🥕 This Week in Dementia Dining!🥕 

• Blue Zones Diet: Food Secrets of the World’s Longest-Lived People (BlueZones): Blue Zones are the areas of the world with the highest concentrations of centenarians and the lowest rates of dementia. And the food is fantastic! This is great food for anyone, but especially someone living with dementia.

• 14 Food Prep Tips for Seniors with Dementia (AOL): tools and methods for adapting food preparation so your loved one stays involved in the process. You might be surprised by a few of these ideas!

• 10 Easy Meals for Dementia Patients: Delicious Nourishment Made Simple (Alzheimer’s Lab): some fun recipes here. And don’t forget to check this week’s Caregiver’s Corner below for more!

Caregiver’s Corner: Cooking for Them Is Food for Your Soul

I’ve been there. And if you’re reading this, chances are you or someone you know has, too.

Being a caregiver for a loved one is fraught with contradictions. You feel needed. You feel alone. It’s rewarding. It’s frustratingly challenging. And any of these emotions can hit you all at once, and even at the same time.

As caregivers, we must be prepared to navigate this bumpy road of ups and downs and its complex emotional, physical, and logistical demands. We need to do it with grace and kindness while taking care of ourselves. That’s an imperative. But how?

I began by making food my love language.

Food is comfort. It’s sustenance. It’s letting someone know you care. And sharing a meal can be intimate and gratifying. While I was caring for my mother, who suffered from Lewy Body dementia, cooking for her was a gift. It nourished her and fed my soul because it made her happy, even for a fleeting moment.

And preparing her meals gave me a little time to myself while doing something meaningful for her.

Food is love (and fuel)

As a caregiver, there were times when I forgot to eat, or it seemed as if there weren’t enough hours in a day. Once I put my meals on a schedule, my energy and disposition improved greatly. And I learned some things along the way.

Eat together when possible

My mother became afraid of choking when she ate. A speech pathologist recommended that I pureé her food and purchase a dysphagia cup. With this, my mother could feed herself without worrying about spills or choking on her food if no one were with her. And I could eat with her. This added a sense of normalcy, intimacy, and dignity. Check with a healthcare professional to see if assistive cups or utensils are right for your loved one.

If you need to hand-feed, either have a healthy snack while preparing their food, or keep something within reach, like a protein bar, sliced fruit with a nut butter, or cut-up veggies and hummus. Occasionally, treat yourself by ordering delivery from a local restaurant to enjoy while your loved one sleeps. There are also meal delivery services you can turn to.

Cook in bulk and freeze

Whether you need to serve food pureéd or whole, bulk cooking is a boon. To keep my mother’s mealtime interesting, I wanted to serve her something different for lunch and dinner and vary the flavor profiles. While it may sound like a lot of trouble, it wasn’t. The payoff for me was seeing my mother finally start perking up at mealtime, curious about what we were going to eat.

Homemade soup was at the top of my go-to list.

• Homemade soup is inexpensive, nutritious, and filling, especially if it includes animal or plant protein.

• Soups with legumes like lentils, black beans, or split peas provide fiber that can help with regularity and slow down digestion, keeping one feeling fuller for longer.

• Soups can be frozen.

• Any soup is possible, even if you’re pureeing, like beef barley soup, egg drop soup, and cream soups (substitute cream with milk).

TIP: Divide soup into single or double portions in plastic or silicone bags and freeze flat. I always put these bags into a labeled larger bag.

ADVANTAGES: Soups are easily pureed, nutritious, and flavorful. They also freeze well and can provide enough variety to keep mealtime interesting.

Basic soup recipe for legumes and vegetables

This basic recipe can be easily adapted to the type of bean(s) you prefer. We like this recipe with lentils, split peas, black beans, navy beans, or cannellini beans. Take your pick and then select a protein that works well with it, like ham, chicken, or sausage. If you don’t need to pureé, consider adding pasta, barley, or rice.

Click the button below to download the full recipe.

If you’re caring for someone of an advanced age, there are some important considerations. Learn more

• Keep them well-hydrated. Water is as essential as solid nutrition, so keep it within reach and offer it regularly throughout the day.

• Focus on nutrient-dense, easy-to-eat food, with special attention to any needs due to conditions. 

• Soft proteins like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, fish, and tender meats are easier to chew and provide nutrient-rich meals.

• Add healthy fats like avocados, olive oil, and nut butters to maintain calorie intake, regardless of the size of the portions.

• Smoothies can be highly nutritious by adding ingredients like protein powder, fruit, vegetables, and/or healthy fats. 

When forks and knives are too hard to handle

Chefs Sarah Gorham and Stone Morris noticed that many memory care residents struggled using utensils. So they came up with an ingenious idea: create finger food versions of nutritious, flavorful meals. And so, Grind DiningTM was born. 

This culinary concept helps preserve independence and enjoyment during mealtime for those with cognitive impairments. It can increase food consumption and improve overall nutrition and quality of life.

Gorham and Morris often serve finger foods on popsicle or lollipop sticks, as “cupcakes,” fritters, or wrapped in crepes or flour tortillas. It was no surprise that many facilities noticed that Grind Dining made mealtime more enjoyable, eliminated embarrassing spills, and restored a sense of dignity. 

Now you can bring this innovative concept home. In addition to food like tea sandwiches and meatballs, we found some everyday recipes that can easily be eaten with the fingers. Many can be frozen and reheated:

Baked Mac and Cheese Balls 

Add chopped spinach for fiber and iron. For extra protein, substitute bread crumbs with a bag of crushed Quest chips or cheese crackers.

• Avocado Deviled Eggs

• Spaghetti Cups with Veggies

• Mini Shepherd’s Pies

• Savory Cupcakes with mashed potatoes

• 11 Stuffed Mushroom Ideas

Prepared and frozen foods:

• Fish sticks

• Mini crabcakes

• Chicken tenders

• Healthier appetizers

• French toast sticks

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