When your mom or dad is told to cut sugar, fat, or salt from their diet, cooking meals is often difficult at first. Without salt, foods may taste too bland to them. A lack of sugar is difficult when cooking some of their favorite foods. Cutting oils can also be difficult when you’re making stir-fried or sauteed dishes. Here are some tips to make new dietary needs easy to handle.
Know the Heart Healthy Oils
Learn which oils are best to use in moderation. For salad dressings, avocado, grapeseed, and walnut oils are great. While walnut oil is not great for sauteing, the other two do have higher smoke points and work for sauteing vegetables and proteins.
Olive oil is another good option. It doesn’t have a high smoke point, so you need to saute at lower temperatures. Non-stick cooking sprays limit the amount of oil you use, so they’re also good sources of oil for sauteing and pan frying. Canola, peanut, and sunflower oils are also better choices.
Avoid oils like cottonseed, and palm oils. Crisco, while popular, is best avoided. Butter is also an oil/fat to use as infrequently as possible.
Grow Fresh Herbs on the Windowsill
Line the windowsill with small pots that contain fresh herbs. Some grocery stores carry live plants that you can transplant. Instead of using salt, replace it with fresh herbs that add flavor. You can also pep up dishes with fresh lemon or lime zest and juice.
Some of the easiest herbs to grow inside include basil, chives, mint, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. Watch the pots for mold forming on the potting soil. If you notice that happening, spray the soil with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water or a store-bought fungicide.
Learn Good Replacements for Sugar
Your mom loves whole grain bread, but you worry about the sugar used to feed the yeast. It can be hard to avoid all sugars, but you can choose healthier options. Instead of table sugar or corn syrup, use maple syrup or agave nectar. Honey is another better choice.
It is important to keep sugar intake to a minimum. If your mom was told to cut sugar because she’s diabetic, talk to her doctor about safer alternatives. Stevia may be one sweetener she can use in her morning coffee. It’s important to seek the advice of her doctor to make sure she enjoys some of her favorite items but in a safer, sugar-free way.
To help your mom or dad adjust to new dietary restrictions, consider senior care for your elderly parent. Meal preparation is one of the many services caregivers offer. They can show your parent how to enjoy favorite foods in a new, healthier way. In addition, senior care providers offer companionship and assistance with the tasks of daily living.
If you or an aging senior are considering hiring in-home senior care in Flower Mound, TX, please contact the caring staff at Ray of Sunshine today! (940) 442-5374.
At the same time, she and her husband were faced with the care of his father on the west coast which presented the unique challenges of long-distance care. These events led to a crash course in the senior care industry and her unending dedication to helping seniors and families in similar circumstances. When not working Cynthia enjoys cooking, gardening and traveling with a focus on visiting State and National Parks.
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