Cold Weather Comfort Meals from Our Whitetail Springs Care Community

Fill your belly with warm and cozy meals this season!

We know your loved one’s health is your top priority, but if sharing home cooked meals with them, you may struggle to find ideas for meals that both taste good and offer the nutrients they need. Here at the Whitetail Springs Memory Care Community in Pittsburgh, PA, we have a professional chef on staff who provides delicious, nutritious, and dietary-friendly meals multiple times every day for our residents. If you’re on your own, however, and looking for some go-to cold weather meals that your loved one will gobble up, take a look at these cold weather recipes!

Turkey Corn Chowder

Soups, stews and chowders are great for a cozy and satisfying cold weather meal while sneaking in tons of vegetables for your loved one. This turkey corn chowder recipe from Taste of Home is rich with nutrients that will help with immunity, strong bones, and digestion. Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need for this chowder:

• Bacon
• Celery
• Carrot
• Chicken stock
• Cream cheese
• Corn
• Turkey
• Shredded hash brown potatoes

Start this chowder by cooking bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove the cooked bacon and most of the grease from the pan. Second, add celery, onion, carrot, red onion, and a bay leaf to the pan and cook until the vegetables are soft. Next, add in the flour until blended, followed by slowly whisking in some chicken stock. Bring the pot to a boil, stirring constantly. Then, add condensed soup, cream cheese, milk and cream and mix well. For your last additions, stir in the corn, turkey, hash browns, gravy, parsley and the cooked bacon. After reducing the heat to low, cook, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaf, and enjoy!

Vegetable Lasagna

Does your loved one crave pastas and other Italian dishes? This vegetable lasagna recipe from Taste of Home will be their new favorite cold weather meal! Loaded with zucchini and mushrooms, both great sources of fiber that will keep your loved one feeling their best, this lasagna combines the best of both worlds: cheesy comfort food with micronutrients for health benefits. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Onion
• Garlic cloves
• Tomato sauce
• Fresh basil
• Red pepper flakes
• Zucchini
• Mushrooms
• Green peppers
• Lasagna noodles
• Mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

First, you’ll preheat the oven to 450° and saute an onion in olive oil over medium heat until tender. Next, add the garlic and stir in tomato puree, tomato sauce, basil, oregano, sugar and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer your sauce, uncovered, until slightly thickened. Then, in a large bowl, combine the zucchini, mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Bake the vegetables in a baking dish or until golden brown. Reduce oven temperature to 400°. Take your sauce and spread half of it in the baking dish. Then, layer lasagna noodles, sauce, and half the roasted vegetables and cheeses. Repeat the layers. Cover and bake until done. Enjoy!

It can be difficult to find a balance between comfort foods your loved one will enjoy and ingredients that will keep them healthy and strong. At Whitetail Springs Memory Care Community, we know how hard you work to ensure your loved one is taken care of. Their health and safety is of utmost importance to us. While we know our residents always have amazing dining experiences in our community, we hope these recipes give you some delicious cold weather meals to enjoy while we aren’t together!

Please reach out to us today if you’d like to take a tour of Whitetail Springs memory care community.