My One Hundred and Third - Sashimi -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

My One Hundred and Third - Sashimi -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

 "Consuming raw or under-cooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of food-borne illness."

If you have any concerns about raw food skip down to POACHING. 

NO REALLY, love of food should not make you ill.

My wife and I, typically, went out for anniversary dinner to eat sushi and sashimi.  When we order out we order the same couple of fish every time, so the anniversary was the time to try new fish.

When my children were old enough to cook, they would make my wife and I a "seven course Valentine's dinner", which would also include sushi.  Sushi started on the menu, because when they were really young we did not have confidence in their cooking skills.  Also, they never told us what was on the menu, they just don't me which ingredients to purchase.  If I ask you to try something new, I should be willing to do the same.

I could have called this one "Sushi".  However, sushi rolls are problematic.  Especially. if you need to poach them as they fall apart horribly in the hot water. If you are going raw, you can use sushi nori rolls.  Different sushi chefs use varying ratios of protein to rice . . . use what you like.

Sashimi is just raw fish (and other seafood).  They are soft and easy to puree.  However, you need to build a "sushi-version in order to puree

SIMPLE RECIPE

1 Unit sashimi

2 Units cooked rice

1/2-unit ginger or picked ginger

one packet of soy sauce - (we always have extra packets in the refridge.)

thin with tea

OPTION

Wasabi to taste - go light

seaweed to taste

FISH

My three favorites are Salmon, Tuna, and Mackerel. All three are very soft and do not take long to puree, and easy to purchase at H Mart.  You can choose your favorite fish from your favorite Sushi Restaurant.

ROE

Fish eggs are a great replacement for salt and add a great fish flavor.

SEAFOOD

There are other versions of seafood that you can use, like squid, octopus, or scallops.  Just make sure that you purchase SUSHI quality seafood.  Shrimp is most often served cooked.

GINGER

We are used to eating picked ginger with our sashimi.   However, I always have ginger and turmeric in the house (since they are both good anti-cancer foods), so I leave the pickled ginger for my wife, and add fresh ginger to the blender.  A dash of turmeric isn't a bad idea.  I hide this message down here so the sashimi purist won't hunt me down.

SOY SAUCE

You can use a bottle of say sauce or tamari sauce; however, if your house is like mine you have a stash of leftover soy sauce packets in the refrigerator for all the Chinese food takeout orders.

POACHING

If you have ANY concerns at all - poach the sashimi.  Make sure that you cook the seafood all the way through.  Which is pretty easy because the pieces are small enough to cook all the way through.  The nice thing about poaching is that you can't OVER-COOK the fish.  I bring the water to a roaring boil and add the fish.  When the water returns to a hard boil.  I cook it for one more minute, and then use a screen to "fish" the pieces out of the water and add them to the blender.  If you use sushi rolls, everything with dissolve in the water and make a mess.

I have an H Mart nearby which sells both whole and sashimi pieces

COMMENTS

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FACEBOOK

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Seasoned to burp -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Seasoned to Burp -100 Meals You Never Thought You Would Eat Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer patients

Aftertaste is a key to eating and healing.  Many cancer treatment survivors lose their taste during treatment.  The types of flavors lost is as varied as the number of patients.  The duration of taste-lost is just as varied.  

For those who are getting most of their nutrition through a tummy tube, lip sipping is more about taste than it is about nutrition. A good after-taste will entice them back to sip again.

Some foods are actually found to be repulsive.  What is important to know is that this just happens, and does not reflect on you as a loved one nor a chef.

Just roll with it.

Below are some flavors that tend to last a longtime in the form of burps ( in no particular order)

BACON
This is not a meat, nor is it a protein.  It is a flavoring.  You will never hit your protein goals with bacon.

CINNAMON
One of the most powerful flavors there are.  Sometimes the flavor is intensified during treatment.  Some days it was the only flavor I could taste.

LEMON
Especially, pureed lemon rind or lemon zest.  I found this flavor very refreshing when eating was boring

COCOA
One of my favorite nighttime flavors.  Especially Ghirardelli dark cocoa.  But being from San Fran. it is a personal thing

PEANUT
Particularly peanut-butter.  The only issue is that I got peanut-butter overload in all of my smoothies

CHILI POWDER
I added this a lot to anything with rice.  Still do

TANDOORI
Wonder spice blend.  I love it with chickpeas.

CURRY
Oh Yea.  I would have this once or twice a month for a change of pace, especially with raisins.

CILANTRO
Fresh cilantro would stay with me a long time.  Some people hate it so be careful

BANANA
Banana tends to overwhelm all flavors except cinnamon.  I grew so tired of bananas I can not tell you how glad I was that bananas burned my mouth so I didn't have to eat them again

BBQ
I put that sh*t on everything.  Sorry I stole the slogan, but I couldn't use hot sauce.

FISH
Not only do the odors linger in the house, they linger in the belly  

Let me could what other flavors I should add.

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.

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

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

As a 7 years cancer survivor, I have had a lot of experience with protein powders.  When going through cancer treatment the number one job is to retain weight.  The number two job is to do it "healthily" . . . Weight loss is a major reason for cancellation of cancer treatment.  It is also a leading reason care-givers fight with cancer treatment patients. Been there, done that.

Yes, my son and daughter have a number of horror stories about dad ignoring mom, and then they have to step in and make sure that I got as much food in my belly as possible.  Patients love/hate spouses being caregivers as much as caregiver spouses love/hate their spouse has cancer.

I'm not going to preach about why one protein is better than another protein.  There are more than enough social media sites that will piss you off telling you how you are BAD BAD BAD for not using the right type of protein powder. . .

I'm here to talk about "taste".  Most proteins do not have much of a taste, but they do have long-term after-taste.  I'll talk about which powders I use, with which meals, so there is a better blend of taste and aftertaste.

The number one thing to think of is - "DOES THE MEAL ALREADY CONTAIN THAT FLAVOR?"

In the USA, protein powders are ubiquitous.  They are available through supermarkets, drugstores, health food stores, online and through personal consultants ( like Arbonne, Juice Plus, or Shakology).  It is important to read the labels to see which ones are right for you.

In no particular order:

SHAKE POWDER
WARNING - I throw the warning on here, because many protein powders on the market are "whey shake" powders or "soy shake" powders and have a lot of added sugars, so check the labels. Most cancer treatment dietitians request a diet low in sugars.  Don't even get started on a conversation on cutting down on sugars during cancer treatment . . .  everyone has an opinion.  I'm just saying not all protein powders are "protein only".

VANILLA PROTEIN POWDER
It doesn't matter what the protein powder is made of, once they add "vanilla flavor" it becomes the dominate flavor in the puree.  Any meal that you would normally add vanilla extract to, is a candidate for vanilla-flavored powder - Pigs in a Blanket, or Strawberry Waffles. 

CHOCOLATE PROTEIN POWDER
Like vanilla-flavored, chocolate is a powerful flavoring.  Especially if it a cheap or artificial chocolate.  I usually add this to smoothies instead of meals.  The exception is chili.  Chocolate goes well with chili nachos.

PEA PROTEIN
Great to add to vegetable heavy meal.  Anything with peas or dark beans seems to work well - Chicken Pot Pie, or Bangers and Mash.
  

HEMP PROTEIN
It started out as my little protest that Dana Farber would not prescribe cannabis as an option to pain relief for cancer treatment, because of federal USA laws.  But now, I use it regularly because it taste good in purees.  Anything that has "cabbage" or spinach is a good pureed meal - Eggs Benedict w/ spinach, Sole Florentine, or Roasted Vegetables

 SOY MILK POWDER
My soy milk helps calm my tummy when it is upset - but that just the way I work. this is the only one that I use indiscriminately.  Although, I take offense to the term "milk" - you don't milk cows the same way you milk soybeans. 

BUTTERMILK POWDER
I like buttermilk in my  Pigs in a Blanket, or Strawberry Waffles.  Any place where you would use cream or cheese as a thickener you can add buttermilk powder - Fish Chowder, Lasagna, or Au Gratin Potatoes.

GOAT MILK POWDER
I got this originally because my daughter prefers lactose-free dairy.  I don't always have carton of goat milk or lactose-free milk in the refrigerator.  I substitute this instead of buttermilk powder when I make Strawberry Waffles for the both of us (like I did this morning).

WHEY POWDER
It's dairy.  Yup, just dairy.  If you added dairy to the meal, you can add whey protein. I almost left this off the list, because it is nearly impossible to find powder that hasn't been flavored with vanilla, chocolate or sugar.

VEGAN PROTEIN POWDER
This is one of the easiest of all. Typically, on the package they will proudly go into depth on the front advertising what vegetables they used to create the "plant formula" - broccoli, kale, spinach, alfalfa juice, etc. So add it to any meal that you have already added these vegetables - Falafel, Sole Florentine, or  Roasted Vegetables

NUT FLOUR
Sometimes protein-type powders goes under a different name.  A lot of "Nut flours" have a lot of protein.  They make a good substitute in a puree that need a nutty flavor.  The flour is great to use if you do not have a powerful blender.  My personal favorite in almond flour.

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.