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| Photo: Cooking Perfected |
Hey, mothers of young children, you are not alone! Suddenly in October, my elderly mom started refusing to eat vegetables. If I put a small portion of peas, carrots, or green beans on a dinner plate she ignores them. Then she got picky with fruit and refuses bananas, apples, peaches, and oranges ... all foods she ate all her adult life. She'll agree to 3 strawberries or a few grapes, maybe a spoonful of blueberries. Forget about mango, romaine lettuce, or avocado.
So two weeks ago I started making her smoothies for lunch. Most days it's working. She's eating spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, butternut squash, bananas, apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and pineapple again. She just doesn't know it.
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup carrots
Last March (2022) when I started overseeing her meals I set 3 main goals. 1) lots of protein; 2) a variety of real food - meat, fruits and vegetables, plus whole grains over the course of a week; 3) low sugar in her diet.
Basic Smoothie for one:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1/2 cup berries (I alternate: either strawberries or blueberries)
1/4 cup nuts (I alternate between almonds, walnuts, and peanuts - or a tablespoon of peanut butter works.)
1 small banana (adds sweetness and potassium)
a handful of spinach
alternate a vegetable (see below👇)
1/2 cup of canned no-sugar-added fruit cocktail
A drizzle of honey if needed
I select a different fruit or vegetable to add each day from the following list -- alternate and use whatever you have in the refrigerator. Mix it up over the course of a week:
A wedge of cooked butternut squash
1/4 cup of cooked unsalted green beans
1/4 cup cooked unsalted peas
1/4 cup of cooked California mix - broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
1/4 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 peeled green apple
a small orange
BTW: If your ward needs a carbohydrate you can also toss 1/4 cup of oatmeal into a smoothie. My mother eats multi-grain toast and oat crunch cereal for breakfast so I don't add oatmeal to her smoothies. You can also pour in a splash of fruit juice for sweetness or to make the smoothie thinner if necessary.
Directions:
Toss everything into a blender and puree. Pour into a tall glass. Top with a drizzle of honey, or another splash of fruit juice to achieve a drinkable consistency. Eyeball it.
Sweets are a treat, not a staple. I think we can learn to like healthy foods just as much as junk food. Whatever our palettes are fed is what we enjoy eating. I ask reoccurring visitors intent on bringing treats to please bring her grapes, an orange, or bananas, not cookies and candies.
We stock dark chocolate -- bars and dark chocolate chips (12-ounce bag), and she eats a serving most days. There are also special occasion treats like Christmas cookies, a slice of birthday cake, or an ice cream cone. Halloween candy once a year. Nothing mindless though.
My mother doesn't need cholesterol or blood pressure drugs, so if we can avoid various conditions with a healthy diet we're better off than having to treat them. We love her primary care physician, Dr. Jackson! He is thorough without being an alarmist. He took care of his own elderly father, and I can run any concerns by him that arise. He endorses Carnation Instant Breakfast for people who won't eat meals. We are on the same page.
Whether we need to get a fussy senior or a child to eat a variety of healthy food, we have to get the job done without making our own lives crazy. Milk, yogurt, fresh or canned fruit, and a blender are your best friends. Voilà protein, vitamins, and fiber in a glass! Into the piehole and down the hatch!!
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Great advice, Debra! When my late husband was slowing down about eating anything nutritious, I also made smoothies with veggies fruits and yoghurts too. He always loved veggies and knew he should eat them but his swallowing and chewing were compromised by his brain tumours. Thanks for your tips! Well done!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you had to see your husband suffer, but what a comfort for him to have you taking good care of him, and as someone who was a caregiver I'm happy to have your input. Thanks for letting me know I'm on the right tract! Life seems to come full circle, doesn't it?
DeleteWhat a creative solution you have devised, Debra. It is hard to imagine being reluctant to eat, but I know it happens. If you wrote a book, I would buy it! Good luck with the smoothies.
ReplyDeleteAh, thanks for the support, my friend! Yes, hard to imagine, getting so picky about food, but seems to be universal with elderly people. Are they paying back years later? :)
DeleteA very timely post; great ideas for incorporating veggies into every meal. I remember Carnation Instant Breakfast from my teen years! I had to convince my mom it was nutritious; she finally admitted defeat (teenagers can be so tenacious!)
ReplyDeleteI drank Carnation Instant Breakfast all through my school years. I needed breakfast to sustain me until lunch but never wanted to get up earlier to make a traditional breakfast. My mother made a delicious and hearty dinner, but for breakfast and lunch we were on our own. I was given money to eat a hot school lunch and it was inexpensive. At the time schools got help from the Federal government so they didn't have to make profit on school lunches, a hope still a reality for today's students.
DeleteI can relate to what you are going thru- been there done that with elderly parent. Smoothies and veggie shakes are good all around. I own multiple blenders, at one point had one for fruit only (lots of vanilla yogurt, mix with fruit slices- though this one would not meet your low sugar criteria) and veggies (start with V8, add vegetables).
ReplyDeleteHint- if it's been a long day, and you need a little "me-time" or a "me-beverage", add some vanilla vodka on the fruit side, or on the veggie drinks and add some some regular vodka and Louisiana spicey sauce (Bloody Mary style)- then turn on the blender.
I must try the veggie shakes too. With your stash of spirits, you sound like a fun caregiver.
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