Easy Healthy Recipes For Caregivers: What About an Old-Fashioned Picnic Part 1?

Remember picnics you had as a child?

Maybe recipes handed down from one generation to the next?

Have you thought about a picnic-style meal?

When Marilyn looked for something to do with her elderly parents in the summer, she thought about all the picnics they enjoyed when she was a child.

Her parents would take Marilyn and her sister to a local park where they grilled on the grills provided.  And there were also church picnics and family reunions.

Marilyn and her sister decided to have an old-fashioned themed picnic.  Due to the heat, they decided to eat indoors.  But on a bright red checkered tablecloth, and updated versions of all the family recipes. 

Connecting with favorite foods of the past can be comforting.  It may also remind you and your care recipient of stories from  the fast.

And most of all

It’s FUN!

With some special tweaking you may be able to update your favorite recipes into something more healthy and maybe even easier to make.

If you grew up in the 1940s, 1950s or 1960s, likely you remember picnics for school, potluck, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day.  Maybe your parents made their best dishes or grilled masterpieces to share.

Just thinking about those picnics and happy memories can lift your spirits.  And re-creating them may be a way to connect to the one you’re caring for.

While time or a disease may have dulled memories, some of the most vivid memories we have are of smells.  And recreating those smells and sights may be an adventure for your care recipient and you.

So how can you update recipes for today’s diets to make them healthy eating recipes?

• Switch to lower fat ground meat, or even choose ground turkey or chicken. Adding more flavorings and you’ll never miss thefat.  Or you may already be used to eating lower fat meat. 
• Hot dogs, bratwursts and sausages now come in lower fat options.  Including turkey or chicken.  Choose ones without nitrates for added health.
• Chicken can be roasted on a rotisserie, or “butterflied” flattened after removing the backbone, then grilled.  When grilled the fat cooks off better than deep frying.  A whole chicken stays moister than one cut-up.  You can pull off the skin after grilling because the meat underneath is juicy and tasty.  Have you ever slid your seasonings underneath the skin before grilling?  That way you can enjoy the flavor because the flavor is ON the meat and not the skin.
• Choose healthier steaks including smaller sizes and less fat or marbling.  Adding a cast iron skillet of onions and mushrooms can reproduce a grilled steak dinner.
• Instead of processed lunch meats choose a slice of ham or turkey.  If you chop it or grind it, then mix with light mayonnaise, olive oil or sour cream.  Better yet, strain yogurt to make yogurt cheese which is a nice substitute for mayonnaise or sour cream. And chopped pickles or pickle relish add flavor and zip.

In the summer heat picnics can be a welcome respite.  And reconnecting with the flavors of your past can not only feed your body but also your soul.

And feeding your soul is an important part of caregiving.

Caregiving may just be the hardest thing you’ve ever done.  At least parts of it.

Whenever you can, you should add fun to the mix and enjoy the moments.

And for those times when you need an added inspiration, having a Daily Inspirational Thought for Caregivers delivered into your mailbox can help.

Get your FREE caregiving membership now by going to www.caregivingwithpurpose.com/freemember/ .  Sign up now and get your moment of inspiration a day!

To your healthy caregiving,

Dr. Ina

Ina Gilmore M.D. (ret.)
“The Knitting Dr.”
Ambassador of Elder Care, www.HowToLiveOnPurpose.com
Founder, www.CaregivingWithPurpose.com and www.TheKnittingYarn.com

The information on this website is for educational purposes only. It does not replace information or recommendations from your own physician or other health care provider. Full disclosure and disclaimer can be found at www.caregivingwithpurpose.com/policies/