Creative Caregiving: A Tale of Two Meals

my partner and I caregiver for her 83 year old mom she needs soft low sodium food and the rest of the family does not so I figured out ways to make everyone happy here’s how I make a warm air fryer salad for the family and a soup for our elderly parent using similar ingredients I kick off her meal with some low sodium chicken broth half store bought half homemade and then I add broccoli cauliflower and chickpeas I cut off 1/3 of a vegetarian sausage and then I peel away the skin and chop it up and add it to the soup I add poultry seasoning garlic powder onion powder and smoked paprika to bring up the flavor I chop up the sausage and let it all cook then I start working on the rest of the family salad I slice up the vegan sausage and add cauliflower and chickpeas to the air fryer tray I season it with a little bit of olive oil and the same seasoning that I used in her soup and then I air fry it for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit while everything is cooking I toss together a quick dressing I had a Reuben on my mind when I made the salad so I combined Mayo tahini ketchup relish and the brine from sauerkraut I decided I wanted it a little spicy and added Sriracha then I chopped up some scallions and kale and when the sausage and veggies were finished air frying I just tossed it all together and then I finished it off with a little sauerkraut like I said I had Reuben on my mind and some shredded cheese it took me less than a minute to toss together our elderly parent’s soup I just added some high protein high fiber pasta and it was good to go