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".
Meals on wheels usually have no seasoning. Not even salt and pepper. That usually has to be done by the person eating it.
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.
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
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.
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