5 Ways to Get More Vegetables into Your Elderly Loved One’s Diet
Elderly Care in Palos Verde CA
Getting your elderly loved one to eat more vegetables can be a difficult task if she’s not fond of them. With the help of senior care providers, you can make meal preparation convenient. The more you can prepare ahead of time, the more likely your loved one will be to try some new things.
Make Snacks Super Easy
If you can make it easier to snack on vegetables than on anything else, it’s going to be tough to overlook them. Prepare bite-sized pieces of sweet peppers, celery, and carrots. Keep dips handy that your elderly loved one enjoys, like ranch or blue cheese dressing. If your elderly loved one enjoys treats like hummus, keep it on hand, too.
Double the Veggies
In recipes that call for vegetables, double up on them. Add a few extra vegetables to soups, pasta sauces, and pizzas. The options are endless, really, and sometimes the folks eating those recipes won’t notice at all that there are any additional veggies in the dish. If there are particular vegetables that your elderly loved one enjoys, make sure to include those often.
Get Sneaky
If you have any experience in sneaking vegetables into your recipes, you probably already know that pureeing or grating vegetables is an easy way to work them into recipes. Look for recipes that use ingredients in unusual ways, such as black bean brownies or chocolate zucchini muffins. In many cases, you aren’t likely to taste the added vegetables at all. Smoothies are another great place to hide vegetables. Spinach and other dark, leafy greens work well.
Try Meatless Mondays
Meatless Mondays are a menu planning concept where you serve a dinner entree that is completely vegetarian. Dishes like vegetarian lasagna or vegetarian chili are good options. If you search by the term “meatless Monday,” you can find dozens of recipes that can work. If your elderly loved one is not keen on vegetarian dishes, try first incorporating lesser amounts of meat and bumping up the vegetables.
Experiment with Salads
If your elderly loved one isn’t a fan of salads, try mixing different types of greens with vegetables that she does like. You can play around with the ratios until you land on a combination that she enjoys. Try playing with recipes for homemade salad dressings to see if that helps. Adding even one salad a day can up your loved ones vegetable intake by quite a bit. She may even find that she starts to enjoy them.
The key is to be consistent, and to make meal preparation as easy as possible.
If you or an aging loved one needs elderly care services in Palos Verde, CA, call Livewell Private Care at (310) 933-4986. Servicing Los Angeles, CA and the surrounding areas.
Source
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/eating-well-as-you-age.htm