @oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends

Yes vegetarian.
The packet of chocolate biscuits and crisps are no longer available to person .

Who is making the dahl, macaroni cheese etc? Are they all frozen ready meals? Why is dahl on twice as a dinner option? It seems very limited in choice and low on protein and calcium. Only 3 evening meals and only 4 lunch options. So in a month they'd have to eat the same evening meal 10x!

How long do they have for the calls? And I’m assuming you are making the homemade meals for the carers to heat?
The breakfast is fine assuming they’re happy to eat the same every day. As a carer I normally do a variety of toast/porridge/cereals/eggs/crumpets. Lunches usually soup/wraps/sandwiches/quiche. Dinners a lot of people rely on microwave meals, if you do please don’t go down the Wiltshire farm road that a lot of families get for my service users. They are absolutely disgusting and a complete rip off. For taste/quality and nutrition you may as well get the £1 Iceland ones. One of my service users has an air fryer he likes most things cooked in, it is mainly unhealthy stuff like pizza subs and chips. Another one has a daughter who buys and insists she eats very healthily but is aware of our time constraints. For her teas it’s a lot of jackets, fresh salmon/tinned tuna, omelettes with micro steamed veg. She’ll pre cook batches of orzo pasta she’ll have with spinach and tomatoes etc.
It depends on what they like to eat, you just have to be aware of the carers time restraints, especially if they’re having to do personal care during every call too

This is just a week ( well Monday evening to Friday lunch ) .
Hopefully next week will vary .
Hummus and Dahl and soup homemade .
Macaroni cheese ready meal.
TBH I'm a bit shocked .
Person being fed is v passive and it's hard to know if this is what they want .

30 mins for lunch ,45 for evening meal .Client doesn't need any personal care .

Oh I get from your updates that someone else is choosing this menu plan. If this was being chosen by you and the service user I’d have been more laid back, you’re entitled to eat what you choose. But this is not in any way a balanced diet and if this is being provided by professional carers in a home for eg I would not be happy.

The person is a relative being catered for by long-term partner .
They only spend weekends together .
Partner is also elderly though fit .
But they are mentally exhausted .

There is no way that I can raise any concerns about the meals .
I just thought I might be over reacting .

I'm.sorry not to have said this at the outset .
I didn't want to bias the responses.

No, that's not sufficient in flavour, diversity or interest. If the person who is eating the food is happy with this food adn won't eat other food, fair enough. But the lack of variety, and lack of interest would be a big problem for me.

What did this person like to eat before they were ill? And is there a reason all the food is so soft? do they have problems iwth chewing? Why aren't there any vegetables or salads? Pasta dishes. Even just a jacket potato with cheese and beans would shake things up a bit

There are frozen veg in freezer .
If I take out to lunch they choose chips omelette and salad .
And cake .
And coffee .
I think I'll ask CHATGPT for suggestions on how to approach this with his carer .
I suggested Charlie Bingham ready meals but their partner reports that these are not well stocked , particularly in single portions .
Also there is no microwave .

Could you help by getting a weekly food shop delivered? Even if it’s a couple of days worth for a bit of variety? Also if weight loss and appetite is an issue then an ensure or some sort of high calorie shake a day can help. Also I know people view microwave meals as lazy and generally very unhealthy, but there’s a huge range of healthy, balanced microwave meals available now, the gym kitchen range for eg is available in supermarkets like Tesco, and is designed for people like body builders as they’re high in nutrients and calories. Their meals start from £2.75 compared to the £6.50-£8 plus for a Wiltshire farm meal

With the microwave update, these can be picked up for free on Facebook marketplace. Are you local to this person? A microwave will make a huge difference in your options, even if it’s to throw in a pack of micro rice or a jacket you can put with something a bit healthier/tastier, on top of some nice micro meals

I think that's a good suggestion,thank you @Blackandyellow65 .
I do need to be careful not to.step.on their partners toes though .
They've got an awful.lot to cope with .

I'm trying to persuade about a microwave.
It's not the cost ,it's more an inbuilt dislike .

I'm 4 hours away.

I'm.sorry this is disjointed .
I'm.travelling back from a dispiriting visit and am.still processing .
Apologies because I'm.sure my posts are irritating and drip.feeding .
But posting and reading replies is so helpful and is confirming that I should find a way to tactfully and helpfully intervene.