Most family caregivers are helping a parent. You help your dad, and one of the most time-consuming tasks involves planning menus, shopping for groceries, and preparing your dad’s meals and snacks. When you’re busy with your job and your family, how do you also make time for your dad’s care needs? Have you considered hiring senior home care providers to help?
Plan Meals That Carryover From One Day to the Next
When you’re planning meals, aim for those where the item you make one day is used in the next day’s meal. For example, use the leftover chicken from a roast chicken to make chicken and biscuits the next. The tomato soup you made one night can become part of a baked ziti dinner the next.
Prep Large Batches of Ingredients at Once
Prepare batches of ingredients at once and save a lot of time. If you’re making chili one night and minestrone soup the next, diced onions and minced garlic are needed for both meals. Chop all of those vegetables and keep them in storage containers in the refrigerator.
You can make bread dough for rolls in large batches and keep them in the freezer until needed. Keep homemade biscuit mix in the pantry to save time. Cook large batches of brown rice, quinoa, and other favorites in advance, portion them into freezer bags or containers and store them in the freezer until needed.
Invest in a Slow Cooker and Use Meal Planning Apps
If your dad doesn’t have a slow cooker, buy one. They’re handy for slowly cooking rice and grains in large batches. They’re also helpful for cooking meals without having to stay by the stove all day.
Slow cookers are fantastic tools for making pot roast, stew, or soups. You can use the cooker to make bone broth, applesauce, and oatmeal. Once finished, you’re able to portion things appropriately and move them to the refrigerator or freezer until that item is needed.
Go online and read reviews of meal planning apps to find the ones that best fit your needs. Some focus on vegetarian recipes and menus while others can help you limit options by dietary restrictions.
Look for an app that lets you build a weekly menu and create a shopping list from the recipes you’ve chosen. That feature can save a lot of time. Go through the recipes, check off what your dad already has in stock, and the rest goes onto a list that you can use at the store or place an online order.
Hire Senior Home Care Aides to Prepare Your Dad’s Meals and Snacks
While you may want to help your dad, you do have to consider if you truly have enough time. senior home care services are a great partner to your busy schedule. Help your dad when you have the time, but when you’re busy, senior home care aides can stay with your dad for socialization, cook his meals, and help you out by being there for him.
If you or a loved one are considering Senior Home Care Services near Lititz PA, contact the caring staff at Extended Family Care of Lancaster. Call today at (717) 205-2174.
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