My mother is in hospice care at home. Dad can not cook and they are mostly living on fast food. Any suggestions for meal delivery?

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My mother is in hospice care at home. Dad can not cook and they are mostly living on fast food. Any suggestions for meal delivery?

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I’ve tried Meals On Wheels, Friendship Trays, etc. they live on the county line between 2 counties so no service delivers there plus they don’t have capacity. grub Hub, Uber Eats, Door Dash also deliver only fast food. I’m 40 miles away, so daily food delivery is nearly impossible. Any suggestions?

Activities of Daily Living Diet & Nutrition Family Caregiver Hospice

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Freshly! If you are looking for healthy meals that just require reheating, Freshly is a great solution even if they are on the expensive side at about $10 a pop - but that is definitely less expensive than having an aid cook meals. Plus the food is really good as well as healthy. They can order 4-9 meals/week or more.

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When my parents were in that situation and lived about an hour away,We had tried sending pre cooked meats, complete meals, etc. but none of those seemed to work for them. I bought a large number of Tupperware type containers. Every time my husband and I made a meal we cooked for four instead of two and froze the rest in one of those containers. Then every time I saw them, usually about every two weeks, I would bring bags of containers of frozen meals (preferably with some cooked vegetables included) and pick up the empty containers. That seemed to work the best as it was food tastes they were familiar with (like a tuna casserole) and could just pop in the microwave.

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Another option would be you prepare several meals for them that can be frozen and/or refrigerated and easily warmed up when its time to eat or Can they afford to move into an assisted living community. Those place have a dining area that folks can go there to ear. The monthly is not affordable to eveyone. Most sell their assets but if they can these places include all meals. Just suggestion. Good luck.

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A lot of churches will offer up "Meal Trains" for people in need of them. The Meal Train is put together by a group of dedicated church members that coordinate cooking/baking and delivery of meals for a determined time period,

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I am in the middle of a kitchen remodel, and am using Freshly meal service, which delivers weekly via UPS. It is basically a TV type dinner, but not frozen. It is made with high quality ingredients and always includes veggies. Not home cooking, but pretty darn good. They aren't cheap, but might be an option to consider. You just pop them in the microwave for about 3 minutes, and they are done. You choose the meals you want via their website.

Tonight I had Mahi Mahi with jicama slaw.

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There are consumer advocates often associated with radio/television stations. I would take your parent's Meals On Wheels dilemma to them to see what can be done to provide this service to your parents that they clearly qualify for. Don't take no for an answer. Next, there are some fast foods that can be purchased at the grocery store (like Panera broccoli cheddar soup!) that just require a microwave. Most grocery stores also sell prepared foods that will keep for two or three days. Rotisserie chickens are great. Is there someone you could hire to cook a hot meal twice a week? They could set up plates with leftovers for the next day, that can be microwaved.

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My dad is approved for meals on wheels thur Area Againg, He unfortunately did not like them, someone suggested Moms Meals & he joys the food, they are delivered monthly can be frozen until needed then put in microwave. They call each month & review& can chance meals. Best of luck

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Are they members of a church? If so, I would appeal to someone you know at their church that help is needed. A "casserole brigade" should be able to put together a few things that can be frozen and reheated.

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I wonder if you have looked recently in the ‘frozen meals’ section of a big supermarket? ‘TV Dinners’ used to be just awful, but they have got a lot better. My husband thinks he is not capable of cooking (long story...), but when I go to the city he can get one out of the freezer and microwave it. I did coach him the first time.

I once had to give a management talk to our local ‘Meals on Wheels’ organisation and its volunteers, on the occasion of their millionth delivered meal, and they actually complained that the increasing quality of the frozen meals was shrinking their ‘market’. I was shocked – it’s improving the options, not being nasty to them.

My parents in law gave up on Meals on Wheels, because the meal included soup and desert, which they didn’t want, while the main course was smaller than they wanted. They were fine with frozens.

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Checknif hospice have people who prepare food. Or they know someone who does.

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My MIL is 90, and for everyday, uses the microwave and frozen one package meals from the grocery. Some are better than others. You could bring some when you do go to visit. I also noticed a beef stew - carrots, potatoes and meat prepackaged - all you need to do is put it in a crockpot in the am. Prayers to you and your family during this difficult time.

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Where I live ( CA)., there is a good free program called Meals on Wheels that delivers hot meals(fish,chicken, etc), milk, fruit, vegetables. Maybe you can check with your county's Social Services Dept. I wish you the best

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If you visit once a week or so invest in a seal a meal type of vacuum sealer. This will allow you to seal and freeze individual meals for them by cooking a bit extra when doing for your family. The process of vacuum sealing keeps items from freezer burn and let's them store more in their freezer because it's in packages instead of containers. Quick tip for items such as lasagna, prefreeze portions before sealing so it doesn't lose it's shape. Great for soups and stews too. This way they still have options of what's for lunch or dinner but you know it's a healthier choice instead of fast food or sodium laden tv dinners. Mark the bags with permanent marker so they know at a glance what it contains. Lactose free milk has a much longer shelf life than regular milk giving you more time to replace it for them. Instant oatmeal or cereal for breakfast. Not sure if it's available in their area, but their local walmart may deliver to their home for access to fresh fruits and veggies.

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You can also freeze milk in serving sizes. It needs to be completely thawed out before using or it has an odd texture. I do it all the time because I don't want to pay twice as much for half the milk.

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My mother received Meals on Wheels that was delivered to her everyday right before lunch time. She said the food was so good and they gave her enough that she could have 2 meals out of it. I believe it was free but you may want to check with Senior Services in their area. Call the Ombudsman, Dept of Health and Human Services etc to see if they can direct you. Also my parents had Kaiser Insurance and unbeknownst most people, they have a meal service which is delivered to you for very little cost. Good luck!

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If their finances can handle it, hire an aid who can come in 3 times a week for several hours and cook meals for them. On days the aid is there, they can eat a fresh meal and leftovers on the days she isnt. 3 visits, 3 times per week should run about $1K per month. The aid can also do laundry, tidy the house and make sure they are safe. Good luck to you.

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I didn’t read through all of the answers, but I have used a site called Take Them a Meal for organizing meals for folks in my church when they were recovering from surgery, etc. While you likely don’t have connections with family friends or a church group that could prepare and deliver meals, the site also includes an option for sending meals: https://takethemameal.com/

Several folks did mention that your mom probably isn’t eating much, if anything, and I’m sure hospice will explain that to your dad. It does seem to me that hospice staff should have options for your parents—Dad, especially to get meals delivered. I would check with them, too.

Sorry you have to go through this sorrow of losing a mom. I do understand, as I went through similar things with both of my parents. Thankfully, when my dad was alone and couldn’t get food (somewhat before Uber, etc.), we had great neighbors and church family who took plates of food to him that he could heat up in his microwave and eat. His neighbor also made sure he had his chick-fil-a sandwich and fries, when he craved that!

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Try checking with your local hospital. My parents had meals delivered to their home by St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis, County. I don't know if the hospital where you live will do this but it might be worth a call.

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My mom had a fall earlier in the year and there was a period of time where she couldn't really get to the market easily (I live out of town). I found this site that sends balanced, delicious frozen meals:
https://www.mybalancemeals.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuKicgJeI5gIVLR-tBh2BlQbZEAAYASAAEgLv7_D_BwE

You can filter by specialty diets.

The meals are around $10 average, but they were delicious and mom really enjoyed them! They are shipped to the door so I could never send too many at once for fear she couldn't lift the box!

But it really helped us!

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You can bring a weeks worth of meals when you visit. You can buy disposable trays to make "TV Dinners" that are healthy and appealing.

When I lived in a totally rural area, my neighbor was able to get meals on wheels but they only came once a week. They brought her a 7-day supply of everything, including small cartons of milk.

I believe they brought to her 7 lunches & 7 dinners - I think she was expected to provide her own breakfast - but I can't remember now.

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I'd like to suggest that not all food has to be hot or cooked. I never cook--I eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt, oatmeal, bread, peanut butter and various tree nuts, and I love canned sardines. If I want anything more substantial, I go to a restaurant (generally only once in a couple weeks, typically Asian buffets--I even fill a soup bowl with water and "rinse" items that are salty). I've starting buying canned beans now that preparations without added salt are available.

My parents were getting Meals-On-Wheels several years ago--I thought they were typical American "too much fat and salt" preparations and not particularly appetizing, but I'm sure some people like them.

I don't really like to smell food cooking until I'm hungry and ready to eat, which in part discouraged me from cooking. In addition, I find many fresh items more appetizing.

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My dad thinks that he cooked dinner when he opened a can of beany weenies. I don't think that you can expect that to change for yours at this point.

I would encourage him to get some healthy frozen meals, they are not like home cooked meals, but better than fastfood every meal.

Have you spent any time helping him with simple meal prep? I would do that, show him how to heat items up in the microwave, oven, toaster oven, steamer etc., one meal at a time.

I would not be worried about eating if my spouse was on hospice, I would just want to fill the void. Could he be overwhelmed with the fact that his wife is dying?

When my sister was dying, people would bring food when they visited, usually enough food for 3 lunches and 3 dinners for her and her mom. Can you get others involved with getting food to them?

I am sorry that your mom is dying. May God grant your family strength and wisdom during this time.

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Grocery store deli counters should have freshly prepared food.... whole rotisserie chickens, for example, at our local BiLo are $7.99 for a nice sized bird. Couple that with a container of Bob Evans microwaveable mashed potatoes, a jar of Heinz gravy, and they've got a meal for a couple days. And it's as close to home cooking as you can get without making it yourself.

And frozen dinners are pretty darn good. Sure, eating "healthy" might be ideal, but in their situation it seems as if just getting fed is the priority.

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All those services you mentioned: Uber Eats, Doordash, GrubHub; they all deliver restaurant food too. Not just fast food. If you have any of the chain restaurants and even local restaurants, the food is prepared well and there is endless variety. The portions are usually large enough that as long as they can save the leftovers and reheat in the microwave, your dad and mom should be good to go for just about any day of the week.

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Have you talked to the Social Worker from Hospice? They may have some ideas.
I know the Hospice where I volunteer often asks volunteers to make meals for families. the meals are made, frozen and then brought to the family.
Another option, when you are making meals make extra and portion it and freeze. The next time you visit you could bring a few weeks worth of meals.
Soups, stew, lasagna all freeze well.
Get in a few packages of frozen fish. They cook fast and are easy to make in a toaster oven or microwave. Paired with some frozen veggies it is a fast easy meal.
There are some pretty good frozen meals that would be a step above the fast food.

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Did this for years for my mother. We just kept her freezer full and replenished when we went. They don’t eat much at that age and now with instacart for groceries it would be even easier.

The council for aging gave me a list of meal services but my difficult mother refused to eat any of them.

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momsmeals.com best out there...

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A very kind neighbor offered to give me some Mom’s Meals the other day. They sounded good. I’m going to check them out for future reference.

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I do not know where you live, but here in New York City, I believe it is Catholic Charities who has a service in the community for senior citizens living at home called "Meals on Wheels". It is quite a helpful program. delivering good cooked nutritious meals for the at home elderly person or peoples. Perhaps you might want to look into this.

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Have you tried Mom's Meals or GA Foods? They are two of the delivery services used in my state, but are located out of state. Their delivery service is by Fed Ex, so the location should not matter, on county line or not.

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Cook up at your Own at Home Homemade Meals enough to make a Few Days and better Worth for Dad. He can Fill in with anything else.

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How is their freezer as in "how big". Any friends or way to make a food train delivery? I usually cook for myself by making up a big batch of meatballs, whatever it is I am into at the time, and freezing batches in yogurt containers.If Mom is on hospice now what are the plans for Dad, who cannot cook after? It may be time for entering care. Food is one of the basics and at the point it can't be provided it just isn't OK to be in home without help. So sorry. So hard to be so far away.

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Update on frozen food delivery, Rushing2. The food was terrible, very bland, turkey and corned beef were tough as leather, portions were small. I thought this would be good on days we have tons of things to do, but no thank you. I will stick to my own homemade cooking.

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My mother is in hospice care at home. Dad can not cook and they are mostly living on fast food. Any suggestions for meal delivery?

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