My Thirty-Eighth - Guacamole Nachos - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Thirty-Eighth Guacamole Nachos


1 unit Guacamole (or avocado and garlic)
1 unit mild salsa (or diced tomatoes and cilantro)
1 unit frozen corn (or soaked corn chips)
1 pinch cheddar cheese

I was at a Halloween party last night, and I didn't bring my G-tube supplies because I "ate" just before I went over.   However, while I was there we were gathered in the kitchen chatting, and I had the guacamole dip sitting right in front of me.  The kids kept coming up and dipping chips, and then they would run off.  There was always a fresh wiff of avocados.  I thought to myself - that is the secret ingredient I need to make pureed nachos.

My wife has been trying to get me to eat avocados again because of they are packed with nutrition.

CORN CHIPS
Corn chips are problematic because it takes so long for them to get soft.   Caregivers don't always have the time to so soak the corn chips in water to soften them up for the blender.  If you don't have the time use frozen corn.  If you use blue corn chips the color of the blend is a little unusual.

AVOCADOS
I recommend blending fresh avocados into your guacamole, because even mild guacamole tends to be a little spicy.  It you are at all concerned about spiciness - just use avocado and garlic)

MILD SALSA
This is where we tread into murky waters.  HOW MILD IS MILD?  Most patients have a sensitivity to spicy foods.  If you are at all concerned about spice, just dice tomatoes and cilantro.  Skip the onions too.   Remember we want this to be enjoyable.  If you have to eat pureed foods, you probably have an issue washing spiciness from your mouth.  Don't chance it.

CHEESE
Cheese is just for a little flavor - you don't need that much.


MEAT
Once you have discovered the proper mix of spices, you can add little bits of ground beef, shredded chicken, pulled pork, or over meats.  I know someone want to add rattlesnake.

NEWLY DISCOVERED PROBLEM
You might have to fight your daughter for the freshest avocados.  Tonight, we split the last one 50/50.

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My Thirty-Seventh - Veggie pizza - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Thirty-Seventh veggie pizza


1 unit pizza - no outside crust
extra red sauce
extra cooked veggies

or

1 hot rolls mix or pre made uncooked pizza dough
Marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce
veggies like olives, onions, and peppers
meat
cheese
lots of water


For a year, I have been trying to figure out how to make a good pureed pizza.  My family has been making homemade pizza for generations.  It wasn't until the other night that I finally figured how to make a good pureed version.  My wife is not a fan of pizza dough, and will gladly steal extra sauce and topping when she can.  I had made a pizza for my wife and daughter to eat when they got home, because I was going to the high school for a TED Talk.  When I came home half the pizza dough/crust was still there.  WOW THAT'S IT!  Skip the crust, and extra sauce and veggies.

There is enough crust under a piece of pizza you don't need the extra crust.  You do need extra veggies to add flavor.  The meat and sauce would otherwise overwhelm everything.


TOO MUCH CHEESE!?!
I've been asked about cheese being too sticky for G-tubes.  My experience is that if the cheese is not too hot it doesn't stick to the tubing.  Secondarily, it doesn't take much cheese to add flavor.  Cheese and tomato sauce can overwhelm any recipe.  Which is why it took me so long to come up with a good pizza recipe.  Most nutritionist will tell you that you don't need much cheese in your diet to remain healthy.  I agree.  In these recipes, you only need enough cheese to retain that pizza flavor.

OLIVES AND PEPPERS AND ONIONS
These three and great flavor to a pizza puree

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Supermarket food bars - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

A dozen years ago, I read a great article about using salad bars to purchase items that you only need a couple of them for a meal, and not a whole jar or can.  Sometimes you only need a couple of olives . . .

Last year, when I could drive, I would pick up my daughter from dance in the next town over.  Before I get her, I would pick her up a salad, and most importantly I would top it with "baby corn".   There is no way I would bring a jar home, because baby corn for one salad a week would take forever to use.  If we made a salad every night with baby corn, we would be bored of it soon enough.    So I use the fresh baby corn on the salad bar.

Nowadays, supermarkets have gone beyond the salad bar to full food bars.  The beauty, for us with pureed food issues, is that you can purchase small premade meals.   Most homemade recipes are designed for multiple people, and if you are reading this, you are probably already bored with your food options and you want to be able to change up your meals everyday - just like everyone else.

Many of the food bars also give you the option of international food.  International give you a great break from the bland, because supermarkets tend to over spice these foods because they have to sit in the tray for a couple of hours and still taste good when they come home.

For care-givers it also cuts down on prep time.  One of the toughest commercials for me to watch are the Nationwide commercials with Peyton Manning.  When I see that Chicken Parmigiana sandwich, I WANT ONE SO BADLY.  It takes a lot of effort to make a chick-parm, but to be able to purchase a puree sized portion

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My Thirty-Sixth - Pot Roast - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Thirty-Sixth recipe for the new cookbook - Pot Roast

What was I thinking?  One of the classic meals in America is Pot Roast with roasted carrots and potatoes.  My mom use to make a great pot roast, and the chilly weather outside makes me want it even more.  Pot Roast is also a family gathering food, so there is a good chance it will be served when there are a lot of people in the house.  You will be the envy of your friends and family as you add the extra gravy to the Vitamix blender.

The best part is that the meat, vegetables, and starch are cooked all the way through, which softens it up for the G-tube.

They say that bananas are the number 1 fruit bought at supermarkets as a spur of the moment item.  My number 1 item is Organic Carrots.  I seem to put carrots in everything, including my daughter's school lunch bag.  Carrots give a nice color to purees whether you are drinking it on pouring it down a G-tube.  Pot roast without the carrots looks more like a grey ooze which I have yet to see on Food Network as a popular option.

1 Unit Pot Roast

1-2 units Carrots and Potatoes

extra grease and gravy

OPTION

brown mustard

BROWN MUSTARD

If your Pot Roast gets boring after a couple of days, add a little brown mustard.  The brown mustard is very aromatic dash to the puree.

EXTRA GRAVY

For most people, extra gravy is a bad health option; however, most chemo/radiation patients are told to put on weight.  There are a lot of calories in this bad boy.   OK, your nutritionist is going to tell you there are better sources for nutrition.  I maintain that the only good nutrition is one that actually gets into your body, and there is a good probability that Pot Roast juices have a better chance of making into your belly, than coconut oil.  Save the coconut oil for the dessert smoothie.

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My Thirty-Fifth - apple crisp - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Thirty-Fifth  Apple crisp

It's apple picking season, and a noticed that a lot of my recipes are about dinner foods.  So I thought I'd take some time to talk about breakfast food.

Apple crisp or apple crumble works well in the pureed world.

1 unit apple crisp

or

1 organic honey crisp apple

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pancake mix

1/4 cup minute oatmeal

cinnamon


The beauty of most of the recipes that I see, is that there is a lot of fiber in this dish.  I like to keep the skin on my apples.  One of the changes you might want to do, is make your apple crisp and save the skins for pureeing.  At my house, it is only my daughter and I eating apple crisp so I make a double batch, she takes what she wants, and I puree the rest.

I still use corningware, so I place the corningware on the stove and melt the butter on low heat.  When the butter comes up to sizzle, I add the bits of apple and make sure to coat all of them.  I take it off the heat and lightly dust the rest of the ingredients over the apples, then give it a quick mix. I add another 1/4 cup of water to keep the butter from burning the bottom of the pan when I stick it in the oven.  Oh sure, it's not the prettiest dish and looks like something on BuzzFeed, but it taste great.


I pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for another 10 minutes or so.  When the timer goes off, I turn off the oven and let it sit until my daughter wakes up.  Gee, that sounds mean.  The truth is, I typically make it on the weekend; although, she sleeps in, my clock still has me waking up at 6:45 AM whether I like it or not.  To me, apple crisp is something you relax and eat, not wolf down and worry off to school.

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My Thirty-Fourth summer time picnic - beans; fried chicken; colesslaw

My Thirty-Fourth  summer time picnic baked beans; coleslaw; fried chicken;

Usually at a big family gathering there are a huge pots to choose from so here is how to break it down:

one scoop of beans - whether it is baked beans; 7 bean salad; etc

one scoop of cabbage salad which is usually in the form of coleslaw (8/15 new info - just discovered that fresh dill is great in store bought coleslaw.  It also gives a great burp )

one scoop fried chick (I prefer dark meat, but white meat is fine.  Make sure you leave the batter, but take out the bones

one scoop sweet dish - could be cranberry; could be ambrosia; or another fruit based dish

Bring you heavy duty blender because you are going to need to blend this smooth.  Bring you blend with about 3/4 foll with dishes and water.  You need to leave room at the top to build the foam which contacts at the stop.  You also don't want to overfill the blender so it can't puree well.

The dish will come out think which is better than too thin, because you can thin it out but you can't tighten it on the fly

SUBSTITUTES:   BBQ beans; corn-on-the-cob (shucked); taco fixings; meatballs; pasta salad

Be brave, be different.

You can make a dessert version with s'mores; milk; ice cream and birthday cake

FRESH CORN . . .  THIS WAY

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SPOS - G-tube and dealing with taking pills

Stomach Peg Original Soup™ SPOS - G-tube and dealing with taking pills

FIrst, I always check to see if there is a liquid or powder form.  I ask my doctor.  Then I ask my pharmacist.  Sometimes there are new formulas coming out that one of them doesn't know about

8/14/2018 UPDATE:  Dana Farber's computer system now has a huge range of medicine styles.  My doctors and nurses always are looking for liquid and powder forms.

Some of my medicines are unique and  are solids like pills that the doctors expect me to grind up and then pour them down my g-tube.  I have discovered that it is easier to boil water pour a cup of it into a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.  I then add the pills and allow them to dissolve in the water.  I let it sit about 30 minutes.  I have more time, than I do arm muscle.

I do check with my pharmacist to make sure that the hot water won't harm the effectiveness of medicine.  I was most concerned with antibiotics, and so far I have not had any issues with the medicines I take.

Once the medicines have dissolve.   I take  chilled puree like blueberry muffin puree from the refrigerator and add a cup to the pyrex measuring cup.  This evens out the temperature of the liquid. I stir it just to make sure the temp has evened out.

8/14/2018 UPDATE:  For  my vitamins like Vit. C, Magnesium Citrate, Thistle, and Turmeric, I just toss them in my Vitamix with my second breakfast.  Never had any problem with them pureed small enough to go down the tube. 


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