When the kids have moved out, or you find yourself cooking for one, the kitchen can feel like a lot of effort for not much reward. Recipes serve four, supermarket packs are sized for families, and it’s easy to slide into tea and toast for dinner.
If you’re also avoiding gluten, or simply cutting back because it sits better with you, the shopping list gets trickier again. The good news is that a few simple habits make eating well on your own or as a pair far more manageable.
Why good meals matter more as we get older
Our protein needs actually go up later in life. The Eat for Health protein guidelines put the recommended daily intake for people over 70 at 81 g for men and 57 g for women.
Protein helps keep your muscles strong, which makes everyday jobs like carrying the shopping or getting out of a chair that bit easier. A proper meal with a decent serve of meat, fish, eggs, tofu or legumes goes a long way toward that target, and it’s much harder to reach on biscuits and toast.
Keep a few nights’ meals on standby
Some evenings you won’t feel like cooking, and that’s perfectly fine. What helps is having something good in the fridge so the fallback isn’t whatever is left in the pantry.
Ready-made meals have come a long way, and a few services now cater for people who are cutting out gluten. One option is the range of no added gluten meals from Bondi Meal Prep, which delivers across Australia, including here in WA.
Their range covers 54 meals with no added gluten across breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, with filters for high-protein and vegetarian options. Orders placed by Wednesday at 11:59pm arrive the following week, so it’s easy to plan a couple of easy nights ahead.
Keep in mind that “no added gluten” isn’t the same as certified gluten-free. If you have coeliac disease, check with your doctor or Coeliac Australia before relying on any ready meal.
Cook once, eat twice
Small-batch cooking is a lifesaver when there are only one or two of you at the table. Make a pot of soup or a casserole, enjoy a serve tonight, then portion the rest into containers.
Home-cooked food freezes well, so label each container with the date and what’s inside. On a tired night you’ll be glad you did.
A few dishes that suit this way of cooking:
- Chicken and vegetable soup, thickened with potato rather than flour
- Beef and lentil casserole served over rice
- Salmon and potato fish cakes, bound with a little egg instead of breadcrumbs
- A vegetable frittata, which keeps in the fridge for a few days and works for any meal
Smaller containers are your friend here. They thaw faster, and you only take out what you’ll actually eat.
Build your pantry around naturally gluten-free staples
Plenty of everyday foods are naturally free of gluten, so you don’t need special products for every meal. Rice, potatoes, quinoa, eggs, fresh meat and fish, dairy, fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes all make good starting points.
Building your meals around these keeps costs down and means less label-reading at the shops. Gluten-free bread and pasta are handy to have, but think of them as extras rather than the foundation.
Tinned fish, canned chickpeas and frozen vegetables are worth keeping in the cupboard too. They last for ages and turn into a quick, filling meal when the fridge is looking bare.
Get into the habit of checking labels
Gluten turns up in places you might not expect, such as sauces, stock cubes, gravy mixes and some sausages. A quick look at the ingredients list only takes a few seconds and saves a lot of guesswork.
Healthdirect explains that “In Australia, food labels must specify any ingredients derived from wheat, rye, barley or oats.” Their guide to the gluten-free diet also advises: “Avoid products with statements such as ‘may contain gluten’ because they can be cross-contaminated with gluten.”
If small print is hard to read, keep a magnifying glass in your shopping bag or use the zoom on your phone camera. Once you know which brands suit you, the weekly shop gets much quicker.
Let the shopping come to you
Carrying heavy bags home or driving to the shops isn’t always easy, especially if your mobility or eyesight has changed. Having groceries delivered takes that pressure off and helps you stay independent in your own home.
If you’re weighing up your options, Seniorocity’s roundup of grocery delivery services in Perth is a good place to start. Ordering online also gives you time to read ingredient lists properly before anything lands in your trolley.
Many services let you save a regular list, so your staples can be reordered in a couple of clicks. That’s one less thing to remember each week.
Keep variety on the menu
Eating well is about more than leaving out one ingredient. A colourful plate with vegetables, a good serve of protein and some healthy fats will do more for you than any single rule.
For more ideas, these 6 ways seniors can improve their diet are a handy refresher. Sharing a meal matters too, so try inviting a friend over or swapping a home-cooked dish with a neighbour now and then.
When you’d rather someone else did the cooking, Perth has plenty of gluten-free restaurants and cafes worth a visit. A lunch out can be a nice change of scene as well as a good feed.
A little planning goes a long way. With some home cooking in the freezer and a backup or two in the fridge, cooking for one or two can feel simple again.
