Thanksgiving holidays provide a great opportunity to express gratitude for our life and spend quality time with close friends and relatives. The most common traditional practice during Thanksgiving celebrations is sharing food. However, preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for your loved ones may not be as easy as you'd want.
Preparing a menu that will make everyone feel included is no small feat. Often, you will have to consider your guests' lifestyle choices or religious preferences. What can be more challenging is cooking for family and friends with various dietary restrictions, food sensitivities, allergies, and medical needs.
Here are some tips to help you prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone with different medical needs.
Make Inquiries In Advance
One of the easiest ways of ensuring you cater to everyone's needs is by making inquiries in advance to know what kind of foods people prefer. That can work perfectly if you're hosting a small number of people you can easily reach out to. Moreover, asking questions in advance gives you time to research what foods are suitable for which group of people. It allows you to have all kinds of food for each need without excluding anyone.
Prepare Dishes with Simple Recipes
Sometimes it may not be easy to reach out to everyone and make plans in advance. Some people may feel uncomfortable sharing their health information, such as stating that they have high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, or any other chronic condition. Another way of ensuring you're considerate of their special dietary needs is by preparing food with simple recipes. It's easier to explain the recipe for every dish at the dinner table. That way, your guests can know what to eat and avoid without too much hassle.
Use Separate Utensils for Each Meal
People with allergies to certain foods can develop serious reactions with the slightest interaction with an allergen. Therefore, when cooking Thanksgiving dinner, you should use a different set of utensils for each meal to avoid cross-contamination. For instance, you should use a different filter to drain spaghetti noodles with wheat and gluten-free ones to prevent reactions from people allergic to wheat. You can use separate tongs to grill veggie burgers and meat burgers to avoid contaminating vegetarian meals with meat juices.
Seek Professional Help
If you're finding it difficult to cook Thanksgiving dinner, especially when hosting seniors with special dietary needs, you can ask for help from someone with experience in preparing such meals. One of the best people to reach out to are professional in-home senior care assistants. These trained caregivers provide personal care services, including diet monitoring and meal planning, and can offer valuable insight that can help you prepare a Thanksgiving menu that considers the nutritional needs of elderly loved ones.
Senior Helpers of South Orange County Can Help
Senior Helpers of South Orange County provides in-home senior care services, including meal planning and diet monitoring for residents of Irvine, Orange County, Santa Ana, and Tustin, CA. Contact us today to ensure your elderly loved one continues to lead a comfortable, healthy, and independent lifestyle.