Foil Packet Dinners

In an ideal world, dinner would be a great time to relax and enjoy spending time with your family while consuming delicious and healthy food. As a caregiver, you may feel a responsibility to provide your loved one with good nutrition. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Often, we have competing priorities and lack of time. This can be further complicated by various family food preferences. If this sounds familiar, I hope this dinner idea can help you.
Currently, I have an abundance of squash and zucchini in my garden. So I simply sliced these vegetables along with some onion and used them as the base for individual tin foil dinners for each person at our house. This mixture was then seasoned with salt and pepper and a pat of butter was added to each packet. Individual chicken breasts that had been marinating in Italian dressing were placed on the vegetables. I sealed up each packet and put everyone's dinner on a cooking sheet together. I baked them at 375 degrees for 45 minutes (until the chicken was done at 170 degrees in the thickest part of the breast). Lastly, I transferred each dinner from its packet to a plate (be careful when opening the packets) and added some Parmesan cheese to each serving. I served this alongside some steamed broccoli and it was a complete and fresh meal. It took less than 10 minutes to put together and clean-up was minimal.

Maybe your loved one has different food preferences than you or has dietary restrictions that can be limiting for the whole family. Other foods that are convenient in tin packets include potatoes (just slice them very thin or dice them), bell peppers, mushrooms and hamburger patties. Any seasoning or herbs can be used (pesto is another good one for chicken and either potatoes or zucchini). Some people may add shredded cheddar cheese, cooked bacon or barbecue sauce after baking. Modifying this concept to suit everyone's diet is simple and allows minimal preparation to accomplish different meals for the whole family. In addition, others can help by making their own packets and all meals that are cooked together are done at the same time. Assembling each meal could even be done the day prior to baking. Just pull the packets out of the refrigerator and put them in the oven when you are ready. This means you have one less thing to coordinate and this can make a huge difference in a busy day. This meal is also very forgiving as it does not over-cook easily and the foil packet keeps the meat moist (which makes it tender).

I hope this idea may help you and your family have an easy, affordable, healthy and delicious home-cooked dinner together.

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Create a Floral Arrangement

Experiencing nature, like a plant or a flower arrangement, in our environments can increase our well-being and be uplifting to our spirits. When doing activities with loved ones who have dementia or other conditions, finding ways to their engage them or provide a sense of accomplishment may be challenging. It could be helpful to think about how they may experience the world with their different senses. Flower arranging may be an activity to try as it involves vision, smell and touch.
Now is a great time to use what you already have in your yard (or you may have a friend or neighbor who would be happy to let you pick some of their flowers for this project). You don't have to use only flowers, but an arrangement could incorporate herbs or small tree cuttings. I happen to have day lilies and roses in bloom at my house, and they have made some great arrangements.

You can certainly use a vase to make a bouquet, but don't feel you have to limit yourself to any particular type of container. I find that glass jars (like the ones that pickles or salsa come in) make some of the best bases as they have a wider top that allows more flexibility for the arranger. Besides being free, using a jar allows you to make a grid out of a material (like tape or floral wire) to cover its top. This allows easy positioning of stems and helps hold the bouquet's shape. In addition, you can use fewer flowers to make an arrangement that seems full and repositioning stems is simple. Doing this step may help create a successful experience for the person who is doing the arranging. As you can see from the picture below, I made a grid from floral wire, secured it around the jar top with a rubber band and then trimmed the end pieces of wire. After this photo, I simply covered the rubber band with a piece of ribbon.

Flower arranging can be an easy, natural and affordable way to enhance the life of your loved one. Maybe making a fresh centerpiece for tonight's dinner would be a fun activitiy that creates a beautiful result and a moment of joy.

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Enjoy a Superfood Smoothie

Photo from here

 Summer is in full swing and when temperatures go up appetites can go down. Taking care of our bodies (including maintaining a healthy diet) can be a challenge when balancing busy lives and competing priorities. Consider trying the following recipe for a blueberry smoothie as either breakfast or a snack. Loaded with blueberries, yogurt and flaxseeds, it makes good nutrition possible for both those who struggle with enjoying healthy foods and caregivers who are super busy (sound familiar?). Who doesn't need more fruit, omega-3s and calcium in their lives?

You may already know that blueberries are one of the healthiest foods we can consume. Livestrong.com reports some of the advantages of this fruit include:

• Rich in Antioxidants to Strengthen and Support the Immune System
• Relieves Urinary Tract Infection Symptoms
• Source of Fiber
• Beneficial for Short-Term Memory

Fresh blueberries can be frozen to enjoy in this smoothie or you can purchase them already frozen (this is a budget-friendly way to enjoy this fruit year-round).

Blueberry Smoothie
1 c. frozen wild* blueberries
½ c. plain or vanilla yogurt
1 c. lowfat milk
2 TBS ground flaxseeds
Put all ingredients into the blender and puree. Enjoy! Makes 1 large or two small servings.

For anyone who wants to learn more about the health benefits of blueberries, check out this link.
More on the nutritional information for flaxseeds here.

*wild blueberries have higher levels of antioxidants in them than cultivated blueberries. You can usually find wild blueberries in the frozen section of the supermarket, but any type of frozen blueberry will work fine in this recipe.

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It's a Great Day for a Picnic



 photo from here

Sandy, a talented caregiver, has a way of engaging clients who typically don’t like to do activities. She takes Jane, a lady whom she cares for, on a “picnic”. Jane has dementia and is hesitant to leave her couch and television (which is always on the news). Sandy encourages Jane to help her pack a lunch of finger foods. They don’t leave the house (due to Jane’s declining mobility), but they do go to the sunroom for lunch. It can be an effective way to change the scenery for Jane (because let’s face it- the news is not always uplifting), and it makes lunch seem more like an event. Finger foods are tasty and they eliminate the need for silverware, which can be a challenge for Jane to use at times.  Some foods they enjoy include small sandwiches (cucumber, chicken salad and egg salad are favorites), pickles or chips, sliced fruit and cookies.  Sandy’s thoughtful idea makes a positive impact on Jane’s day by creating a fun and positive environment, helping her relax, have an enjoyable meal and participate in light-hearted conversation. Maybe having a picnic could create a joyful experience for you and your loved one too.

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