the food, but the setting, the companionship and the conversation,” said Jim Madison, owner of the local Home Instead Senior Care office serving Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee and Kalkaska counties.  “Appetizing meals are an important part of seniors’ lives, and vital to their physical and emotional well-being.”

  Ray, who was raised in a multi-generational Sicilian restaurant family, said she was lucky to share food with many generations.  “I think that maps you out for life.  Nobody can fight when they taste delicious food and they’re together.  There’s something really intimate about it.”      

  Food also helps seniors reconnect with the past, Ray said.  “What’s great about food is the nostalgia factor that ties all of us to where we’re from.  So it’s a wonderful tool for seniors who are having trouble with memory or dementia or an illness that has removed them from the world.  Food can allow them to travel in the amount of time it takes to go to the grocery store.  If they’re from Russia or Germany or France or Ireland, give them food from those places and take them back to the things that make them feel good, whole, happy and excited about living.”

  Be creative to liven up food while staying within a senior’s dietary guidelines, said Ray, who advocates moderation rather than denial.  Here’s how Ray recommends adding flavor to a senior’s diet without compromising good health:

• Add low-sodium, no-salt stock to a sauce to make it taste like it has been simmering all day.  Likewise, cook rice in chicken or vegetable stock rather than water, and replace cream with stock when making mashed potatoes for a flavorful, low-fat alternative.
• Fresh herbs are a no-fat addition, and readily available in grocery stores to brighten the flavor of salads, dressing and sauces.
• Purchase better cuts of meat for better flavor and less fat.  Seniors shouldn’t sacrifice quality, Ray said, even if they’re on a budget.  “Never buy less than a ground sirloin because of the fat content.  Don’t buy fatty foods as opposed to lean, healthy meats to save pennies because in the end you’re not, you have to trim.  And the amount of waste balanced against lean clean meat is negligible.  A small amount of lean protein is better than a larger amount of fatty protein.”

• Stock up on fresh meats and vegetables when they’re on sale, then divide and freeze them.  “Prepared foods are not good for seniors because they can’t control the amount of salts, fats and additives,” Ray said.  “They should spend the money instead on prepared raw foods they can finish cooking, which will taste better to them as well.”

Both Ray and Home Instead Senior Care’s Madison said that it’s important to involve seniors in meal preparation as much as possible.  “Our CAREGivers get to know seniors’ likes and favorite recipes and often help them prepare those special dishes,” Madison said.

Having help in the kitchen can make the difference between whether a senior eats well or not, Ray said.  “But even if a senior can’t help prepare the food, have them in the room when you’re cooking, talk to them, let them smell it and feel it,” Ray added.  “It’s a visceral experience that involves all the senses and makes seniors feel whole.  It doesn’t just fill you up, it makes you feel alive.” 

To learn more about Home Instead Senior Care visit www.homeinstead.com. For more information about this story or to arrange mealtime photos with seniors and CAREGivers, contact Jim Madison at 231-938-3001  To inquire about media interviews with Rachael Ray, contact Georgene Lahm at  pr@glahm.com.  At least one week's advance notice is requested.

30 Minute Meal Recipes for Seniors

  Don’t be afraid to put flavor and creativity into food for the elderly, says Food Network® star Rachael Ray.  Following are three recipes that Ray says can spice up a senior’s life.  For a 30 Minute Meals booklet with more recipes for seniors, send a self-addressed, stamped No. 10 envelope to Home Instead Senior Care, 3504 Kirkland Court, Williamsburg, MI  49690. 

Double-Dipped Spicy Chicken

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon allspice

1 cup buttermilk

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 pound chicken breast tenderloins

Salt and pepper

Heat 1 ½ inches vegetable oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat.  A cube of bread should brown in a 40 count when oil is ready.  Set out three disposable pie tins.  Mix flour with paprika, poultry seasoning, cayenne and allspice.  Divide seasoned flour between two tins.  Pour buttermilk into a tin.  Line up tins as such:  flour, buttermilk and then flour.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Coat chicken in flour, then buttermilk, then a second coating of flour.  Cook chicken 6 minutes on each side, until deep golden brown and firm.  Drain chicken on paper bags and cool before packing up for picnic basket.

Yield:  4 servings

Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad with Maple Dressing

1 (10-ounce) bag baby spinach

1/3 pound blue cheese, crumbled

1 (6-ounce) can walnut halves, toasted

¼ cup maple syrup, warmed

1 ½ tablespoons cider vinegar

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Place spinach on a large platter.  Top with blue cheese and walnuts.  Warm maple syrup in a small saucepan.  Pour vinegar into a small bowl.  Whisk oil into vinegar in a slow stream.  Whisk maple syrup into dressing in a slow stream.  Pour dressing down over the salad platter and serve.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Yield:  4 servings

Chocolate-Dipped Bananas

4 bananas

8 Popsicle sticks

3 cups good quality chocolate bar

3 tablespoons butter, cut up

Toppings:

Chopped nuts

Toasted coconut

Cookie crumbles

Colored sprinkles or chocolate jimmies

Mini chocolate candies or mini semi sweet chips

Granola

Peel and cut the bananas in half crosswise, so that you have 8 pieces.  Place peeled bananas on sticks.  Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.  Place bananas on cookie sheet in the freezer, keeping them there as long as possible – at least 10 minutes.  Heat chocolate bits with butter in a double boiler over low heat until the melted chocolate and the butter are incorporated.  Dip the chilled bananas in chocolate and roll with your favorite topping.  Chill or freeze until ready to serve.  If frozen, allow time to thaw so that bananas soften before serving.

Yield: 8 chocolate-dipped bananas

Editor’s Note:  Rachael Ray, 35, began her career as a restaurant manager and food buyer.  While working as a food buyer and chef for a New York market, Ray started her cooking classes to encourage customers to buy more groceries.  The “30 Minute Meals” classes became so popular that the local media sent a feature reporter to cover the phenomenon and, the following week, an Albany TV station asked Ray to do a “30 Minute Meals” segment for the evening news.  Nominated for two regional Emmys, the show was a major success.  A companion cookbook sold 10,000 copies locally.  When NBC’s “Today Show” asked her to host a segment with weatherman Al Roker in 2001, the president of the Food Network® was watching.  Two weeks later she had two pilot shows on cable TV.   Ray’s TV work grew to include a series of travel segments following the same theme of living a rich life without having to be wealthy.  Today, Ray’s work continues on the Food Network’s “30 Minute Meals” and “$40 a Day” programs.