Various services offer prepared meals for seniors – often delivered straight to your door. These are powerful options, offering a way to get healthy and nutritious food without the need to cook. It’s easy to see why the idea works.
- For example, you might have a family member who lives on their own and doesn’t cook for themselves.
- Alternatively, you might use services to provide one meal, freeing up some time and energy for yourself.
Whatever the reason, the first step is finding services that offer prepared meals for seniors. Then, you can figure out which one(s) fit in with your situation.
We’re not just talking about Meals on Wheels either. Instead, there are some powerful alternatives that have their own advantages. So, let’s look at the options.
Meals on Wheels
By far, Meals on Wheels is the largest provider of senior meals. The organization covers around 5,000 individual nutrition programs across the nation. For some areas, this may be the only available service.
Because Meals on Wheels covers so many different programs, the service varies dramatically. In some cases, the meals need to be picked up from a local senior center. Other places will deliver the meals, especially if the senior is homebound or disabled.
The site for Meals on Wheels offers a Find Your Local Program page. This shows the different options in your area along with what they offer specifically.
Cost: This varies by program but is often reasonable. There are often financial assistance programs as well.
Senior Centers
Some senior centers will also have programs that deliver meals to seniors. These are sometimes part of Meals on Wheels but they can also be separate programs. These may provide hot meals or non-frozen meals that can be reheated.
In some cases, the meals may be carryout only. So, you have to go and pick them up yourself. That won’t work for all situations but it can sometimes be practical. There may also be similar services from other groups that support seniors – such as local churches
To find out more, you’ll need to contact local organizations and find out what is offered in your area.
Cost: Individual centers will set their own pricing. Most of these will be reasonable – but there is no standard price.
Personal Chef to Go
Personal Chef to Go uses FedEx to ship chilled (not frozen) meals across the country. These are easily reheated and come in individual trays.
The company follows American Heart Association guidelines for healthy meals and focuses on being low in fat, salt and sugar, while remaining flavorful. The company will tailor to individual dietary needs, often without extra charge.
The meals are sent every week or every second week, depending on the plan you choose.
Cost: The price ranges from $70 to $175 (plus shipping), with the highest price offering 16 meals. If you’re on the East Coast, shipping may be free.
Magic Kitchen
Magic Kitchen follows the same general idea as Personal Chef to Go, although the meals tend to be simpler. This includes many dishes that people will have grown up with.
In this case, the meals provided are frozen and just need to be reheated. This is a good way to stock up in bulk, especially as the meals can be kept in the freezer for months.
Meals can accommodate a range of dietary requirements. This covers a broader area than most other plans. The company describes the options like this:
- Senior Special Diet
- Portion Controlled
- Low Sodium
- Diabetic Friendly
- Low Carbohydrate
- Low Fat
- Renal Diet
- Gluten-Free
There are also various bundles on offer, these include:
- Meals for One
- Comfort Food Bundle
- Customer Favorites
- HomeStyle Bundle
- Senior’s Meals
- Top-Rated Meals
- Desserts Bundles
The biggest advantage here is the flexibility. After all, you’re choosing the specific meals. This makes it easier to match the food to the individual’s preferences.
You also have the chance to stock up, something that isn’t possible with most other types of home food delivery for seniors.
Cost: Many of the meals range from $10 to $20 for a serving – although the prices do vary dramatically. There is also a discount for seniors and for first-time customers.
Silver Cuisine by Bistro MD
Silver Cuisine is specifically focused on older adults. The meals are targeted at common issues that seniors face, along with individual diets, including diabetic, heart healthy, low sodium and gluten-free offerings.
As with Magic Kitchen, this service lets you order meals as you want them, rather than having them turn up weekly. There is also a wide range of meals to choose from.
The food you get is ready to go and seems to be chilled, not frozen. Seniors can just heat and eat using a microwave.
Cost: The prices range dramatically from around $6 to $18. The lower-priced options are typically snacks. But, you can get full meals for under $10, which isn’t too bad.
Fresh n’ Lean
Fresh n’ Lean is unusual in that it delivers three full meals a day, if you want that.
This ends up being fairly expensive. But, if you need every meal delivered, this is one way to do it. That also calculates out to less than $10 per meal, which is on par with other services. You can also choose smaller plans, that just cover one or two meals per day.
The meals are fresh and can be reheated in the microwave, on the stovetop or oven. Using a stovetop or oven requires transferring to a different container first. They can also be frozen and used later.
For their senior service, the meals are:
- Organic
- Low in fat
- Low in sodium
- Low in sugar
- Plant-based
- Gluten-free
They also use flavors from a range of cuisines, making the dishes more interesting overall.
One interesting aspect is that the meals are ‘100% plant-based’. This suggests that they won’t contain any meat. For vegetarian audiences, this is fine. And, plant-based foods are often softer, which is an advantage. Nevertheless, some seniors will still want their meat.
Cost: The cost is set at $27.99 per day for all three meals, $21.99 for two meals and $14.99 for one meal.
Using Meal Delivery Services
Any of these ideas can work well if you want home food delivery for seniors. They all offer high-quality food that is easy to eat and low in stress. This helps you to save time and ensures that your family member gets the nutrition that they need.
There are also alternatives to prepared meals for seniors. These offer some of the same benefits but often have additional advantages.
If you like the idea of delivered food but it just doesn’t seem to work, you can consider alternatives instead. In my next post, I’ll offer a list of these other options and how they can be beneficial.
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