Pre-made soups -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Ok, it’s time to back up a step and talk about pureed meals for those survivors who cannot eat more than a few spoonfuls.  So most pre-made soups may not be in the top 100 meals you never thought you would eat pureed, but some of them like pureed clam chowder, would make the list.  These recipes are directed at the care-givers, because the hardest part about being a caregiver is trying in vain to get a loved one to eat.

Most of the recipes, I’m writing about, make 3-6 cups of food, and require mixing in additional ingredients.  However, there is a whole group of survivors that have to eat every two hours, and you need something on hand that is ready to go, because if they get a cup of food down their throat – it is a good day.

When I was first going through radiation treatment in 2010, I was lucky to get down a 1/2 cup of pureed soup down my throat every 2 hours.  It was not a happy time for my caregivers.

This summer, I was one of them, again.  I was with my family on vacation, and it was the nadir week for my radiation recovery.  Nadir week happens about 3-4 weeks after the last radiation treatment.  You are losing weight rapidly because your body is in overdrive to repair the radiation damage, and you have absolutely no appetite to eat anything.  Unless someone is on top of it, you could go for days without eating.  

There is a pink goo called “lidocaine magic mouthwash” which is a mixture of lidocaine, Maalox, and Benadryl.  One spoonful of this, and your mouth and throat are numb for 15 minutes.  The goal is to get as much food down the throat before the pain comes back. 

Nearly any soup with chunks in it can be pureed down to a drinkable form.  Some of my favorites include:

Minestone

Clam Chowder

Lobster Bisque

Creamy of Mushroom, chicken, potato

Broccoli and cheddar

Split pea

Chicken and rice soup
Chicken Noodle

I usually had three or four in the refrigerator at a time.  Different times called for different soups.  My son said that living with a cancer patient was like living with a pet bear, you didn’t know in what mood they were going to wake up.  One minute tomato based soups are fine, the next minute not.  Clam chowder was great for two meals, now the bear can’t stand the smell of it.

WARM TO HOT
The key to soup is small amounts swapped out regularly to keep it warm to hot.  I was usually given a half cup of soup, and then it was swapped out for a warm cup every fifteen to thirty minutes - regardless of how much and drank, and with no comment.  Keeping a caregivers mouth shut is hard to do, because you care so much.  As as a mean and ugly survivor, I can tell you that anything you say will be taken in the worse way possible.  Save all comments until you take way the soup for the final time.

SIPPING VS. CHUGGING

CONTAINER CHOICES

I don’t recommend buying “canned soups” for the survivor who can’t eat much, it will break your heart- too much mixing and prepping.  Instead, buy one of two package styles boxed soups, or plastic resealable pint containers.

BOXED SOUPS

Most grocery stores carry at least one brand of boxed soup.   Typically, they are the creamy butternut squash, carrot puree, or split pea variety.  The beauty of these soups is that you can pour out as little as you need, and then seal the container.  The box soups are always ready and waiting, and only need about one minute to prep.  Secondarily, you can pour, heat, and serve.  I found these very comforting in the evening and at night.  Oh yes I said at night.  When I was at my nadir, I would wake up in the middle of the night to take my meds, and I could easily pour myself a cup of soup to swallow my pills, instead of a glass of water which had no calories.

With my first cancer, I tried to sip soup off a spoon.  With my second cancer, I realized if I can just chug the soup I can get the food down the throat.  I recommend making the soup thin enough to drink. Remember the goal is to get as much food down the throat.

PLASTIC RESEALABLE PINT CONTAINERS

These are usually the large chunk soups like chicken soup, clam chowder, or minestrone.  Many grocery stores now have a “made in-store” soup area.  Many restaurant chains also provide their soups for sale in grocery stores and wholesale clubs - personally, I love the Legal Seafood and Panera brands. 

For these soups, I recommend pouring the entire soup into the blender, giving the soup a good puree, and then putting it back into the original container.  When it comes time to serve the soup, water them down to the correct thickness by just whisking them in a cup.

NEIGHBOR’S SOUPS

Between friends and neighbors, I had a steady supply of soups.  For those friends and family who want to help and are not sure how – soup is the way to go.  Everyone makes at least one great soup.   From big pots of chicken and rice, to traditional chicken matzo ball soup, to proportioned frozen soups my friend, Sue Broderick, made me. 

Sue’s minestrone soup was the first soup I used for experiments.  Turns out you can hide a lot of healthy things in pureed minestrone – leafy greens, pea protein, sausage, even turmeric.  Although I can’t have tomato based soups that often.  This is still a go-to soup for me.

COMMENTS

Please add your comments and suggestions to my blog.  Nice to see people from around the globe reading my blog.  Please follow you want the latest recipes.

FACEBOOK
I have created a companion page on Facebook called: 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors.  Sometimes it is easier to share a FB page than send a blog address.

2010 First round of Chemo and Radiation

Example of a tetra boxed soup

My Second Recipe -Frank and Beans (PICNIC) -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My second recipe for the new cookbook - Franks and Beans

Over the summer, one of the scariest things for people who need to eat pureed food, is that picnic and summer outing which can be a nightmare.  Nothing looks puree-friendly.  I went to an outing in New Hampshire at my friend, Sue Alexander’s place.  She welcomed me with opened arms, and the first thing out of her mouth was – “I have a blender in the kitchen for you.”  YIPPPPPEEEEE.

While I was there, I also experimented with other classics like pasta salad, potato salad, and Chips and cheese sauce.  Pasta salad purees well, but can be rather neutral on the “satisfying the soul meter”.  I can drink a couple of cups of frank and beans, but more than a cup of pasta salad is more than enough.

If you are having an all-day event, potato salad is the perfect dish to add to the meal.  Potato salad has the same level of enjoyment as Frank and Beans, but it lacks protein and is a little harder to use to hide other healthy ingredients.  Remember that potatoes soak up a lot of water.

The most surprising food of the day was corn chips and cheese dip.  No they weren’t pureed.  The chips were the extra-large chips, so I could smother a corner with cheese and take a small bite.  I don’t have an issue with swallowing which allowed me to take small bites – about ten bites per chip.  YUM – lots of cheese with a little bit of corn chip.  I recommend keeping a beverage on hand in case a sharp piece of chip gets stuck in the mouth or throat.  Three corn chips was quite an adventure in eating.  It might have taken at hour but was well worth it.

RECIPE

1 hot dog

1 medium can of baked beans

Shot of yellow mustard

2 tablespoons molasses

1 can of water (or more)

Puree until smooth

I love this recipe.  The nice thing is there is a huge variety of “Franks” – beef, pork, chicken, turkey, tofu, nitrate-free . . .  Most of the issues with turkey dogs and tofu dogs is texture – pureeing solves this.  I love my beef dogs roasted on the grill so there is a nice smoky flavor.  I cook up an entire package and keep the rest chilled in the refrigerator.   The color and the aroma are pure summer-time. 

Beans also come in many shape and sizes too.  I have discovered that I cannot eat vegetarian baked beans – not that they taste bad, but my daughter will eat them all before I have a chance to get any. So now I buy both vegetarian and pork beans.  (Update Feb. 22, 2017 - I have to hide the vegetarian beans so my daughter will not eat them as soon as they come home.)

This is one of the best recipes for hiding healthy extra ingredients like pea protein powder.  Green leafy vegetables make a great add-in too.  You will be surprised how well turmeric goes with frank and beans.

WARNING

The two big issues with this recipe are the molasses and yellow mustard.  Yellow mustard, does give a nice aroma, but can have more of a “bite” than you might expect.  Molasses has the “sugar” issue, but I am a fan of molasses.  Molasses can also overwhelm the favor.  Yes, I have added to much molasses, but just once.  

Update: A member of my support group told me he tried the recipe without the mustard, after three bites, his mouth was on fire.  He thinks it was the hot dog.

Summer time Picnic

COMMENTS
Please add your comments and suggestions to my blog.  Nice to see people from around the globe reading my blog.  Please follow you want the latest recipes.

FACEBOOK
I have created a companion page on Facebook called: 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors.  Sometimes it is easier to share a FB page than send a blog address.

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