Anybody have some ideas about simple, easy food kits that do NOT have lot of seasonings, weird foods, or complicated recipes? Richard likes things like KFC, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, chicken alfredo. Good old fashioned simple food. Not big on garlic, onions, peppers, or tomato sauce based things. Roasted chicken with just salt and a side of vegs cooked in the same pan, etc. Not big on "International Cuisine" Any thoughts? He has "Meals on Wheels" but winds up tossing half of them as they are too seasoned or "weird".
sandwiches with chopped or sliced meat, cheese, or peanut butter for protein
lettuce, tomatoes, other veggies
squirt of mayo, mustard or other salad dressing he likes
side of veggies he can eat - hot or cold
low fat, low salt chips - if he can eat them
pasta or rice bowls - favorite chopped meat for protein
warm chopped veggies
top with favorite warm pasta sauce
shepherd's pie or pot pie - meat and veggies in gravy
shepherd's pie - topped with mashed potatoes
pot pie - topped with crust
Mini meat loaves - 1/8# and season with favorite seasoning
plain or top with tomato sauce or bbq sauce
side of warm mixed veggies or coleslaw
roll or mashed potato on the side
Dessert - apple sauce cup or mixed fruit cup
I live alone and do mostly microwave cooking. I make my own one-minute flax bread and put peanut butter on it. Does he like peanut butter? Loaf of bread and peanut butter will get him through a week of lunches. Cottage cheese? Yogurt? Applesauce? Cheese sticks? Milk, chocolate milk? All things that don’t require much fixing. Instant oatmeal? Pizza (frozen, heat up)? Can he scramble an egg? Heat a rice cup? Fix a grilled cheese sandwich? Heat a hot dog or hamburger patty? Macaroni?
Find out his likes - if he’s a selective eater, he probably enjoys having the same foods nearly every day. I drink Atkins shakes as well.
Meals on Wheels might even fix him a PB sandwich everyday. Selective eating is a recognized food disorder, so they may accommodate this issue. Hot meals are not essential.
You could also ask friends to do the same. (Personally if a friend asked me to do something like this I would not have a problem with it at all. As a matter of fact I always have portioned out soup or other meal in the freezer all the time)
He can go on eating free from meals on wheels and just buy bottles of Ensure for him to drink as a snack, along with healthy snacks like breakfast bars, yougurt and applesause.
There are also frozen meals like Healthy Request that you can buy that are easy to microwave at under $3 a meal.
Keep in mind, the older a person gets, they start eating less
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/when-do-you-throw-in-the-towel-457935.htm
LS2234- you are very kind to be helping a friend so much. Be careful about doing too much that you might get burned out.
IF he doesn't have any family... Then someone needs to call social services to make sure he is getting the care he needs.
It is gut wrenching to listen if there will be a RETURN KNOCK... We have a wonderful pack of neighbors who looked out for him.. This was a number of years ago... He has gone to Heaven..
Now it sounds like you are in the same situation without backup.... YOU need backup as much as he does....
My other friend, next door neighbor, helped assist Mr. Mr. to get a real estate agent, and get his house on the market so he could live with his sister. It was a good thing. I felt so relieved when I didn't have to LISTEN for a return knock...
One morning I didn't get a return knock... I looked around, and peeked through his gates. only to find him sitting on his bench in the backyard smiling at me. Talk about panick !!! I don't know why he didn't say anything...It scared me...
Microwave: corn, carrots, broccoli,,, marie calanders, tv dinners, marie calanders,
Frozen egg dishes.. may be a bit more compl;icated.
protein shakes,, ensure,,, carnation protein powder...
You are caring for a friend... My neighbor's wife died... he was alone... my friend, next door to him would make a pot of coffee every morning... I would make a bagel and cream cheese sandwich for him, go to her house for a cup of coffee. walk to his home next door place the food and coffee on the ground , knock and wait for an answer.... He would knock back... I knew he had something to eat if he chose to....
His sister finally picked him up and took him to her home...
That is the question... can he still handle a microwave without burning himself?
Most grocery stores will have readymade meatloaf all you need do is warm it up in a microwave.... can he do that?
Frozen corn? rinse in colandar the amount he wants to eat.. tastes better, then warm it up in microwave. Heck,, my dad used to eat fresh corn on the cob... RAW. He liked it like that.
Most stosres have ready made salads... mix it and eat it.
Trader Joes is notorious for ready to eat food. The Kale chicken salad is great.
Whole foods groceries, or Sprouts... grocery store, ready to eat meals. Microwave.
Boston Market used to be a fast food place, but I think it's all frozen foods now. They were good...
Fridays frozen food... All of this is frozen food section of your grocery store.
Whole foods and grocery stores will have freshly made food to go.. salads, etc. Ralphs, or Albertsons, or Vons, you can choose chicken, 2 sides of whatever they allow you to have...
Try the DELI SECTION OF YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE.
Or find a local FARMERS MARKET.
Look online for food delivery in his area... I am sure, that someone will be happy to help out.. Grubhub, and others.. Uber Eats.
If I were on a budget and looking for good old fashioned simple food, I probably would look at Sam's or Costco's frozen and ready to eat food. The foods come in large quantity and are relatively inexpensive per serving. I have seen ready-to-eat grilled chicken breasts, potato salads, cooked frozen hamburger patties that you can pop in the microwave for 2 minutes, rotisserie chickens, cooked pasta, cooked rice, etc. For vegetables, you can buy the frozen vegetables in microwavable bags, so all you have to do is nuke them for a few minutes and voila they are done.
You can mix and match to create a variety of meals and portion them out, label and freeze them for Richard. So all he has to do is choose what he wants to eat and heat them up.
Meals on wheels usually have no seasoning. Not even salt and pepper. That usually has to be done by the person eating it.