Anyone use a make your own meals type of service?

I spoke with my sister last night and she is concerned that mom and dad aren't eating enough. Its not a financial issue at all or not really an issue of being able to make the meals.

Its that my mom eats like a bird and I know she (and dad) will skip lunch alot.
When they are visiting my dad has no problem eating but never really fixes something for himself-mom always does it for him.

They do not qualify for meals on wheels for the elderly either.

So my sis had a "brilliant" idea of hiring a personal chef on a trial basis. This would be 3-4 meals/week at $50 plus food!! YIKES!

But I had the better idea of using a local dinner helper service for $110 one can prepare 6 meals that serve 4-6 people. This would be frozen in half thus creating 12 meals. I looked at their menu and it would be some variety.

I was thinking of stopping tomorrow afternoon or Sat morning with mom as they do have some meals already prepped and in the freezer. This way they could sample what is available.

I'm just wondering if anyone has used this type of meal service and thoughts??

I have used Dinner My Way before and it was ok.
You can do it yourself or have them do it.

I've never used that type of service myself.

I am familiar with "Meals on Wheels."

So far as having someone cook for them, or buying them pre-ordered meals, that's expensive.

My suggestion would be for you and your sister to spend one day every couple of weeks or even once a month at your Mom's cooking and freezing food for them.

With 2 of you cooking individual recipes you could have several different recipes made and frozen in no time. There are a lot of healthy recipes out there that take 30 minutes or less to cook.

If you each tackle 5 recipes that serve 4 people and freeze each one into an individual serving, that's 40 individual meals, or 20 meals for the 2 of them.

You could also roast up a turkey or a beef roast, make some potatoes and veggies and freeze entire dinners for each of them. Freeze them as individual servings that way if one wants turkey and the other beef, they can have their dinner choice.

Plus you know what goes into the food and can tailor it more towards their liking. In addition to that, you can spend some quality time with your Mom and Dad.

Something that we did in Brazil, that is much more cost effective, is to hire a cook for a day to cook meals for 2 weeks, or if they have a large freezer, for the whole month.
You ask your parents what they like to eat, ask the cook what you need to buy, and have the groceries waiting for the cook on the cooking day.
this person will essentially cook large portions of a whole bunch of stuff, and freeze it in 2-portion packs, labeled of course.
This way your parents can just microwave whatever they feel like eating, the portions are calculated, and there is enough variety to go by not getting bored.
I cook for 2 weeks at a time on Sunday, at least the staple items, such as rice, beans and the meats. Then I buy steam on bag vegetables, and cook large portions of varied stuff, like pasta, soups, whatever else I want. I portion into ziplock bags, put it on the freezer, and pull out whatever I feel like eating.
This is way cheaper then hiring a restaurant service, and much more versatile... Of course you and your siblings can do it for free as well...

Well my parents have a small chest freezer so they can't have much frozen as once plus my sister lives in a different state and I live two hours away so that is a bit difficult.

They are taking home lots of garden veggies and of course some bread. We are stopping at local cheese shop to stock up on items too. I should drive over there to go through her cupboards to see what she has though.

Mom needs to watch her sodium intake though so lots of grocery store convience foods are out.

My sister is having the "personal chef" service for a one month trial-maybe mom will get some useful ideas.

Originally Posted by GailC

Well my parents have a small chest freezer so they can't have much frozen as once plus my sister lives in a different state and I live two hours away so that is a bit difficult.

They are taking home lots of garden veggies and of course some bread. We are stopping at local cheese shop to stock up on items too. I should drive over there to go through her cupboards to see what she has though.

Mom needs to watch her sodium intake though so lots of grocery store convience foods are out.

My sister is having the "personal chef" service for a one month trial-maybe mom will get some useful ideas.

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It's a wonderful idea Gail. I have a single friend that goes to a place where you can cook up a bunch of different dinners to take home. It's usually done as a group and each person gets to take portions of different foods. I don't remember what it is called but she really liked it. You pay a set amount and they provide all the ingredients, utensils, etc.