Elder Care in Stamford CT

January is National Soup Month. As a family caregiver this is the ideal opportunity for you to explore delicious and nutritious ways that you can integrate soup into your parent’s regular diet. Soup is a fantastic way to encourage your parent to get more fluids, helps them to feel full and stay fuller for longer, and to get vital nutrients that will help them function efficiently and thrive.

Try these ideas to make soup a nourishing and comforting part of your parent’s regular diet during National Soup Month and throughout the rest of the year:

• Focus on vegetables. Soups are a wonderful vessel for vegetables, helping your parent to get more of the nutrients that their body needs, even if they are not big vegetable eaters in other types of meals. Vegetables such as tomatoes, corn, carrots, greens, zucchini, squash, peas, and onions are all perfect for soups and provide a wide variety of nutrients. Fill your soups with veggies and enjoy knowing that they are getting healthy benefits with every bite.

• Take it easy on salt. When preparing soup, be careful with the salt shaker. Remember that soup condenses as it cooks, so the flavor will be concentrated. Adding too much salt at the beginning of the cooking process, even if it tastes good then, will likely be far too much when the soup is finished. Wait to add salt until the soup is nearly finished cooking.

• Try whole grains. Make your soup a healthy source of whole grains by adding barley, whole grain pasta, cous cous, or quinoa. This adds more fiber and healthy carbohydrates to the soup, bulking it up and helping provide more satisfaction. Even if your aging parent usually prefers white versions of pasta, try a whole grain option. The flavors of the soup are usually strong enough that the added flavor of the pasta simply comes across as nutty and delicious.

• Freeze extras. Freezer meals are a family caregiver’s best friend. When the days are busy and you cannot bear the thought of trying to fit one more thing into your schedule, you can rely on these meals to get healthy, delicious food on the table quickly. Simply prepare your soup, allow it to cool, and store it in freezer zipper bags. Lay these bags flat in the freezer to save space.

Starting elder care for your aging parent is one of the best ways for you to encourage them to live a healthier lifestyle through a balanced, nourishing diet. An elderly home care services provider can be with your aging parent to provide a highly personalized set of services designed to help your parent understand nutrition’s role in their health and well-being, and to make better choices to keep them thriving. This can include providing safe and reliable transportation to the grocery store to help them choose the foods that are right for them when they need and want to so that they do not have to always rely on you. They can then assist your parent with researching recipes that sound good to them and even get in the kitchen and help them prepare their meals and snacks.

If you or an aging loved one are considering elder care in Stamford, CT or the surrounding areas, please contact SYNERGY HomeCare of Stamford, CT at 203-661-6969.