Home Care Blog>In Home Care  |  July 30, 2019

Healthy Grilling for Seniors

It’s hard to beat the flavor of freshly grilled chicken or vegetables. Grilling is a flavorful way to cook your meals in Calgary, AB – no matter the season. Whether it’s a summer barbeque or tailgating with your friends in the fall, grilling can be a fun and healthy way to prepare your favorite foods.

Follow our senior care tips for healthy barbecuing and grilling.

Choose Your Protein

Choose healthy proteins for your meals, such as fish, lean ground turkey or chicken breast. Fatty fish, such as trout or salmon, offer many health benefits.

Try grilling healthy chicken kebabs layered with colorful vegetables. Marinate your fish, and wrap it in foil to keep it moist and flavorful. Use ground turkey instead of beef for your burgers, and add savory flavors by including minced onion, garlic and mushrooms into the patties.

If you do choose to grill beef, go with grass-fed or “choice” or “select” grades instead of “prime” beef. Go with “round” or “loin” cuts of pork.

Choose Healthy Portions

One of the most important aspects of senior care is maintaining a healthy weight, and eating healthy portions is the best way to achieve this goal. It’s easy to overdo it when grilling meats. Make sure that your portions are a healthy size: about 3 ounces for any meat. Your meat portion should not exceed six ounces.

If that sounds like a small portion, keep in mind that you can load up your plate with delicious (and healthy) grilled vegetables.

Add Healthy Flavor

Marinades and rubbing spices add flavor to poultry and fish without forcing you to use more salt. All it takes is one tablespoon of spice rub or half-a-cup of marinade for each pound of food. Give this simple marinade recipe a try the next time you grill.

Discard any marinade or spice rub that has touched raw meat.

Keep things simple. Skip the processed, sugary and salty sauces and marinades. Use your own spice blends and marinades. Grilling itself adds a lot of flavor. Sometimes, a simple squeeze of fresh lemon juice is all you need to finish your dish.

Pile on the Vegetables

Diet is crucial in senior care, and a healthy diet should include ample portions of vegetables. Vegetables add nutrients and colors to your meals, making it a feast for both your stomach and your eyes.

The trick to grilling vegetables is to cut them into pieces that will cook evenly and quickly. Brush with a healthy oil, and use a grill basket to keep them out of the fire.

Some of the best vegetables for grilling include asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, onions and zucchini.

Comfort Keepers^® Calgary Can Help with Healthy Grilling

At Comfort Keepers^®, we create individual care plans for every client. These plans include wellness goals that consider physical, mental and emotional health. Our caregivers can help support physician-prescribed diet and exercise plans, provide medication reminders, provide transportation to appointments and help seniors engage in the activities they love the most. And, our caregivers can help senior stay connected with loved ones through video chats, phone calls and care updates. We believe that every senior should experience the best in life.

Contact the Comfort Keepers Calgary office to learn more about how we can help maintain safety, comfort, and happiness in the home.

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