Food Foraging

Gypsy J

My DH has always had a sweet tooth, snacking habit. Lately it has become an issue. He no longer can distinguish food/labels and now gets into cupboards he never bothered with before. 

He often gets up in the middle of the night and rummages through the fridge.  A few of the things I have caught him with or worse yet found in the morning have been a block of cream cheese, jar of roasted red peppers, garlic and an open can of Fancy Feast cat food! Needless to say I have had to get creative, short of padlocking every cupboard and the fridge. Hope these ideas are helpful. 

First off I have cut back on "real" cooking, less ingredients around. Mostly have frozen meals in freezer. Second I got a mini fridge, it is off to the side and so new to his environment he can't cognitively recognize it exists. Anything I need to keep away from him goes in the second fridge and I am cautious when I get into this second fridge so as not to clue him in on its existence. Then I came up with a system. I purchased small clear plastic cups with lids off Amazon, pudding cup sized. I prepare these cups with jello, pudding, fruit, raisins, chips, small cookies etc. I statistically leave a few of these where he can find. Especially just before bedtime I place 3-4 just inside the fridge. I hide the extras where he can't find them in the mini fridge or under our power recliner.(Lol, he can't operate the recliner) This seems to satisfy his need to forage and sneak food.

So far this has been a most effective strategy. 

SusanB-dil

Good ideas. Thank you for posting this.  We have had to put a lock on the pantry, but not the fridge.

sophirolr

It is sad that you have such problems. But your creativity is amazing! My neighbor recently started eating everything in a row and it started to scare me because it was noticeable how quickly he was gaining weight! I began to monitor what he eats more. Also, a friend shared https://betterme.world/articles/estrogen-foods-to-avoid/ with me and I began to avoid even more different foods. It is so difficult to take care of your own and other people's health...