It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the one with the most calorie-heavy dishes. With Thanksgiving next week and the following month full of once-a-year treats, abandoning healthy eating for indulgence can be tempting. However, caregivers can use the Kitchen Stories app to find new recipes to make at home or for senior clients to eat in moderation, despite the time of year.
When caregivers download the Kitchen Stories app and open it to their main feed, they will see a rotating set of featured items as well as several recipes below. When caregivers click on “Filter” in the upper right-hand corner, they can adjust the recipes they see on the home feed by category, difficulty, diet or preparation time. The diet preferences include: vegetarian, vegan, sugar-free, lactose-free, gluten-free or alcohol-free.
Under the Search tool, the app features a variety of recipes sorted into several categories, such as 20 minute dishes, low carb, weeknight dinners, vegetarian and under 400 kcal. While not every category represents a “healthy” recipe, caregivers can sort through the options and find a recipe to meet certain dietary needs. However, for other dietary needs such as low-sodium or low-fat, caregivers might need to make their own adjustments and substitutions to the recipes.
Once caregivers pick a recipe, they can click on it and see how to make that recipe two different ways. At the top of each recipe page, the app provides a video showing each step of making the recipe, from raw ingredients to cooking methods to the finished product. Underneath that, caregivers will see the traditional recipe format, showing the text list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions for how to cook the item.
Also included on the recipe page is the basic nutritional information for the dish: calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates. A rating system on the recipe also shows what other users thought of the dish after having made it on a scale of one to five stars. The one-star rating says, “I didn’t enjoy this,” and the five-star rating says, “Absolutely delicious!”
The How To section of the app features short videos showing different cooking techniques for those who are still learning. The topics range from “How to prepare beets” to “How to knead dough (and why).” On average they range from one to three minutes long, so caregivers can watch them and emulate the techniques in their own kitchen.
Once users find recipes they like, they can add them to their saved recipes for reference. They can also add ingredients to the shopping tab so they know what they need to buy when they go to the store.
The KitchenStories app is available for Apple and Android platforms.
Senior caregivers, let us know your feedback on this app and keep us posted if you discover additional apps that assist with caregiving duties and help relieve caregiver stress. You may also refer-a-friend to a senior caregiving job and win prizes weekly and monthly on Caregiverlist.
