First Recipe - Moving from Stomach Peg Original Soup ™ to 100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Four years ago, I had neck cancer and I had a stomach peg.  My wife, Randi, and I created Stomach Peg Original Soup™ -SPOS.  This year, I discovered I had Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC).  I opted to not have a stomach peg, but I still needed to make sure I got my nutrition.

My jaw muscle on the treatment side tightened to the point where I could barely chew.  Everything I “ate” had to be pureed.  After several months of enduring cold pureed food, I joined a support group for head and neck cancer patients at Emerson Hospital.  Turns out the pureed food issue is common among head and neck survivors. 

We decided that the internet is full of cold fruit smoothies; tasteless veggie shakes; and creamy, milky, yummy, dairy treatment.  What we craved are hot meals that everyone else at the dining room table was eating.  Most of us have been shunned from dinner, because we can’t eat what everyone else is eating.  We want to join in on mealtime again. We wished we could convert normal meals into something for us.  We joked that she should create a “recipe” book.  I went home that night and decided it needed to get done.

So, here I am with the first blog on "100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed". 

On August 12th I posted on FaceBook my first successful recipe:

100 MEALS PUREED

my first recipe for the new cookbook - Steak and Potatoes

4 oz. cooked steak

1 cooked potato

8 oz. beef stock

some chive

two scoops sour cream

3 pats of butter (or more)

dash of steak sauce

enough water to puree (about 2-3 cups) thickness is a personal preference

It is still my favorite dinner.

But let’s back up and talk about what this book is about and not about.

QUALIFICATIONS:

1)            Smells good

2)            Taste good

3)            As a good after taste

Those are the three criteria.  Not much we can do about texture . . . it’s pureed.  Although, I try to avoid “Grey Foods”, sometimes people eat grey foods. Disney is the only place where I suggest trying the grey stuff - It's delicious.

SMELLS GOOD

As Head and Neck Survivors, the one thing that works really well is our sense of smell.  We want to smell the food coming from the kitchen. Many of us are on medications that make us lose our appetite.  The goal of a great meal is that the aroma draws us in so we want to eat again.

TASTE GOOD

This is the trickiest of all the issues.  Things that taste good can also burn our mouths.  Many of us have a number of ingredients that cannot be consumed because it is either too spicy; burns the mouth; conflicts with medications taken, or gets stuck in the mouth.  If you are a caregiver, this is the hardest lesson to learn, because it is usually done my trial and error. 

Best example is bananas.  Most people do not realize that for radiation cancer patients, the simple banana turns into a burning machine.  My wife, Randi makes me a wonderful peanut butter smoothie.  One time, she accidentally added a banana as she forgot that bananas burn my mouth like a Thai pepper.

Almost every recipe will ask you to add a “DASH” of something to add a pop of flavor.   Remember to check to see if it has a hidden danger.  The Steak and Potato recipe ask for a “DASH of Steak Sauce”, which typically contains vinegar.  Vinegar might burn, but it also gives the recipe the “pop” of aroma.

NUTRITION

I know my favorite Nutritionist, Emily Biever, is going to cry reading this part.  The recipes are not about nutrition . . . per se.  They are not designed to be well balanced.  They are designed to nourish the soul.  The recipes are designed to get enough calories down the throat with a maximum amount of “joy”.

The biggest piece of nutrition that these meals contain is the fact that Head and Neck survivors will consume them because they are familiar to them.  Emily would agree getting enough calories in the body is JOB NUMBER 1; getting enough protein is JOB number 2; getting enough proper fat is JOB NUMBER 3; and getting vitamins, chlorophylls, and veggies is JOB NUMBER 4.  There are a ton of recipes that cover JOB 4.

However, once we get the Survivor eating, it is not too hard to sneak in additional ingredients.  As an example, Panera Bread makes a great Broccoli Cheddar soup.  I will take the soup (which you can buy in grocery stores) home, puree it, and add an avocado.  The avocado hides well in the broccoli and cheddar flavors.

GOT TO HAVE STARCH
The problem with pureed meats is that they sink to the bottom.  Starch helps hold the meat in suspension and makes the small pieces easier to swallow.
The recipes are designed to be "meals in a bowl" instead of a "dish in a bowl".  More many cancer patients, it's hard enough eating one item,  it would be heartbreaking to have three unfinished bowls in front of them.  The goal is to have one complete meal cleverly combined into one bowl.

HOW PUREED IS PUREED

This will depend on the survivor.  Some need food perfectly smooth; others can have small lumps in their dish.

HOW HOT SHOULD IT BE SERVED

This depends on the survivor.  Some days I want to sip the food hotter, than those days when I want to “CHUG” the food.  Take comfort that this will be a trial by error, but it is all done with love.

SERVING SIZE

Most of the dishes will make about three cups of food, or about a half a blender.  You need plenty of room in the blender to mix the food, and enough food that the survivor can ask for seconds.

So back to the first recipe. . .

Steak and Potatoes

4 oz. cooked steak (pot roast works well)

1 cooked potato

8 oz. beef stock

some chive

two scoops sour cream

3 pats of butter (or more)

dash of steak sauce

enough water to puree (about 2-3 cups) thickness is a personal preference

The ingredients are designed to be standard items that you would have on hand for steak and potato night.  If you think about it - it is really beef stew puree.  This is literally a dump the ingredients in the blender and puree recipe.  When blending the ingredient you will need to monitor how much water you are adding.  It is hard to judge how much water the potato is going to need, as different potatoes are different sizes and have “dried out in the pantry” differently. 

This recipe is a basic design, so if you have special dietary requirements, be sure to modify as needed. For example, I know a number of people with dairy restrictions.  I have tried the recipe with and without sour cream and butter – still taste great.

BLENDERS

I have two blenders at home a Vitamix 500 and a Waring Model 51BL26.   The Vitamix has a “SOUP” setting that will puree the food right down to a liquefied drink.  The Waring even after 10 minutes will puree the food down to having very small but perceptible pulp.  If you are a friend of someone going through head or neck cancer I recommend joining with friends and purchase the survivor a Vitamix.  They are not cheap; however, they are a Godsend for the patient and the caregiver.

9/14 - JUST FOUND THIS GUIDE
http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/resources/eating-guide-pureed-and-mechanical-soft-diets

Celebrating another birthday with friends