Well hello there and Happy National Nutrition Month! This is my first time blogging from my new shiny website, and I wanted to kick it off with a post that I’m extremely excited about, and hope you might find it helpful too. Lately I have gotten a lot of requests for more very simple, quick recipe ideas from not only the clients I see in my office, but also from patients at the rehabilitation hospital I work at. For those of you who don’t know, I also work with patients who are recovering from things like stroke, injury accidents, cardiac surgery, etc. and nutrition is vital in their recovery not only during their stay, but after discharge as well. It is so rewarding and remarkable, really, to witness these patients regain their independence in a few short weeks through the miracles of an awesome therapy team (physical therapy, occupation therapy, and speech therapy) and of course, good nutrition :). For this post, I wanted to focus on very easy to throw together, yet nutritious recipe ideas that these individuals who may have limited mobility can throw together once they get home and continue their road to recovery. And, even if you haven’t been in the hospital lately, it is still nice to have these ideas around if you are a busy caregiver, or maybe when time or energy is just short (guilty of that!).
While I am sharing a few of my own, I went a step further this time and turned to some of the best of the best dietitians out there for their ideas. I have also linked their amazing recipe blogs so you can see TONS more nutritious recipes out there. So without further ado, here are 10 + EASY, fast, (and high protein) dietitian-approved recipe ideas for meals or snacks that a recovering rehabilitation patient, an elderly individual with limited mobility, or even maybe just a tired parent could whip up without too much effort.
Breakfast or snack ideas:
- Wild Blueberry Peanut Butter Smoothie by Amy Gorin RDN with Amy Gorin Nutrition.
- Pumpkin Smoothie Recipe for Pumpkin Lovers by Katie Pfeffer-Scanlan RD with One Hungry Bunny
- Simply Smoothie by me
- Baked Vanilla Oatmeal Custard by Lindsey Janeiro RDN, LDN, CLC of NutritiontoFit.com
- No Bake Peanut Butter Cereal Bars by Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD with Better is the New Perfect
Lunch/Dinner ideas:
- Stress-free meal ideas you can get on the table in under 20 minutes by Elizabeth Ward MS, RD with Better is the New Perfect
- Easiest Chicken Salad by Rebecca Clyde MS, RDN, CD with Nourish Nutrition Co. LLC
- Sheet Pan Orange Ginger Chicken and Broccoli Dinner by Lindsey Janeiro RDN, LDN, CLC of Nutritiontofit.com
- World’s Easiest Lime Chicken Tacos by me (adapted from Taste of Home recipe)
Photo cred: Taste of Home
- Back to School Pot Roast by me
Here are also some great tips for cooking with a disability or injury :
If you have any easy and nutrient-packed recipe ideas, please share with us! The more nutritional knowledge we can spread, the better, for recovery, happiness, and life.
Until next time!
~Elissa
Thanks, Elissa, for featuring my post! Good luck with your new site.
-Hannah
Thank you! And thank you for sharing such great tips!
All these ideas look amazing! Look easy and nutritious recipe ideas.
Thank you Charlene!
I am so happy I found this post! It’s so rare to scroll through meal ideas and like all of them. Now off to the kitchen…
I’m so glad! Thank you!
Congrats on your new website! Nice round-up of nutritionally-packed dishes.
Thank you so much Lauren!
Great roundup! I’m always looking for new ideas for the wellness programs I coordinate!
Wonderful! I’m glad this could be of use, thanks!
Really great roundup!! So many awesome ideas.
Everything sounds great, but that oatmeal custard is really calling my name! Great roundup
It sounds amazing doesn’t it?? Thank you!
You nailed it with this post–most people don’t cook because they think it will be too complicated or time-consuming. Others have difficulty navigating the kitchen due to pain or disability so thanks for putting this together!
So true! Thank you so much Bridget!