A good friend of mine needs recommendations for delivery meal plans for his 94 year old mother. They live in the same house and he has been doing a great job with healthy, appealing meals but he would like to try a meal service. I know all don’t service all areas, they are in North Dallas. She has no dietary restrictions and price isn’t an issue. He had asked me about cook unity, but I’ve never heard of it. Thanks in advance.
Do the meals need to be totally ready to eat or do they want to take the ingredients provided and finish preparing the meal??
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I’m not sure, but I’m thinking the ready to heat and eat. He’s no spring chicken himself and has been out of his comfort zone cooking for a few years now. I think he just wants her to have more variety.
How can I get this moved to the Parent Cafe? 
I’ve checked on these for my in-laws but they insist they want to go to store, buy groceries and cook - but then end up eating cereal! What I can say is most of the delivery plans I’ve investigated (I use Home Chef) do require some bit of cutting or dicing, or shredding and cooking but you can select some meals that are 1 pan in the oven, easier but still require a little bit of work. Most plans follow this style. However, there is the 1 plan that provides a counter top oven as well as the meals that you use the oven to scan the QR code on the meal and it cooks the meal appropriately once you put it in. Don’t know how good it is, probably pricier.
One of the things I recommended to my in laws to let me shop and there are lots of very tasty complete meals, bagged salad, good salad dressings and those meals can be 1) microwaved, or 2) air fried. Air fying is great because the ones I’ve seen (icluding mine) default to 15 minutes and shut off so no worry about fires, etc. If they don’t need to worry about their nutrition too much but just need food in them,- frozen meals and air fryer meals (Tyson Chicken Strips/SeaPak Fried Shrimp, etc.) are pretty good today. A bag of russet potatoes for the urge for a baked potato. You can even cook the frozen biscuits in the air fryer.
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I am pretty sure Dallas has a ton of local meal delivery services, with great, healthy food (for a $$$$ of course). I looked into it when one of my sons was living in Dallas just after college. A Google search turns up a lot; I don’t have time to research further though.
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If the area has Meals on Wheels, that’s a good way to go. My parents were skeptical but really like their MoW program.
They can vary from town to town. Most have a sliding scale for payment, but even the top price is not bad. Extra bonus that somebody checks in on reciptients daily/weekdays (or less if desired). Usually you can leave out a cooler if not going to be home at delivery time.
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I’ve been using Cook Unity for a couple of months and am quite happy with the meals. They are basically heat and eat, but have many choices (over 200) each week so there is lots of variety. You can filter choices by type if protein, calories, sodium, etc. There are lots of “ethnic” cuisines, which may or may not be something your Mom would appreciate. I find the reviews by others very useful.
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My friend makes delicious, homemade meals for his mom daily. He says she may want variety, and I also think he needs break from being the cook.
Thank you, this is the one he asked me about today. I don’t know what her 94 yr old palette is as far as ethnic cuisine, but it’s nice to hear a positive experience.
My folks found a grocery store with nice prepared food that delivers. They order weekly and get a few meals a week from them.
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My friend is 69, and his mom is in the same home. No need for meals on wheels, either for practicality or monetary reasons. But it is a great program for those who don’t have somebody to help.
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Yes, I’m sure they have a lot of options, he just wanted a real review before he signed up for his mom.
Ah, I saw “94 year old” without reading carefully enough to see that son lived with his mother.
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I know Central Market does delivery. I’m not sure to what extent they deliver things out of their food cases or the cafe, but if I wanted prepared food delivered and money was not an issue, I’d love to get stuff from there every day! And HEB has ready to eat meals that I’m sure could be delivered. All you do is heat them up.
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Thanks, I’ll pass that option on to him.
My bil loves this system https://www.suvie.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopiPpFGQynA7cmfSNvBpTaGfpDqg83oQxDfQ9cTDZaPFKK100Lc
He can put the meal in the oven in the morning and it will be ready for him when he’s ready to eat. He can even change the time if he’s late
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I was going to suggest that too. My sister in law’s brother had Huntington’s, and lived with them for a while. SIL and brother both worked full time, and their kids were in school or daycare, so they pick lunch for Chris to get his meals. I think they would drop of a couple at a time. Chris was still a young, kind of (large motor) active guy, so needed a LOT more food than the program provided, but for lunch it was okay, or he’d eat 2.
It gave SIL a little break from having to prepare food a couple of days a week. You friends might need an additional program, but this could work for the prepared meals and then a service where the son can cook a few times a week.
He’s a retired, so his whole time and focus is on her. He just wants her to be able to eat things that are outside his cooking wheelhouse. I think that allowing her to choose her own meals would be great as well.
That kind of service sounds great, but she is at home 90% of the time so wouldn’t need that. I can see where it would be great for a busy person with an unpredictable schedule.