A Nutritious Dessert for your Loved One with Dementia
People who have loved ones with dementia often notice that their loved ones really love to eat sweet things like desserts. This is actually really common. For reasons we don’t really understand, sometimes people with certain kinds of dementia will often really prefer sweet foods. I’ve certainly had many clients who will simply pick at their meal, but eat their entire dessert!
Seeing that loved one with dementia only wants desserts can be really frustrating. You may make a balanced meal and want them to get the nutrition of a meal, only to see that Grandma only wants to eat cake or pudding. Desserts are hardly high in protein, vitamins or minerals!
I have found that one of the easiest way to get a person with dementia who has a sweet tooth to eat better nutrition is to ensure that their sweet dessert is also a healthy dessert.
Try this healthy dessert smoothie
One great example is this deliciously rich pumpkin pie dessert smoothie! It’s packed with protein, contains vegetables, and has that sweet flavor of a dessert that somebody with a sweet tooth will really appreciate!
Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Sugar
Start with instant oats and soften them in milk for about 10 minutes. If the oats are not soaked in half a cup of milk, the dessert may have a bit of a grainy texture, so I would not skip this step. Add the frozen pumpkin, peanut butter, cinnamon and nutmeg, sugar, cauliflower, and finally, a cup of Greek yogurt to add protein and a rich creamy texture!
serve the dessert as a drink
Blend ingredients until smooth. This will make a soft pudding-like dessert, so if your loved one needs softer food, this is a great option. You can serve it as a pudding, or if you prefer it to be more easily drinkable, you can add another half cup of milk at the end to make it into a drink like a smoothie.
Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothie
Equipment
- 1 Blender
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Quick Oats
- 1 cup Milk (2%) 1/2 cup for pre-soaking oats, 1/2 cup is optional to make less thick smoothie .
- 1/4 cup Pumpkin (frozen)
- 1/2 cup Cauliflower (frozen)
- 1 cup Greek Yogurt (fat free)
- 1/2 tsp Peanut Butter
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 2 tbsp Sugar
Instructions
Pre-soak oatmeal
- Add 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup milk to bowl, allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Add other ingredients
- To oats and milk, add Pumpkin, Cauliflower, Greek Yogurt, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Sugar.
- Add ingredients to blender. Blend Ingredients well.
- Smoothie can be served as is, or if you want the smoothie to be thinner, add up to another 1/2 cup of milk and blend until smooth.
Nutrition (in one portion of ~1 cup): 290 calories, 21 g protein, 40 g carbohydrate, 5 g fat, 4 g fiber. Contains nuts, peanuts, dairy, gluten.
Try this dessert and let me know if your loved one liked it!
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