Quick & Easy Meal Planning for Elderly Parents.
If you're struggling to meal prep for elderly parents these are the easiest meal delivery options that everyone will love.
“Who knew the hardest part of being an adult would be figuring out what to cook for dinner every single night for the rest of your life?”
Ugh, that is so true. Meal planning is seriously the most dreaded part of being an adult. Well, that and doing dishes.
And when I became a caregiver, it got even worse. Now I had to meal plan for two households.
So, how do you create meals that everyone will be excited about without spending hours in the kitchen?
My parents and I, we like food. Good food. Steak that melts in your mouth. Chicken that’s moist and juicy. Side dishes that are bursting with flavor.
I always told them they couldn’t leave me to fend for myself with my husband and the kids because they consider lasagna in a box a good meal.
If you love good food, you will totally feel the need to sacrifice that as a caregiver. You’ll feel like you don’t have time to make delicious dinners when you barely have time to brush your teeth.
So here’s the deal…
There was NOTHING for us to look forward to unless we created it. Nothing. Because cancer sucks no matter how you look at it. Even on the good days.
These are the 4 BEST ideas to meal prep for elderly parents if you’re a caregiver because…
- They eliminate shopping. Everything you need is shipped to your door.
- They are less than or comparable to the prices you would find at the grocery store. (Currently much less!)
- And they can be created and ready to eat quickly and easily.
Hello Fresh
Easiest…If you LOVE to cook and look forward to 40 min in the kitchen by yourself creating an incredible meal.
This is my absolute favorite. I’ve been using this for a while.
You choose from 20 meals a week and almost everything is AH-Mazing. Hint: I’m not so hot on the pasta dishes except the chicken and lemony spaghetti (that dish is one of my favorites).
And Hello Fresh is super easy to make.
If you don’t have a ton of experience cooking, this is for you. Hello Fresh is how my adult stepdaughter learned to cook when she got her first apartment. Each meal takes about 20-40 minutes so it’s just over a 30-minute meal (but totally worth it) to prepare depending on the recipe and the result is INCREDIBLE.
These are delicious chef-created dinners. Full of fresh ingredients and flavor. I’m a pretty decent cook, but this blows my cooking out of the water.
Each dish comes with…
- Meat (portioned out and packaged separately).
- Paper bag containing all of your recipe items already portioned out (produce, spices, ingredients, even mini bottles of vinegar).
- Instruction card (with pictures) that walks you through everything you need to do, step by step.
You simply follow the steps on the card.
The best part, if you follow the instructions, you end up with a complete dinner finished (main meal, side, and veggies) all hot and ready to serve at the same time. That kind of timing can be difficult unless you have a really strong background in cooking.
As a bonus, I use WAY less dishes. Because everything is basically cooked in one or two pans, so clean-up is minimal. I just load the dishes as I go. A huge difference in my normal overflowing sink after cooking a family meal.
Hello Fresh is great at pulling you out of the “dinner rut” when everyone is sick of everything. And I have picky eaters. Everything is an issue.
- “Ew, what’s that?”
- “That looks disgusting.”
- “I’m not eating that.”
Those are typical mealtime phrases in my house. They get sick of everything they like, but trying something different is like tossing money straight out the window.
Until this…
Now they’re lining up to taste these dinners, excited about what we’re making next and asking for seconds of things I can’t believe they would even try. And the portion sizes are really good. So you won’t be starving when you’re done.
They also have additional options if you want them. Desserts and quick lunches. You have the option to upgrade your dinners to things like shrimp and scallop scampi (totally recommend) and the meals are priced at about $8-$15 dollars ($15 for the major upgraded meals) a serving.
The truth is… I spend triple that at the grocery store on dinners they hate that we’re all sick of.
You can check out Hello Fresh here…
What a Crock Meals to Go
Easiest….If you would rather spend the little time you have not cooking.
Quick and easy meals that you toss right in the crockpot. You go about your day and voila, dinner is ready to eat when you get home.
But these are not your ordinary crockpot meals…
- Steak Taco Stuffed Peppers
- Grandma’s Homemade Meatballs
- Au Jus Buttermilk Steak
- Chicken Marsala
- Shrimp Scampi
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
I didn’t even know you could make things like that in a crockpot.
They also have options for dips, desserts, and soups that will have your mouth watering.
Crockpot cooking is simple, especially if you use these crockpot liners then this has the hands down easiest clean up out of all the meal prep for elderly parents options.
You simply toss the liner, wash off the crockpot lid, and you’re done. Seriously. It’s that simple
As a bonus, when you cook in a crockpot, the whole house smells incredible when you get home. It’s hard not to look forward to dinner when all you can smell is deliciousness all around you.
The meals are reasonably priced. Between $11-$15 a portion (most dinners are on the $11 side of things) for a generous one portion crockpot meal (could feed more than one person if their appetites are small).
So to feed 2 or 3 decent size eaters you’ll need to grab extra portions.
Considering the prices in the grocery stores right now, this really can’t be beat. And the food is incredible.
You can learn more about What a Crock Meals to Go here…
Heads up! What if we could take away some of your cancer-related stress?
What if we could show you a quick and easy way to organize important medical information so you can actually find what you’re looking for?
No hassle, no stress, with a quick and easy set up that takes minutes to maintain. And the best part… It’s 100% Free.
You can get the Cancer Binder Pack here…
Silver Cuisine BistroMD
Easiest… if want to skip the cooking entirely.
If you’re over 50, this is a healthy meal delivery service created just for you.
With over 150 rotating meals to choose from, this is a great way to meal prep for elderly parents quickly and easily. You pick what you want (including breakfast) and they’ll do the shopping, cooking, and delivery for you.
You get a healthy nutritious chef prepared meal that’s ready in minutes. They also address a number of health concerns like Gluten-Free, Diabetic, heart-healthy, and low sodium.
The prices run from $8 a serving to about $14 for a really fancy meal. You can’t touch those prices in a grocery store right now, where the price of meat (and everything else) is astronomical.
This is a no fuss way to have an amazing dinner in minutes.
You can learn more about Silver Cuisine BistroMD here…
Now you can meal prep for elderly parents by creating meals that are delicious and exciting without spending hours in the kitchen.
And even better, you can skip the shopping, unloading, and last minute takeout. Because you’ll have options that are quicker, taste better, and cost less than the drive thru.
Around here, we call that a win.
P.S. If you’re overwhelmed by all this cancer business, we can relate!
The Cancer Binder Pack will walk you through the quick and easy system we used to organize our medical information.
Step-by-step instructions, printable forms, and monthly calendar pages so you can ALWAYS find what you need when you need it.
And, the best part, it’s FREE…
You can get the Cancer Binder Pack here…
More Caregiver Tips
Step-by-Step Weekly Planning for Caregivers
Caregiver Activities When you need an Escape
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