Hot meal ideas for elderly in winter
Last week we blogged about keeping safe and warm at home in the winter and one of our top tips was to ensure you or an elderly loved-one gets at least one hot meal a day and plenty of drinks too.
Food is a vital source of energy and it helps keep your body warm, so its important to eat well at this time of year as well as keeping as active as possible. We’ve put together some simple ideas for hot meals you can make for yourself or an elderly loved-one at home:
Warming porridge
If you can have a warm breakfast as well as a hot dinner, even better! Warm porridge in the morning is perfect and keeps you feeling fuller or longer. Try adding fresh berries, nuts or seeds too.
Soups and stews
It can be tempting to fill up on sugary food but it’s important to retain a healthy diet and get lots of fruit and vegetables. Winter vegetables such as carrots, swede, turnips and parsnips are great at this time of year as they can be blended into soups.
If you fancy a stew then pop lots of vegetables in one pot with your chosen meat. The meat will provide protein, potatoes will give energy and fibre and vegetables will provide vitamins and minerals. Stews can be prepared in the morning and popped in a slow cooker if you have one. Read all about the benefits of slow cookers here.
Fish pie
Having fish in your diet is a great idea, especially white fish, as it contains low fat protein and oily fish such as salmon is a good source of omega 3 fats. If you have some fish you need to cook up, why not make a pie? A steaming pie is perfect for winter evenings and you can pop in plenty of potatoes for carbohydrates and vegetables for a good source of vitamins and minerals.
Eggs
If you want something lighter then eggs are a great way to get a warming meal and they can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Scrambled, poached or boiled eggs with toast are great for the morning or why not try an omelette for lunch or dinner as you can throw in vegetables such as peppers, onions as well as ham, cheese or spinach.
