Banquet Quiz -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Earlier this week I post a quiz about my meal at an award Banquet  - here is my answer

QUIZ TIME:
Last night, I was at an award banquet, and brought my portable blender.

It was a semi-potluck, and all dishes were labeled for allergens

Below is the list of dishes - WHAT DID I PUREE?

Caesar Salad
Baked Beans
Mac and Cheese
Chicken, Ziti and Broccoli
Beef Meatballs
Chicken Parm. Tenders
Pasta Primavera
Vegetarian Sushi Rolls
Vegetables cruite

Marbled Cake
Homemade pumpkin pie
Blueberry crumble cake
Chocolate-chip cookies
Brownies
Brownies with cherry and cheesecake topping
Oatmeal cookies

(My answer this weekend)

So first, I had to take a measure of how much I could eat, and how many times I could puree the food.  Answer is 4 cups over 2 hours, which means two purees at most.  This is just my food habit.  I could have done 4 purees of one cup each, but I felt I would have spent all night in the kitchen.

Second, priorities the food.  Find out what matches - chocolate cookies do not puree well with Pasta Primavera.

Finally, remember what my mini-blender can handle out in the field.

My overriding thought is - What do I never eat at home, and so now is the best time to have it.  Remember, I live in a house with people who have specific references, so what could I have that I would probally never have at home

Item by item thoughts - 

Caesar Salad

Not sure that my blender can shred the lettuce well enough.  I've never done lettuce in the mini blender before, not a good time to try. Although flavor-wise, garlic, parmesan cheese, and croutons are excellent for a larger puree.

Baked Beans

Always a good choice.  Great thickener for any meal.  This is a real contender because it blends well with other foods.

Mac and Cheese

Although this might have been a first choice, it doesn't blend well with other flavors.  I could have had this by itself, but I restricted myself to two blends. If there were any left at the end, I would have brought it home to blend.  There were a lot of high schoolers there, so I knew it wouldn't last.

Chicken, Ziti and Broccoli

Would have been a good choice at home.  Again, the broccoli might have been an issue for the mini blender.  I would have brought this one home.

Beef Meatballs

This is a staple at my house.  I keep pre-made frozen meatballs in the freezer.  In fact I had meatballs at the banquet the year before, so I knew they were going to be awesome.  So if you picked meatballs, you made a good choice . . . but not this year.

Chicken Parm. Tenders

OK, I didn't let you know that I have been craving Chicken Parm for several months now.  Particularly, a sandwich with a toasted roll.  No one at my house eats chicken parm besides me, so buying a chicken parm sandwich or chicken parm meal would be a lot of food for just me. Tonight was the perfect night to indulge. 

Pasta Primavera

By now you figured out that the veggies were going to be a concern, so I passed. I might have brought this home for my daughter.

Vegetarian Sushi Rolls

What a fabulous idea. I almost skipped a blend and went for the sushi rolls.  Might have taken me a little bit of time, to figure out how much water to use.  Ideally, I would have chosen a rice dish, but there were no other rice dishes on the buffet. When in doubt - choose rice.  The group there LOVED this and is was devoured.  I will remember this for my next potluck, especially one where I know there are vegans and vegetarians

Vegetables cruite

Pause.  Actually the carrots might have been a good choice to add with a little ranch dressing . . . 

Marbled Cake

ALWAYS A SAFE CHOICE.  Only issue is that frosting tend to foam up.  If you are using a tummy tube it might have been an issue.  Once again I chose this one the year before, so if you chose this one, you did well.  A "four puree/one cup Jeff" would have chosen this in a heartbeat.

Homemade pumpkin pie

DING DING DING.  A homemade Pumpkin Pie was the framework for the whole meal.  I am a sucker for a homemade pie.  The rest of the meal was going to be - WHAT GOES GREAT WITH PUMPKIN PIE?

Blueberry crumble cake

Another great choice.  In truth, at the end of the night, this is what I brought home to puree - and it was fabulous.  The reason I didn't puree it at the banquet, I knew I had vanilla ice cream at home . . . I was born at night, but not last night . . . 

Chocolate-chip cookies

For lip-sippers this is a great choice.  For a tummy tuber, the chocolate chips don't always puree well, and form a gravel pit at the bottom.  You really need hot water to soften the chips.  I've had them clog my tube more than once.

Brownies
Brownies with cherry and cheesecake topping

Another excellent choice, and if the pumpkin pie was not an option, this would have been my dessert of choice.  Brownies are always a safe choice, as long as they don't have nuts.  And I would have taken these home to go with the ice cream.

Oatmeal cookies

Another excellent choice.  My only issue is that I have oatmeal regularly for breakfast.  Now that I'm sitting here, an oatmeal cookie in the pumpkin pie blend could have been awesome.

ANSWER

Knowing that I was going to have pumpkin pie for dessert, I had to figure out a starter.  On the main meal table, the baked beans seemed to be the most compatible.  Especially, since it would go well with the chicken parm.  The key was that the chicken were already "tenders", so I didn't have to cut a large breast of chicken down to size.  One tender in a mini blender is perfect.

The banquet location had a kitchen area where I could set up my blender.  It also had the facilities where I could wash my blender cup between uses.  Best of all it had a garbage disposal, in case I ran into blending issues, and need to start over.

I could have easily done 4 different one cup blends.  If I had it would have been - 

Vegetarian Sushi roll, with a dash of wasabi and ginger

Beans and parm

Pumpkin pie

Cake

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