Do you have an elderly family member living alone? Do they struggle with cooking and are not sure about the meal plans for them? You can help them by preparing meals and putting them in their freezer and help them plan their meals with easy meal techniques. Following are some of our favorite ideas for planning ahead and simplifying meals.
1. Crock Pot Meals: Prepare meals that are put together, seasoned, and ready to stick in the crock pot to cook. You can prepare these meals in advance by placing them in containers and freezing them. Then all they need to do is put them in the crock pot.
2. Prepared Food Items: Grocery stores, Costco and Sam’s Club have wonderful prepared food items that are ready to go. Pick up a few of them to eat now and freeze for future dinners.
3. Soups: Prepare your favorite soup recipe, and then freeze it. Do not use pasta or potatoes in your soups (they continue to absorb the liquid in the soup).
4. We Love Chicken: Cook large quantities of chicken in a stock pot. Freeze and pull out for meals later. Chicken is s great protein to add to salads, wraps, tacos, pasta, rice and more.
5. Double or Triple Batch: When cooking your weekend meals, make more and share. Split the meals with family. Eat some now and freeze later.
6. Stock Up: When you or another family member goes to the grocery store, pick up items for the folks to keep the basics in their pantry. Pasta, pasta sauce, boxed meals, bread mixes, canned food, soup, cereal and protein shakes/bars are great to have on hand.
7. Marinate Meats: We found this idea online. Simply put raw meat in a freezer zip-loc bag, with a marinade that you like, and then freeze. Do several bags at once. Later, you can pull out one bag and stick the meal in a crock pot to cook.
8. Grocery Store Delivery: If you do not live near your folks, find out if their local grocery store delivers. You can place an order for your folks on line and have them deliver it to them for a very small fee.
9. Meals On Wheels: If your folks qualify for Meals on Wheels to be delivered to their home, you may want to check this out. Not only will they receive a meal, they will also connect to an amazing volunteer delivering the food. To find out more about Meals on Wheels America, click here.
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