SURPRISE SURPRISE!
A few weeks ago, as I was rearranging my kitchen cabinets and drawers and
found my mom’s old recipe collection from many years ago, with recipes from back in the day . It included tasty treats from Spam, Ready Crust, Campbell’s Soup, Bisquick, Jell-O and the likes.
Without a doubt, in my opinion, one of a caregiver’s daily challenges is meal planning. Not just for the person you are caring for but also for your own health and well being. From my own personal experience, I know it’s not easy when you’re taking care of your loved one, not to let your own eating habits fall into a snacking mode.
While you may take great care to provide nutritious, appetizing and delicious meals for the person you are caring for, you can end up neglecting yourself - especially if their dietary needs are different than yours.
Well, “you can have your cake and eat it too” – well almost! Here's one quick recipe from my mom’s box I’d like to share called "baked chicken delight" – it’s called "delight" because it’s delicious, easy and quick to fix.
Ingredients
cut up chicken pieces and remove skin
1 cup ranch dressing
2 cups instant potato flakes
Preparation
Heat oven to 450º F. Coat a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray. Lightly brush the chicken pieces with the dressing, and then roll in the potato flakes. Arrange on the baking sheet and place in oven. Turn down oven to 350º F and bake 25 minutes or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork. – EASY PEASY!
To complete the meal, serve with veggies and a salad and you’re good to go. To top it off, treat yourself to a quick dessert. A good suggestion for lunch or dinner could be Jell-o gelatin or pudding. The desserts are quick, tasty and are a good source of protein and calcium and fruit can be added too.
In my opinion, with so much on a caregiver's plate and so little time, every quick tip, tool or resource that can help take some of the pressure off your daily schedule is a plus. So I hope you try and enjoy this quick and easy recipe and find it delicious .
THE HIDDEN TREASURES
But finding and sharing the recipe with you from my mom’s box, is only one of the pleasures I've enjoyed. It has also brought back happy memories of my mom and how she loved cooking and entertaining family and friends.
As I sorted thru her collection of recipes, I found many more I'd like to share, that are fast, easy to fix and tasty. As a matter of fact, I so I got so involved with the project, I'm thinking about using her collection to make a cookbook of easy, quick to fix recipes for caregivers.
Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll find a recipe or box of old recipes or other mementos your loved one had collected over the years. Perhaps you’ll recall a Sunday dinner or holiday dish everyone raved about or was always served during the holidays.
Now, if you’ve been planning to go thru a closet or box of stuff that’s been just sitting around gathering dust, you may just be surprised at what you might find. Why not try your hand at it and see what happens - It’s worth a look!
Finally, if you have some quick recipes and/or tips you’d like to share with other caregivers. Shoot me an email at: gbrown1gjba@gmail.com and let me know.
As Chef Julia would say – “Bon Appetite”!
Be Well - Stay Well - Because Caregivers Need Care Too!!
Coach Gloria
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Life Strategies/Wellness Coach & Patient Advocate
Owner: GJ Brown & Associates
Blog: Glo’s Caregiver Wellness Connection
Email: gbrown1gjba@gmail.com
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