Top 10 Ways to Utilize Fortified Foods
This Top 10 list offers guidance on how to best choose fortified foods for your residents’ needs and your budget.
A successful outcome requires a good plan! Begin by thinking about these questions in regard to your clientele:
Who needs supplements?
Why do we need supplements?
What do we want to improve?
When and how often?
Fortified food recipes can add calories and protein to common, everyday food items without the need to always use a supplement out of a can. Nutrient-dense foods are rich in nutrients relative to the number of calories. Here are ten ideas to get you started down the fortified food path!
1. Food comes first. Common foods boosted with added ingredients such as butter or margarine, whole milk, or cream should still be the first line of defense with unintentional weight loss, and can provide added support for wound healing.
2. Boost protein by adding powdered milk, cheese, eggs, or double milk to soups, sauces, and other recipes as appropriate. Or, serve up a warm cup of bone broth.
3. Use protein powder as an added ingredient in your homemade* peanut butter cookies. Nothing beats a fresh-baked cookie with a tall glass of whole milk!
4. Increase fiber with nuts, dried fruits (a great snack and an awesome finger food), juice with pulp, or add vegetables, dried peas, or beans to soups and casseroles.
5. Increase calories by adding butter or margarine, olive oil, peanut butter, mayonnaise, honey, sour cream, cream cheese, or brown sugar to your dishes as appropriate.
6. For breakfast, try ‘super cereal,’ warm and sweet with added brown sugar, butter, powdered milk, and evaporated milk.
7. Make ‘power pancakes’—pancake mix boosted with cottage cheese and honey.
8. Enhance a true comfort food. Add real cream, sour cream, cream cheese, and butter to mashed potatoes.
9. Serve drinks loaded such as fruit smoothies, milkshakes with powdered milk, and even juices with pulp for some fiber.
10. Take advantage of calorie boosters including chocolate/hazelnut spreads (2T = 200 calories/3 grams protein) and processed cheese spreads (1 oz = 80 calories/4 grams protein). Boost protein with 1 cup low-fat yogurt (14 grams protein) or 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese (15.5 grams protein).
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