My Forty-Fifth - Chicken Pot Pie - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Forty-Fifth - Chicken Pot Pie

I had a huge shopping trip this week because it will not be above freezing for the whole week, and there is a foot snow storm at the end of the week.  Totally inspires me to stay indoors and over work the oven.

Mid-January is the right time of year for the pre-made Chicken Pot Pies to show up at the supermarket.  We are halfway between Christmas Feasting and Mardi Gras Feasting.

Trust me, I don't have the ability to create a perfect Chicken Pot Pie.  Sure, I can make a chicken and dumplings like my mom made; and my wife is known for her chicken soup with matzo balls; however, creating that wonderful crust of a chicken pot pie is beyond my joy of cooking

RECIPE 1 individual Chicken Pot Pie cooked to a golden brown


PUREEING
The issue with chicken pot pie is there is a lot of pie crust.  So that which makes it awesome is also that which makes it a very hard to puree.  So I add extra chicken stock as a thinner.

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My Forty-Fourth - Stuffed Peppers - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Forty-Fourth - Stuffed Peppers

The title is far more bland than the real opportunities.  For example, stuffing a pepper with Sloppy Joe  mixture is a most amazing option.  The biggest issue with a lot of sandwich options there is to much bread to puree.  Many of the hot sandwich options will work if you don't use the top of the sandwich.  So, stuffed Pepper is really a hot sandwich.

Part of our favorite Comfort foods is the memories them bring back.  What boy doesn't like a good hot Sloppy Joe in the winter.

Favorite recipe is from Betty Crocker.  So what I have done is pared it down to a one serving option.


1 Large Green Pepper
1/4 pound of meat (one veggie burger is a great substitute - I personally prefer ground Lamb)
1/2 a medium Onion
2 Tablespoons Rice
2 Tablespoons "Spaghetti" sauce (use your favorite tomato based sauce)
sprinkle of Mozzarella Cheese


BOILING THE PEPPER
This is actually pretty important because it softens pepper.  When it comes time to puree the pepper skin needs to be very fine if it is going down the G-tube.  If you are drinking it, it depends on your throat abilities.

VEGGIE BURGER
Now, now my daughter is the fan of veggie burgers and the first one I made for her, she complemented me with her mouth full - that is about as good as it gets.  Most veggie burgers already have rice in the burger, so you may not need as much rice.

RICE
Rice is the thickening agent.

STUFFING
So any tomato ground meat will work as a stuffing - including taco stuffing.  But now that I have successfully made two styles.  I think you can move off and try non-tomato based ground meat.  My mom use to make a hamburger and rice using CAMPBELL'S® CLASSIC CREAM OF MUSHROOM.

PUREEING
Need to reiterate that when pureeing the pepper for a G-tube that you need to make sure that you grind the pepper skin very very fine

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My Forty-Third - Salmon Salad - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Forty-Third - Salmon Salad

I'm the type of guy who will get a Christmas Song stuck in my head in the middle of July.  Same goes with Salmon Salad recipe.  Why else would I come up with a cold Recipe in the middle of Winter?

Favorite recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa. There is also a Thai Salmon recipe which is nice.

Salmon

Greens

COOKING

The reason I like the Barefoot Contessa's recipe is that it just says to use "cooked salmon".  My wife is a huge fan of cooked salmon, so there is always some extra salmon sitting in the refrigerator.  I typically season the salmon plainly with either home-grown dill or cilantro, so turning it into a salmon salad is a piece of cake. I am also noticing that more supermarkets are now carrying precooked salmon as well.  This is fine with me, because we are going to puree it, so it doesn't matter how dried out the salad might be.

SALAD

Since salmon has a lot of favor, you can go more adventuresome with your choice of greens.  I find iceberg lettuce as too bla.  I usually start at the other end of the spectrum and pair it with kale or spinach.

CROUTONS

Croutons are great for thickening up the puree.

SALAD VEGETABLES

All standard salad vegetables are open for pureeing

This recipe was a request on the Facebook page.

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My Forty-Second - Chili con Bison - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Forty-Second - Chili con Bison

Oh yes I cook with ground Bison.  Chili con Carne was always a favorite growing up with my seven brothers and sisters.  When you have to feed that many you generally have to make a neutral spice so you can please everyone.  Now normally, I assume everyone knows how to make the dish, and I am just adapting it it being pureed.  But today, I'll give you my personal and favorite Chili con Bison recipe.

6 Dec. 2016 Update - about a month ago, my son called me from college to make sure he had the recipe down pat, as he was making it for friend who were coming over - I'll call that a win.

1 lb ground bison ( I've used ground beef, ground chicken, and ground dark turkey meat)
1/2 cup oil
1 Zucchini diced
1 white onion diced
1 green pepper diced
1 small can of tomato paste
1 large can of ground tomatoes (sometimes I substitute a jar of mild salsa)
1 cup cooked rice
1 can of beans (black beans, navy beans, kidney beans - anyone of them work)
1 tablespoon mild chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon spicy chili powder ( chipotle spice works too)
3 Bay leaves
2 teaspoon garlic salt

COOKING
Heat oil on medium heat.  After oil heats up, add onions and cook until is starts to brown.  Then add peppers, and cook for 1 minute.  Add Zucchini diced and cook until in starts to get tender and browns.

Add Bison and mix while cooking until meat is cooked through.  Add all spices and cook for 5 minutes.  Add both cans of tomatoes, lower heat to lowest setting and cook until rice is done

In a separate container cook one cup of rice.  then add to chili.

WHY BISON?
I like a meat with a lot of flavor and low on fat.  Beefaloes might be easier to find in some supermarket. My wife has asked me to cut down the amount of red meat I eat, but I am allowed to get better cuts of meat. I find bison purees very well.  It is second only to ground lamb.

I used to live in Traverse City, Michigan.  Just down hill from the Junior High was the largest buffalo farm east of the Mississippi.  This is how I first learned of Bison meat.  My cousins and uncles are life long deer hunters, and this chili also works with venison.

SPICE
Yes this sounds very spicy, but it is really is more of a flavorful recipe. If you are sensitive to spicy foods, you can easily pare down the spiciness.

VEGETARIAN or in my house CHILI NADA CARNE
Yes I do make two different pots of chili at my house - one with meat and one without. I typically use zucchini only; I have made the recipe with both eggplant and tofu.

OPTIONS
Is you can drink this, you can add shredded cheese.  I generally don't put shredded cheese down my G-tube.

A dollop of Sour cream or plain yogurt are easy to stir in.

TYPICAL MEAL FROM LEFTOVERS
most recently I will take one cup of cold leftover chili from the refrigerator, and one slice of cheddar cheese and two cups of hot water to the blender.  The cold of the chili and the hot of the water negate each other.

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My Forty-first - Lobster Feast - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Forty-first  -  Lobster Feast


1 unit lobster tail
1 red boiled potato
1/2 shucked boiled corn
butter
cream
boiling broth

optional
3 steamed clams


Here it is Christmas Eve and I'm thinking about Christmas in France where I understand that lobster is traditionally served for Christmas.  I thought with today being the warmest Christmas Eve on record in parts of New England, what better than to make today's recipe a Lobster Feast.  70 degrees in Boston, and I would have gone to the beach for a lobster feast too.

When you think about it there are three recipes that you can combine to make a tasty meal - Lobster Bisque, corn chowder, and Potato Leeks soup.  If you read up on these three soups, you can see some commonality

LOBSTER
A good New England lobster is perfect, especially right off the docks.  Although, I said only the tail up above, if you are not warn out, you can use claws and legs.

RED BOILED POTATO
If you are not from New England you might not have heard of red potatoes, but any hipster supermarket should carry them.  Around here they are every where and more people use them than the standard russet potato.  You can use purple potatoes but the color of the meal takes a sinister color change.

CORN
Corn is always a staple of a lobster feast, so take your boiled corn cob break it in half and then cut all the kernels off.  Remember that when you puree that the kernels need to be pureed a little longer than normal.

CREAM AND BUTTER
A MUST!  Especially if your doctor is looking for you to put on weight.  I would love some French Butter and cream, seconded only by Irish cream and butter.

BOILING BROTH
You only need this to thin out the puree as needed

CLAMS
Steamed clams are an acquired taste so I left them as optional.  I also want to taste the lobster more so I recommend making two different batches - one with just clams and one with just lobster.

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My Fortieth - Feast of the Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Fortieth  -  Feast of the Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve

1 unit lobster

or

1 unit white fish

use bisque or chowder base

If you ever get a chance to go to a Feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve - DO IT!  In the Boston area, this is a pretty common holiday.  However, it wasn't until my wife and I moved to Rhode Island that we got invited to a gift from heaven feast.  The Italians in RI know seafood.  It would be a shame for someone to miss this feast because they couldn't chew food.

The key is to make small batches (less than a cup) and wash the blender out immediately after blending.  Remember you may be making 7 cups of dishes, and the blender dries out quicker than you think, because you should enjoy the party too.

LOBSTER

Lobster linguine can easily be pureed into a Lobster Bisque.  I like to add a little extra butter . . . it's Christmas, add the extra butter.  I'm not against adding a little white wine.

BAKED COD

Baked Cod can easily be turned into a fish chowder by adding cream, and either pasta or potatoes (depending on what you have already cooked.

DEEP FRIED CALAMARI

 Fried dishes were well pureed.  You just have to add liquid, and puree a lot longer because squid and octopus are very firm.  

Remember the key is to think about inclusion as you make each dish.  For every fish, there is a soup alternative.

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My Thirty-Ninth - Potato Latkes - 100 Meals Pureed - Recipes for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

My Thirty-Ninth Potato Latkes


1 unit potato latke
1 dash of apple sauce for sweetness
1 dash of sour cream
hot water for right consistency

Last night, we had the family gather for Hanukkah, but we didn't serve a full dinner.  Sometimes just getting the family together is more important than having a full flung meal.  For dessert you can puree rugelach and milk.  It's the holidays, do something fun.


POTATO LATKE
Although, I was prepared to make potato latkes, my children are now older and the allure of grating potatoes and onions is lost.  Instead, the Ladies picked them up at Whole Foods - which I will admit are pretty tasty.  This year, I realized that pureed latkes are really potato soup.  Why mess up a good thing.  I actually like potato soup, which is why I'm posting a second meal with latkes.

In the cold of winter, when there is snow coming down, a cup of hot soup is just the right thing.  When you have lost a little taste in your mouth, potato soup is a nice alternative.

APPLESAUCE AND SOUR CREAM
These are really to taste.  The great thing is that they both can be added after the pureeing process and mixed in.  I like a lot of sour cream, so don't be shy.

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