My Fifty-third - Organic Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Fifty-third -  Organic Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup

WOW, who doesn't love chicken noodle soup, well I take that back - I have vegetarians in the house.  But I remember it going up,  snowy days, rainy days, early summer swimming get yourself to cold days - Nothing like a hot soup on a rainy day.  These new soups come in a tetra box instead of a can, (which my wife really likes - she worry about BPA)  I like that they are available on Amazon.com.

TETRA BOX
I buy a number of foods in tetra boxes because they are easier to store in the refrigerator, than say 1/2 a tin can.  It is also easier to use a knife of scissors to put it than working a can opener.
Finally, the rectangular design makes it easier to store in the pantry

I never would have believed that Campbell's would jump on the organic bandwagon, but they have so many soups that I wished were in tetra boxes.  My daughter is very picky about the tomato soup flavors.  I'm sure that Campbell's has a tomato soup version. They currently have a tomato and basil version . . . we'll see.

PUREE

So, everything in the box is soft so it will puree well.  You will have to add additional water or it will come out to thick.   Add hot water if you want it to be warmer

INSTEAD OF BROTH

I have been using it instead of chicken broth.  Just today I made a butternut squash soup in the blender by adding roast squash from last night's dinner.

My wife likes that it is in a tetra box and not a can

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My Fifty-second - Chicken Fajitas or fish burrito - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Fifty-second -  Chicken Fajitas or fish burrito

Relay for Life had a fund raiser at our local Margarita's restaurant last Wednesday night.  Now normally going to a restaurant is a problem, because you can only have a pureed soup.  But this was an important fundraiser.  Typically, I politely sit with everyone, and don't eat anything - I'm just there for the company.  This time my wife was working late, so I decided to pick her up some food to go.

She is a pescetarian, so I had two choices - Vegetarian burrito or fish burrito.  Both puree very well, because a soft taco works well pureed.

When the meals came out, they were a lot larger than the high school girl expected, so I was offered some chicken fajitas to put in my to-go bag.

CHICKEN FAJITAS

Chicken, soft cooked peppers, and soft tacos.  A winning combination for the blender.  Since I've had a lot of luck pureeing steak and pork, you can option those two as well.  I usually add black beans or Spanish rice to thicken up the puree.   Yes, you can blend in a virgin margarita.

FISH BURRITO

WHO KNEW!!!  I use to like fish tacos, but the hard taco shell is tough to blend unless to soak the taco shells, but still you might have to worry about hard chucks in a G-tube.  If you are sipping it, much less of a problem.  This recipe is a lot like a Spanish version of fish chowder.  Because the black beans and rice are already rolled in the burrito, you have a great complete meal.  When I brought the two burritos home, my wife opted for the vegetarian burrito and devoured the whole thing, so I had the fish burrito the next day.

The biggest issue with a burrito, is that you have to add a lot of water, so you are making an entire pitcher of pureed burrito, so plan to have about three to four meals out of it.

VEGETARIAN BURRITO

Great option because it allows you to add your own meat as needed.  Gives you a little more variety to your pitcher of burrito.

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My Fifty-first - Quiche - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My  Fifty-first -  Quiche  100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

OK, quiche might not have been on the top of your I CAN"T LIVE WITHOUT IT LIST.  But let me explain.

Last week, I was at the Boston Flower show, and I packed my Soylent and bolus funnel to have for my meal.  When I travel, I usually don't bring my puree in case there is a chunk that gets stuck in my G-tube.  My friend, Linda, ordered a slice of quiche for lunch.  As I was watching her eat it, it dawned on me that it is really just a pre-made scrabbled eggs in a soft pie crust.

For most people, the issue with quiche is the texture.  However, if we are going to puree it, we don't have to worry about that.

I love having poached eggs pureed for breakfast.  You have so many options to mix into it for flavoring.  One of the issues is you have to mix in a starch, like hash browns, to keep the eggs from settling to the bottom of the cup.

The major problem with making breakfast eggs, is that it takes time, and you make a lot of dirty dishes.  Quiche can be quickly pulled from the refrigerator, add some hot water to the blender, and puree it right up.  There is usually just enough pie crust to hold the eggs in suspension.  Because it is actually a custard, it purees a lot easier that fried eggs.

Most supermarkets carry a wide variety of quiches -  Lorraine, broccoli, etc.

My recommendation it to buy a plain quiche, and then add a little pre-cooked meat or vegetable piece.  I typically pick up a couple of pieces of bacon from the supermarket breakfast bar, and keep them in the refrigerator for just this reason.

RECIPE:

1 Slice of Quiche
Add water or coffee to thin

(the nice thing is you can slice it as small as you want.)

Whole Foods even has goat milk quiches

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My Fiftieth - Ham Sandwich - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Fiftieth -  Ham Sandwich

1 ham sandwich with white bread

I watch a lot of HGTV and recently Fixer Upper has been driving me nuts.  No, it has nothing to do with shiplap, it has to do with Chip constantly asking for a ham sandwich.  Hearing Chip ask Joanna for a ham sandwich was just too much for me not to try and make a pureed version of a ham sandwich.

Oh man, I use to love a White Pen Pantry ham salad sandwich.   I'm so sorry they closed in 2013.  Sure there is nothing healthy about a ham salad sandwich, but remember, we are trying to make food to enjoy, not so much about healthy.  I put food down my g-tube every two hours, so I "EAT" about 6-7 times a day.  Taking one meal out and having a ham sandwich, is not a bad thing.

Right now, I'm baking oatmeal raisin cookies that I can't eat.  but I can puree one cup worth.  Everyone deserves a dessert every once in a while . . .

Ham is a pretty powerful flavor so it will over power pretty much everything you put in it - except maybe pickles.

I recommend white bread, because I am only using the bread as a thickener to keep the ham from setting to the bottom.

My favorite recipe is:

2 slices of white bread
1 slice of ham  (spiral ham is best)
1 slice of Swiss cheese
2 sandwich slice pickle
1 leave of lettuce or equal amount of fresh spinach leaf (an acquired taste)
1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
hot water to control thickness


PUREEING
I like this because it is easy to portion control.  My version make a two cup version.

if you are using a g-tube, puree the ingredients without the mayo.  You need to make sure the ham and cheese puree small enough to get down the tube.  After you puree on high, add the mayo and blend on low to keep the puree from creating lots of foam.


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.