I don't know where you live, but here in a Chicago suburb, we have a company called mealvillage.com. They deliver fresh cooked meals every day but Sunday. All you need to do is microwave them. Another suggestion is realeats.com. They have a large assortment of dinners and you can pick your side. All you have to do is put the pouches in boiling water for 3 minutes. I have also tried freshly.com and sunbasket.com which has prepared meals to use or freeze and you get a discount if you have a AARP membership with silvercuisine.com. Momsmeals.com may also be an option. There are lots of prepared meal plans out there, you just need to search online. They usually have special trial deals. After that may be pricey with shipping costs but worth the convenience.
Many organizations provide reasonably priced meals, even church groups know good options. On a side idea Costco, for saying one place that have it at a good price, sells Natrol Juice Festiv Fruits and & Veggies capsules 120 each bottle which many good people swear by, as it increases the nutrition derived from 23 fruits and antioxidants and 18 veggies and 5 grains, 2 of each a day. Other places cost more and only offer 90 capsules of each. 2 a day will make the person gain what is often overlooked and under consumed on a daily basis. Best Wishes!
LMRLMR: My late mother used a variety of ideas and helps for mealtime until I had to move in with her to provide care. She used Meals on Wheels for the noontime delivered meal, a friend brought her a homemade dinner weekly, she ordered from two local restaurants who delivered, she could still make her wonderful meatloaf and her church had a meal train; as she was legally blind, she routinely did not make anything elaborate. Sometimes her meals consisted of hot tea or iced coffee, soup and a sandwich. As one ages, oftentimes they routinely eat less. In this modern age of 2022, most restaurants do provide delivery service. There exists other opportunities such as Door Dash and others.
We just found a local woman that makes nutritious meals and delivers. They are very reasonably priced. You could ask people at his church or in the area if they know of anyone.
My dad is still living on his own at 91. Still driving and grocery shopping. He seldom cooks and mostly relies on sandwiches and frozen meals that he can microwave. Is your dad able to do this for himself?
How is your dad able or unable to manage dinner on his own? Will or can he heat up frozen dinners that you have pre made and frozen for him? Will he or can he heat up a can of soup? Will he or can he make a grilled cheese sandwich? There are plenty of meal plan options. There are Meals on Wheels. BUT if he can not or will not heat up a prepared meal then that is a different problem. If he can't do it for one reason or another then he probably should not be living alone. The same is probably true if he won't heat up a prepared meal. Some people need the community, the encouragement of others to eat. It is not fun eating alone every day.
Good luck to you! I hope your dad is more cooperative than my mom was. Mom lived within a 30 minute drive of 3 of her daughters. We shared a lot of the chores that allowed her to remain in her home, including grocery shopping. We tried meals on wheels, but Mom quickly tired of the rather repetitive menus (I am sure other kitchens could well have better variety). We also tried making meals for her that she could microwave. Ultimately, she didn't eat those either. She wanted to eat the things that she wanted, made the way she made them.
Grocery shopping was one of the chores that I liked the least. I am not really physically able to push her around her chosen store for the hour or so it would take her to make her choices. It was emotionally taxing to watch her fill her cart with poor choices. Each time I took my turn I was in pain and stressed for the rest of the day. My sisters did not share the physical pain, but they shared the stress. The 3 of us finally agreed, though, that Mom was already 90+ and seemed likely to outlive the rest of us. It would have been very nice if we had been able to convince her to eat a heart-healthy and diabetes-approved diet. That just was not going to happen without a big fuss.
We decided that Mom could have whatever she wanted. It was more important to us and to her that she have a happy life in as many ways as she was able than that we strive to gain a few extra days of life through "good" choices that made her unhappy and combative. While it is true that some of her choices contributed to some of the increasing disabilities she suffered in her final years, her quality of life in other respects was good. It was much better for all of us to strive for peaceful relations with her life led on her terms and each of us holding to the limits we set for ourselves. After a while I quit taking her to the grocery store, but I remained willing to run into stores and make quick purchases for her--even the half and half she insisted on putting on her morning cereal.
I don't know how old your father is, or how willing he is to cooperate, but I think it very important to listen to his wishes.
If his ability to cook is good, it may be useful to look into assisting him to purchase groceries online for delivery. Many chain groceries now offer this service free. You could talk to him on the phone and make selections for him that would meet his tastes and also present healthful alternatives. This was not an option pre-covid, but the services are now well organized and work quite well. If you are making the selections you may be able to choose lower sodium or lower fat alternatives. You may also be able to influence him to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables, assuming he would be willing to eat them. Older people are very prone to wanting to stick with the choices they have made all their adult lives and change may not come willingly.
Do your parents have a large-ish grocery store near? Most of them are now packaging “meals” that require minimal prep. It’s usually meat, a veg, and a starch - or a casserole of some type. Not very expensive. Worth looking at, it’s usually in the meat Dept.
MOW is not available to my mother due to her living outside the delivery route. Our local senior center recommended momsmeals.com. I have not tried them because of our fixed income, but they seem to have a wide variety and caters to specific dietary preferences.
My mother was accustomed to eating fresh, whole foods with minimal sauces, cheese, etc. so meals on wheels did not work. We found a local franchise of "Chefsforseniors.com" and it was fantastic. Chef buys the groceries, comes in to cook then puts 7 meals in the freezer for the senior to heat 'n eat. Helped keep Mom at home for another year.
Meals on Wheels delivers both lunch & dinner daily to your door for $7-even less if you are receiving Government assistance like SSI. There are 2 vegetables and 1 fruit every day. The portions are small but there is a lot of variety. There is no Sunday delivery but they deliver Sunday’s meals along w/Saturday’s. If you don’t answer your door, the volunteer will contact the office but I don’t know if the office follows up after that?
My mom absolutely loves Mom's Meals. .The meals are high quality and delicious. They are selected according to my mom's dietary restrictions. Her primary is contacted for info before her meals are sent. They are very elder friendly and mom is able to order her own meals by phone.
We had looked into Meal on Wheels but there is no flexibility or choices. A lot of the meals served were foods mom did not or could not eat.
Depending on where your parents are, Meals on wheels may not be available. I found the county office of the aging and nutrition services has a similar program for my mom. She ended up needing a caregiver and help with cutting up her food too. As others have said, you need to look at your parent’s functional ability.
i live in Europe & my parents in USA, so fully understand this challenge. Lots of microwave dinners- there are really tasty ones out there. And plenty of favorite fruit. Mom (dementia) eats 4 apples a day. Plenty of raw carrots & mini tomatoes. Lots of favorite spices (taste disappears). Flavors for water (to keep dad drinking enuf fluids). I used to order everything on line for them. And taught dad how to do that - he is very proud of this new skill & w ‘order again’ websites it’s pretty easy even at 93 (!!) . most important- get what he loves to eat!
As others have said, alot depends on his skill using microwave. My mom lost that ability years ago. Used the thing to store papers in. I tried meals on wheels. The food was good, but bland. Mom had to add salt or ketchup to many things. If dementia is at play with your dad, things could backfire. As mom's dementia worsened I would come over her house to find she had a stack of those meals uneaten in the refrigerator. Or on the floor for the dogs to eat. Also, I discovered that at some point her meals were being delivered at 9:30 in morning! So even if meal was hot at the time it wasn't hot when she was ready for dinner. And she couldn't microwave it so it just stayed in fridge. At some point meals on wheels worked as an early "lunch" and then mom could find a snack/cereal/nutrition drink for "dinner" on her own. But as her dementia worsened mom needed someone there to make sure she was actually eating and drinking. I hope you find something that works for your dad.
My cousin and his wife have a personal chef who comes to their house and cooks and freezes three weeks' worth of meals at a time. It's not as hoity-toity as it sounds, but all their dinners are done that way, and my cousin, who can't cook for anything, just heats them up and they're good to go.
A friend used to cook for several elderly people in her neighborhood. She cooked huge amounts and delivered to each family. It was always what was on her own menu. You might find someone near him who does this.
LMRLMR, the microwave was my parent's go to for meals. Mom grocery list had a lot of frozen meals [yes, I know high in sodium] but my folks were already in their 90's. And a lot of sweets because at their age their taste buds were limited but they could still enjoy sweet products.
Therefore, if the parent has no diet limits, such as sugar, and is able to manage the microwave [simple ones are the best] then frozen prepared meals are handy to have around.
One major problem, trying to read the tiny tiny print for the directions on the frozen meals. I have to keep a magnifying glass on my kitchen counter.
Any useful suggestions require more information about your Dad's abilities. Does he have any memory loss? Does he remember how to use the microwave? Does he have any medical issues that require certain types of meals (like for diabetics) etc?
There are frozen meal options online that get delivered to his door, but someone with computer access/knowledge would need to manage this, AND it means he needs to know how to use the microwave.
In this modern age of 2022, most restaurants do provide delivery service. There exists other opportunities such as Door Dash and others.
Will or can he heat up frozen dinners that you have pre made and frozen for him?
Will he or can he heat up a can of soup?
Will he or can he make a grilled cheese sandwich?
There are plenty of meal plan options. There are Meals on Wheels.
BUT if he can not or will not heat up a prepared meal then that is a different problem.
If he can't do it for one reason or another then he probably should not be living alone.
The same is probably true if he won't heat up a prepared meal. Some people need the community, the encouragement of others to eat. It is not fun eating alone every day.
Grocery shopping was one of the chores that I liked the least. I am not really physically able to push her around her chosen store for the hour or so it would take her to make her choices. It was emotionally taxing to watch her fill her cart with poor choices. Each time I took my turn I was in pain and stressed for the rest of the day. My sisters did not share the physical pain, but they shared the stress. The 3 of us finally agreed, though, that Mom was already 90+ and seemed likely to outlive the rest of us. It would have been very nice if we had been able to convince her to eat a heart-healthy and diabetes-approved diet. That just was not going to happen without a big fuss.
We decided that Mom could have whatever she wanted. It was more important to us and to her that she have a happy life in as many ways as she was able than that we strive to gain a few extra days of life through "good" choices that made her unhappy and combative. While it is true that some of her choices contributed to some of the increasing disabilities she suffered in her final years, her quality of life in other respects was good. It was much better for all of us to strive for peaceful relations with her life led on her terms and each of us holding to the limits we set for ourselves. After a while I quit taking her to the grocery store, but I remained willing to run into stores and make quick purchases for her--even the half and half she insisted on putting on her morning cereal.
I don't know how old your father is, or how willing he is to cooperate, but I think it very important to listen to his wishes.
If his ability to cook is good, it may be useful to look into assisting him to purchase groceries online for delivery. Many chain groceries now offer this service free. You could talk to him on the phone and make selections for him that would meet his tastes and also present healthful alternatives. This was not an option pre-covid, but the services are now well organized and work quite well. If you are making the selections you may be able to choose lower sodium or lower fat alternatives. You may also be able to influence him to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables, assuming he would be willing to eat them. Older people are very prone to wanting to stick with the choices they have made all their adult lives and change may not come willingly.
https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/best-meal-kit-delivery-services-ncna1287814
on the person
Works really well
If you don’t answer your door, the volunteer will contact the office but I don’t know if the office follows up after that?
.The meals are high quality and delicious.
They are selected according to my mom's dietary restrictions. Her primary is contacted for info before her meals are sent. They are very elder friendly and mom is able to order her own meals by phone.
We had looked into Meal on Wheels but there is no flexibility or choices. A lot of the meals served were foods mom did not or could not eat.
most important- get what he loves to eat!
Therefore, if the parent has no diet limits, such as sugar, and is able to manage the microwave [simple ones are the best] then frozen prepared meals are handy to have around.
One major problem, trying to read the tiny tiny print for the directions on the frozen meals. I have to keep a magnifying glass on my kitchen counter.
There are frozen meal options online that get delivered to his door, but someone with computer access/knowledge would need to manage this, AND it means he needs to know how to use the microwave.