[For Seniors] Easy and Delicious! Snack Activity Roundup
Eating—meals and snacks alike—is one of life’s pleasures for older adults as well.
Snack-making activities are very popular and are offered at many senior care facilities.
However, for staff, choosing ingredients and coming up with recipes suited to older adults—such as how to prepare them—can be challenging.
In this article, we introduce easy-to-make snack ideas for seniors.
We’ve gathered many recipes that can be made together around a table or prepared easily using a microwave.
You can make delicious snacks without using hard-to-chew or hard-to-swallow ingredients.
Please give them a try with everyone together!
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[For Seniors] Easy and Delicious! Snack Activity Roundup (71–80)
Steamed pumpkin bread
Perfect for a snack! Here’s a steamed pumpkin bread recipe.
First, cut the pumpkin with the skin on and microwave it for about 5 minutes.
Remove the skin, mash with a fork, then add egg, sugar, vegetable oil, milk, and pancake mix.
Mix well to make the batter.
Line a heatproof container with parchment paper, pour in the batter, add some preheated pumpkin pieces on top as decoration, and microwave for about 5 minutes.
That’s it! It’s a handy, recommended recipe for times when you can’t use the stove.
Kintsuba (a traditional Japanese sweet made with sweet bean paste coated in a thin batter)
Kintsuba packed with sweet red bean paste is an irresistible wagashi for anko lovers! How about featuring this familiar treat as a snack activity for seniors? Azuki beans, the main ingredient in anko, are highly nutritious, making them perfect for seniors who may be prone to nutrient deficiencies.
You make the yokan and the batter separately, then coat the yokan with the batter and simply cook it in a frying pan at the end.
It’s ready when the batter dries; be careful not to overcook.
You can also enjoy variations by using fillings other than anko, such as sweet potato or matcha-flavored bean paste.
Shirasu and perilla galette
We’d like to share a recipe for a potato galette mixed with calcium-rich shirasu (whitebait) and aromatic shiso leaves.
First, julienne the potatoes—using a slicer makes it quick and easy.
Do not soak the julienned potatoes in water; instead, mix them as they are with shirasu, shiso, melting cheese, and salt and pepper.
Spread the mixture evenly to fill the frying pan and cook on both sides.
Although no flour is used, the potato starch and melted cheese will bind everything together nicely.
[For Seniors] Easy and Delicious! Snack Activity Collection (81–90)
watermelon juice
Watermelon is one of the quintessential foods of summer.
But because of its size, it often won’t fit in the fridge, which can be a hassle.
That’s when watermelon juice comes in handy.
All you have to do is scoop out the flesh and blend it.
It’s easy to remember and you can try it right away.
By the way, if you blend it with the seeds, the texture will be a bit gritty.
If that bothers you, it’s a good idea to remove the seeds beforehand.
Also be careful with the parts close to the rind, as they can make the juice gritty too.
Choco Banana Takoyaki
Let’s make a sweet treat like baby castella using a takoyaki maker.
Since we use pancake mix, it’s easier than takoyaki and you can make lots of tasty sweets without much risk of failure.
This time we filled them with banana, chocolate chips, and peanut butter, but feel free to try other fillings you like.
Making several varieties and letting the filling be a surprise when you bite in is fun, too.
Flipping them carefully so they don’t burn is good fine-motor exercise, so have all participants take turns doing it.
Mikan Calpis Jelly
With mandarin Calpis jelly, you can enjoy a refreshing taste.
The process has three main steps.
First, make the Calpis jelly using Calpis and gelatin.
Next, make the mandarin jelly using canned mandarins and gelatin.
Then layer both in the same glass, and it’s done.
This time I introduced a recipe using mandarins, but it should turn out delicious with other fruits as well.
If you take the flavor of Calpis as a guide, you can choose fruits that pair well with it.
Apple cake
Autumn is the season when fruit tastes especially good.
Among them, apples are a fruit with many varieties and are easy to find.
How about baking a cake using those apples? Even though it’s called a cake, it’s very simple: just four ingredients, and you make it in the microwave instead of the oven.
The ingredients are apples, pancake mix, milk, and eggs.
Mix everything except the apples thoroughly to make the batter, and slice the apples into quarter-moon pieces about 2 mm thick.
Put the apples in a microwave-safe dish, pour the batter evenly over the top, smooth it out, and microwave for about 5 minutes.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.