I love to cook. I’m not a fancy cook, but I enjoy finding new ways to do things. And I like to do things the easy way if I can. When I work with seniors, I see how the simplest things have become more difficult for them. I like to help simplify their lives, to help them find ways to take care of themselves in the safest, easiest way they can. Finding new ways to cook their favorite foods is one of the things that help maintain their independence and nourish their bodies and creativity. So I’m going to start posting easy meals for seniors, including recipes, meal prep, and methods I used to create them .
Lately, I’ve been working on recipes that can be prepared in a rice cooker. I like the rice cooker idea because the thing shuts itself off. A lot of folks don’t trust themselves to cook something on the stove as they get older for fear they may forget it or fall asleep and cause a fire. But the rice cooker method takes that worry away. It will turn off once the moisture and heat level reaches a particular stage. The same is true for the new Instant Pot type cookers. I believe there is a smaller version of the original Instant Pot, but generally, the original is bigger than what I’d recommend most seniors to handle just from a safety perspective.
I’ve discovered the rice cooker can make all the usual stuff: rice, quinoa, steamed veggies, boiled potatoes, eggs. But it can also work for less traditional things like lentils, soups, scalloped potatoes, chicken and rice casseroles, eggplant parmesan, chicken spaghetti. Lots of great food.
I’m also keen on discovering new ways to cook safe, healthy meals, such as the microwave potato bag that not only bakes a potato, but also can cook corn on the cob, green beans, asparagus, and other delightful foods.
I hope you will find these easy meals for seniors nutritious, delicious, and safe to prepare. Stay tuned for more recipes as the collection grows. Please share if you’ve discovered other safe methods of meal preparation for seniors or folks who need to save energy and time!