My Seventy-eighth - peanut butter and jelly sandwich PB&J -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My Seventy-eighth - peanut butter and jelly sandwich PB&J -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients.

APOLOGY

I need to apologize.  I started this blog and wanted to create of 100 meals that would inspire oral cancer survivors and others who thought because of cancer treatment they would never have their favorite foods again because they couldn't chew.  As I went on this journey, I thought about how I was very American cuisine centric, and hoped to add additional ethnic foods to the list.

This past weekend, my daughter metaphorically slapped me across the face and she didn't even know it.  We were at a group event being held a the grounds of an American Summer Camp.  It is a gathering of friends, and not a formal occasion, so she I will will help prepare food in the kitchen.

The Head Chef knows my daughter is a vegetarian, and that many of the others gathered there have food allergies, so she is well versed in handling special food request - like lactose intolerance, and gluten allergies.  When she asked my daughter if she was hungry, my daughter replied, “I really want a PB&J on white bread."  My daughter turned to me and smiled, "they have the peanut butter and jelly that mom won't let us buy."  On a side note, we never buy white bread either, because my wife doesn't eat bread, I usually don't puree bread, and that would leave my daughter to eat a whole loaf of bread before it goes bad.

And so I apologize to all the children who have been going through cancer treatment, that I have neglected to add only the most important meal you never thought you would eat pureed - peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread.

CONFESSION

I've never eaten a whole PB&J.  Not that I haven't tried.  I love peanut butter.  I love grape jelly.  I love white bread.  But I do not like the texture of the three together, and I do not like the way it sticks to the roof of my mouth.  Besides when you grow up with seven brothers and sisters, there are always other options for school luncheon sandwiches in the refrigerator.  I never had to force myself to like it.  And so, PB&J would never make my personal list of foods I miss.

RECIPE

one PB&J with the crust cutoff

one to two cups of milk

CRUST

OK, if we are going to add this recipe to the list, we are going to do it right - and the crust has to go.  The only reason you need the crust in a sandwich is to help scrape the PB&J off the roof of your mouth while chewing.  Since we are pureeing, that point is moot.  However, I will admit there are a group of people who love to eat the crust, so go ahead, I won't judge.

MILK

You have to have milk with a PB&J.  I've seen enough peanut butter commercials to know this.  And yes, this is a second confession, I have not tried this puree.  I just can't bring myself to making a puree for this - just being honest.  But I welcome the feedback.

Now the reason the amount of milk is so varied, is that, the amount of peanut butter you spread on the bread, matters.  Some people like a thin spread, some like a thick spread.

PEANUT BUTTER

Use creamy peanut butter, unless you are a lip sipper.  The small bits of chunky peanuts can clog a g-tube, unless you strain the puree

COMMENTS

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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.