Meal Prepping For Family Caregivers

As a family caregiver, your biggest asset is your time.  You’ll want to protect it as a precious possession.  You have a full plate of responsibilities at home.  You provide care for your elderly loved one and you manage the home.  Strategies on how to shave off time spent on household tasks can be a big benefit. 

Let’s face it, it feels like you’re burning the candle at both ends.

If you’re also working, large chunks of time during the week are accounted for sleep, work, and possibly commute time.  Another block of time is purchasing, preparing, and consuming healthy foods.  You can buy ingredients to prepare meals from the grocery store. 

The other option is to purchase deli items at the grocery store or other ready-made foods away from home.  This involves considerably more cost and you don’t have control over ingredients.

Not only will you pay more for food away from home, but it takes more time and energy to drive there and wait in line.  You might wonder, “What’s the most efficient way to prepare food?”

May I suggest that you consider meal prepping?  Read further.  I’ll explain what it is, as a family caregiver how it can help you, and what you need to get started.

In addition to it being a time saver, there are also other benefits such as:

Energy saver

Peace of mind

Health

Cost savings

What is Meal Prepping? 

What exactly is meal prepping?  Author, Registered Dietician and Certified Dietician/Nutritionist Toby Amidor writes in her book entitled The Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy and Wholesome Meals To Cook, Prep, Grab, and Go this definition:  “It means scheduling and planning time to prepare and cook several meals at a time and packing them so they’re ready for you to grab and go.  Meal prepping also means that you plan in advance for super-quick meals during the week, so you have all the necessary ingredients on hand.”¹

My wife Margie and I grocery shop together.  She helps me prepare the meals.  A few large batch meals are made and side vegetables are added.  

Time Saver

Giving your best to your elder loved one, and others in your household involves time and love.  Wouldn’t it be great to give chunks of your time to them?  Meal prepping involves planning, organization, and executing your plan.  There will be a pay-off.

You’ll also have more time for your loved one and also more time for yourself.  If you’re working and you already have breakfast and your lunch ready, you can spend more time connecting in the morning in conversation with your loved one.  A benefit to preparing in advance is that you choose the time to prepare at a time of your choosing when you have ample amounts of energy.  

The timing of preparing meals does not need to coincide with after you have just put in a full day’s work.  It reduces effort - instead of bringing out the cooking tools every day, preparing the meals, and doing the clean-up you do it once or twice a week.  You’ll begin to notice that with advanced planning and organization, the familiar frantic rush is a thing of the past.  

Picture this.  After work, you can casually connect with your loved one in conversation knowing that dinner’s already ready to simply warm up and serve! It’s Spring now in Paso Robles, and yesterday my wife and I ate bagel pizzas which were meal-prepped.  It was a relief to know that after work, dinner was ready in minutes.  It afforded us a stroll in the cool evening at Paso Robles Downtown City Park.  By the way, kudos to the City of Paso Robles for listening to residents’ input on putting up the beautiful holiday lights in the trees year-round throughout the park.  It looks enchanting, like a scene straight out of a Thomas Kinkade™ painting.  If I had spent time cooking dinner yesterday around evening time, we would have missed seeing daylight slowly fading into darkness and those glimmering tree lights turning on in Downtown Paso Robles City Park.

With the hot Summer coming up, we look forward to more evening relaxing strolls thanks to meal prepping.  We can determine the best times to prepare our evening meals – which is in the cool of the mornings. I have in mind several leaf and bean salads with (homemade) Greek yogurt chicken salad sandwich recipes. These can be meal prepped to refrigerate for dinners and heating meals will be skipped altogether.

Energy saver

With meal prepping, you bring out all the cooking utensils less often.  Likewise for the instances of cleaning cooking utensils and storing them.  Sure, you plan for more cooking.  There might be more utensils to clean, but the instances of cleaning are less.  The satisfaction that you’re investing now for a later payout is invigorating.  It’s worth the increased personal energy output for a concentrated time.  

Meal prepping saves on utilities costs - some utilities charge higher rates during peak times.  Cook later in the evening or during early morning and your utility rates may be cheaper. 

You may invite your elderly loved one to lend a hand at what they can help with.  They can help sort freezer storage bags.  They may simply want to sit and talk about their day and reminisce about their cooking days.  Think of times past when families would gather to participate in canning foods for later use.  History reveals that families saved time, and it helped with developing a sense of community.  This ‘community’ builder also resulted in synergy.  Similarly, with your meal prepping, you follow the adage of ‘more hands make lighter work’² and camaraderie is enjoyed. 

If you’re meal prepping alone, why not put on Spotify™ in the background and waltz a little in this process?

In the case of using the slow cooker for assembling in freezer bags, freeze, thaw, is as good as done.  You simply dump the ingredients in the slow cooker and press the recommended time for slow cooking and you can be doing other activities. 

Peace of mind

Meal prepping affords you the leisure of looking forward to a relaxing meal – ready for you to enjoy with little or no fuss.

If you’re a working family caregiver there is a finite amount of energy you possess during the day

Knowing that your meals are already prepared reduces that frantic mindset in a heartbeat.

It promotes a more manageable lifestyle.  Rest returns.

There’s a special connection when we break bread together.  Meal prepping helps conversations -that back and forth of sharing of yourself.  That’s because you have more time and energy to listen and affirm one another.  It fosters belongingness, something we all yearn for.  COVID taught us that elders are one of the most vulnerable.  Accordingly, meal times together bring cohesiveness.  Even if you must eat separately, the tranquility of a relaxing meal that’s already been made ahead of time is appealing.

Healthy

You have control over the ingredients of your meals.    You can choose fresh ingredients and not highly processed foods.

Better nutrients at a time when you need it, considering you’re juggling major responsibilities.

Special diets, able to know without a doubt, what’s the ingredients.

In a pinch, fast food appears appealing.  An over-reliance on fast food eating can place your health at risk though.  Fast food establishments have ‘super-sized’ their portion sizes.  This has led to an uptick in health complications in the general population.  In addition, the makeup of fast food is cause for concern. 

According to an online article on the website Medical News Today entitled Is fast food bad for you?  All you need to know about its nutrition and impacts, author Timothy Huzar writes “Fast food is typically poor in terms of nutrition.  According to a 2015 review, fast food tends to contain various substances that are generally unhealthy.  It is high in sugar, salt, saturated or trans fats, and many processed preservatives and ingredients.  It also lacks some beneficial nutrients.”³

Furthermore, in an online article by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – The Nutrition Source, entitled Meal Prep Guide – “some benefits of meal prep (include it) can help with weight control, as you decide the ingredients and portions served”⁴

By consuming meals with healthy ingredients - which are ready to eat, your energy level can be regulated throughout the day.  You avoid the vicious cycle of energy peaks and deficiencies.

Cost Savings

With meal prepping you’ve strategically planned your meals for maximum dollar value.  Eat what you need for the moment. 

Fewer trips to the grocery store or local eateries when you’re tired or excessively hungry for impulse buying.

Less food waste because portions are strategically planned out

You pay a price for cooking right before dinner time.  At least where we live, for approximately half of the year we have warm weather.  If you avoid the crunch time of meal preparation just before dinner, you avoid standing in front of a hot stove!

There’s a ‘cost’ to lost time.  Time when you could have been enjoying relationship interaction and other things instead of daily cooking. 

Tools and supplies needed

You likely have all the tools and supplies you need.  

A slow cooker will come in handy.  Also, an electric pressure cooker and a microwave. 

Plastic food wrap for covering food containers or freezer bags

Freezer bag stands – purchase from a reputable online seller

Recipe folder

Portion storage containers – see resource list below

Meal Prep Cookbooks to purchase or Google recipes found on the internet websites or blogs

Search the internet for meal-planning apps

Start here

Learn recipes from those with experience.  Online, and books. You can start by selecting breakfasts or lunches to meal prep for.  The idea is to build momentum.  Like any habit, it takes repetition to make gains. 

I highly recommend two books listed here and in the resources listed below:

The Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy and Wholesome Meals To Cook, Prep, Grab, and Go. Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN (2017)  Rockridge Press.

Best Ever Three & Four Ingredient Cookbook: 400 Fuss-free and fast recipes – breakfasts, appetizers, lunches, suppers, and desserts using only four ingredients or less.  By Jenny White and Joanna Farrow (2002, 2009) Hermes House., Anness Publishing Ltd.

There are guidelines about storage you need to know.  For example, some foods don’t freeze well.

See the guidelines listed in the resources list below.

The online store Etsy is a site where creatives sell digital planners such as templates of menu planners and grocery for a nominal fee.  Please see the resources list below with information on ordering these from Etsy.

How Our Agency Can Help You

Our caregivers can assist you with selecting nutritious foods at the grocery store.  They can learn your preferences for food choices and meal preparation.  Choosing favorite recipes will be a fun pastime as you share ideas with a caregiver.  You’ll find that it’s very convenient to have another person sharing in the task.  They love a good conversation during meals. This can help alleviate loneliness and help your loved one feel like they belong.  Call us to find out more about how our caregivers assist with meal preparation.  Our telephone number is 805-238-3500.

Conclusion

Meal prepping is an invaluable tool for family caregivers.  Its benefits are time-saving, energy and cost savings, maintaining your health and it gives you peace of mind.  With the juggling of responsibilities as a family caregiver, you’d greatly benefit by considering it.  Begin with meal prepping for one meal, say breakfast and start with setting up two or three meals in advance.  You’ll gain momentum and before you know it, you’ll have options of how to spend your time like taking that cool evening stroll.  What steps will you embark on with your meal prepping journey?

Resources list:

Amidor, Toby, MS, RD, CDN (2017) The Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy and Wholesome Meals To Cook, Prep, Grab, and Go.  Rockridge Press.  Registered Dietician, Certified Dietician/Nutritionist

White, Jenny and Joanna Farrow (2002, 2009) Best Ever Three & Four Ingredient Cookbook: 400 Fuss-free and fast recipes – breakfasts, appetizers, lunches, suppers, and desserts using only four ingredients or less.  Hermes House., Anness Publishing Ltd.

Creatives selling through Etsy have taken the time to meal plan with select menus and grocery lists already printed, for a nominal cost.  See: https://www.etsy.com/search?q=meal%20prep%20grocery%20list&ref=search_bar

Then type in Meal Prep Grocery lists

The website: Food Safety.gov (Retrieved 5-8-24) found here: https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts

The website ask.usda.gov (The US Department of Agriculture) (Retrieved 5-8-24) found here: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Where-can-I-get-a-food-storage-chart

You’ll see a search bar.  I recommend that you type into the search bar these two questions:

Food storage

What foods can you freeze

Another USDA informational resource.  This article is entitled Freezing and Food Safety (Retrieved 5-8-24) found here: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/freezing-and-food-safety#:~:text=Some%20foods%20simply%20don't,moisture%20is%20lost%20during%20cooking.

Etsy is the website where creative sell their products.  This link connects you to digital products such as grocery list meal planners.  Note: Christian Love Home Care does not endorse any Etsy creative seller, nor can we guarantee the quality of the product.  Nor will we refund you if you are not fully satisfied with the product.  We provide this information for your resource only.  Accordingly, you assume your own risk when you purchase an Etsy product. Found here:  https://www.etsy.com/search?q=grocery%20list%20meal%20planner&ref=search_barhttps://www.etsy.com/search?q=grocery%20list%20meal%20planner&ref=search_bar

Footnotes:

¹Amidor, Toby, MS, RD, CDN (2017) The Healthy Meal Prep Cookbook: Easy and Wholesome Meals To Cook, Prep, Grab, and Go.  Rockridge Press. p. 11

²The saying “many hands make light work” according to wikiHow was first printed in English in 1546.  Heywood, John (1546).  Proverbs. Retrieved (5-8-24) Found here: https://www.wikihow.com/Many-Hands-Make-Light Work#:~:text=The%20concept%20of%20%E2%80%9Cmany%20hands,which%20was%20published%20in%201546.

According to the above online article, “This saying has roots in other languages and cultures, too.  In Africa, “Many hands make light work” translates to “Mikono mingi kazi haba” in Swahili and “Abema Hamoi basindika eitara” in Haya. 

³Huzar, Timothy.  (2-9-23) Is fast food bad for you?  All you need to know about its nutrition and impacts.  Retrieved (5-10-24) found here: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324847

⁴Staff writers. The Nutrition Source, entitled Meal Prep Guide published by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  Retrieved (5-8-24) Found here: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/meal-prep/#:~:text=Some%20benefits%20of%20meal%20prep%3A&text=Can%20help%20with%20weight%20control,to%20eat%2C%20or%20rushed%20preparation