Many doctors recommend that their patients start adding one or two vegetarian meals each week. The focus on a plant-based diet may help avoid certain common health conditions, lower blood pressure, and lower cholesterol levels.

October 1st is International Vegetarian Day. It’s a good time to take a closer look at the easiest ways to add one or two vegetarian meals to your parents’ weekly menu.

Take Favorite Meals and Turn Them Vegetarian

To make a switch to vegetarian meals easier to handle, take your parents’ favorite meals and search vegetarian versions of them. If your dad loves beef stew, make a vegetarian version with marinated portobello mushrooms and all of his favorite vegetables. Instead of beef stock, use a vegetarian stock or bouillon.

Your mom loves beef barley soup and a Reuben on a cold night. She can have that in a vegetarian-friendly version. Make mushroom barley soup with lots of vegetables and a tomato broth. For the Reuben, use grilled seitan, tempeh, or portobello mushroom slices in place of the corned beef.

Spend Time Marinating Vegetables and Tofu

The flavor is better when you marinate the vegetables or tofu. If you’re making a stir fry with tofu, press it to remove as much water as possible. Marinate it to enhance flavor.

There’s a restaurant that’s had a lot of success taking a whole peeled carrot, tenderizing it with a hand-held blade or spike meat tenderizer, and marinating them for three days in a spicy brine before grilling them. They’re served in a bun with a chili made from lentils. If your dad is missing chili dogs, something like this becomes a tasty substitute.

Focus on Protein

One of the most important things to consider is that vegetarian meals need to have protein since you’re not eating meat. Black beans, eggs, lentils, and tofu are all popular ways to get enough protein.

Some of the swaps are easily made. Instead of a shepherd’s pie made with beef, mix cooked lentils with onions and mushrooms, make a vegetarian gravy with vegetable broth or bouillon, and cover that in potatoes.

Have you thought about having home care aides available to cook your parents’ meals? If someone else is doing the cooking, your parents have less stress trying to chop foods, cook them properly, and get dinner onto the plate and into the dining area.

Home care aides are happy to join your parents for a meal so that they’re not eating alone. The caregivers also wash dishes and put leftovers away. Learn more by making a call.

If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Homecare in St. Petersburg, FL, Please Contact The Caring Staff At Assisting Hands Home Care Today! 727-748-4211.