Need Recipes/Ideas

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newbride
newbride Member Posts: 142
edited March 2014 in Caregivers #1
I'm running out of ideas for pureed foods. Anyone got good recipes? I made a turkey, spinach walnut mousse last night that my husband said was good - it was a nice change from all the cold smoothies he's been drinking.

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  • seanslove
    seanslove Member Posts: 70
    #2
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    food
    Don't laugh,but have you tried baby food? Full of nutrition and easy to get down? Next on my shopping list today.
  • SonSon
    SonSon Member Posts: 174
    #3
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    Food / Recipes
    My mother-in-law is not quite at the point of pureed foods - but getting there.

    I try to give her chew-less foods in the morning to give her medicine, because she has not put her teeth in, yet, at that time.

    Pudding,jello, yogurt, apple sauce - she now says she does not like it to all of them.

    Went to the hospital the other day and her doctor gave us an armful of samples of Boost, Ensure and Enlive - nutritionally enhanced drinks. With a little coaxing she is drinking these.

    If I come across any good recipes/ideas will pass them on.

    Fatima
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #4
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    ideas
    These are good ideas that others have posted. As one who has been there and done that in terms of not being able to swallow, I would strongly suggest checking out SASH's recommendation regarding the book (in the Head/Neck Cancer board). He is quite successful eating now, as I understand it (we had similar cancers but different treatments to some degree). He, as I recall, offered one suggestion. I will suggest that you explore ACS's resources. I think they may have a book section that includes a number of books on eating while more or less impaired.

    In the meantime, one respondent mentions Boost and Ensure among others. I have tried these and while they are tolerable, they would be even better in your blender with a bit of ice cream, you know?

    Yogurt is highly recommended, as it is not only fairly easy to get down, but also an excellent tool for the digestive system, a very healthy choice.

    There are of course various soups, tomato soup the standard, a number of 'cream of this or that' soups, but also things like broccoli soup that, with a good puree job are doable.

    It sounds as though you are trying to maintain a wide variety for hub, and I think this is both important and an awesome effort on your part!

    In my experience, very personal experience, he is likely, with some meals, to really enjoy them but then feel that he can only handle so much of them. I laughed til I cried when one guy spoke of running off to the restaurant to get a salmon dish his wife craved, only to have her take a couple of bites and be done with it :).

    It's part of what you, and he, will be enduring, at least in the short run.

    I wish you both the best.

    Take care,

    Joe
  • newbride
    newbride Member Posts: 142
    #5
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    Thanks
    Thanks Joe....

    Yes, he has done the ensure, boost, etc and while he enjoys them he is getting bored of them (and this is only 2 weeks out of surgery and we still have a long way to go).

    While babyfood sounds a like a good idea and easy enough I think he has enough things on his mind to feel bad about and know things are not what they use to be so i'm trying to keep at least meal times as normal as possible - which is difficult since I was not the cook in this household being he was (is) a chef. :-)

    His ex actually bought me a great book that I have been using called Eating Healthy while on Chemotherapy. I made a turkey/spinach/walnut mousse last night that was pretty good (I doubled the recipe so I was able to eat it too). Tonight I made a shrimp and asparagus cream which he said was really good too. So I am totally looking for variety.
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #6
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    newbride said:

    Thanks
    Thanks Joe....

    Yes, he has done the ensure, boost, etc and while he enjoys them he is getting bored of them (and this is only 2 weeks out of surgery and we still have a long way to go).

    While babyfood sounds a like a good idea and easy enough I think he has enough things on his mind to feel bad about and know things are not what they use to be so i'm trying to keep at least meal times as normal as possible - which is difficult since I was not the cook in this household being he was (is) a chef. :-)

    His ex actually bought me a great book that I have been using called Eating Healthy while on Chemotherapy. I made a turkey/spinach/walnut mousse last night that was pretty good (I doubled the recipe so I was able to eat it too). Tonight I made a shrimp and asparagus cream which he said was really good too. So I am totally looking for variety.

    Um...
    newbride...? Shrimp and asparagus cream? Asking US for recipes? Why don't YOU come to MY house and feed ME!!! :)

    I have a feeling that hub is going to do just fine in the eating department.

    Take care,

    Joe
  • SonSon
    SonSon Member Posts: 174
    #7
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    soccerfreaks said:

    Um...
    newbride...? Shrimp and asparagus cream? Asking US for recipes? Why don't YOU come to MY house and feed ME!!! :)

    I have a feeling that hub is going to do just fine in the eating department.

    Take care,

    Joe

    Yummy
    I second that motion... I have to look for that book you mentioned so I can get yummy ideas.
  • sue Siwek
    sue Siwek Member Posts: 279
    #8
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    if he can not keep food down
    if he can not keep food down there are many liquid nourishments available at your drug store. chocolate is usually the best.
  • sue Siwek
    sue Siwek Member Posts: 279
    #9
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    soccerfreaks said:

    Um...
    newbride...? Shrimp and asparagus cream? Asking US for recipes? Why don't YOU come to MY house and feed ME!!! :)

    I have a feeling that hub is going to do just fine in the eating department.

    Take care,

    Joe

    will agree, once my husband
    will agree, once my husband was over the initial heebeejeebies of chemo shrimp was his main staple along with ensure...yuck! but it worked, going on 10 years Yipee!
  • jimbeam50
    jimbeam50 Member Posts: 47
    #10
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    sue Siwek said:

    if he can not keep food down
    if he can not keep food down there are many liquid nourishments available at your drug store. chocolate is usually the best.

    If you are sick of ensure
    If you want to make some homemade drinks with a lot of protein and calories here's a chocolate one: 1 1/4 cup vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup milk, 1 package hot chocolate mix, 2 tsp. sugar blend well or one with not as many calories: 1/2 cup milk, 1 envelope instant breakfast mix, 1 cup ice cream, you can do either vanilla, chocolate or strawberry, blend well.
  • SonSon
    SonSon Member Posts: 174
    #11
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    jimbeam50 said:

    If you are sick of ensure
    If you want to make some homemade drinks with a lot of protein and calories here's a chocolate one: 1 1/4 cup vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup milk, 1 package hot chocolate mix, 2 tsp. sugar blend well or one with not as many calories: 1/2 cup milk, 1 envelope instant breakfast mix, 1 cup ice cream, you can do either vanilla, chocolate or strawberry, blend well.

    Polyglucose...
    Years ago when I worked in a hospital for physically disabled children and adults they used to give some of them "polyglucose" - comes in powdered form at the pharmacy and is intended to provide high calorie intake for those with metabolism problems.
    I think I will look into the possibility of using it for cancer patients - my mother-in-law is looking like "Timber-toes" (anybody here remember Timber-toes in the Highlights magazine??? I circle for a body and sticks for arms and legs...).
    She also has diabetes (managed with pills) so will have to ask doctor about that.
    Fatima
  • pattynonews
    pattynonews Member Posts: 176
    #12
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    They have what they call
    They have what they call Super Foods, it is all organic and fresh vegatables and fruit, my husband does not eat by mouth but I use them alot to give him those exta vegatables, he needs,
  • newbride
    newbride Member Posts: 142
    #13
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    superfoods?
    is this a liquid? my husband isn't eating by mouth either but the nutritionist at the hospital told me only to put either ensure or jevity 1.5 in the peg tube
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #14
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    newbride said:

    superfoods?
    is this a liquid? my husband isn't eating by mouth either but the nutritionist at the hospital told me only to put either ensure or jevity 1.5 in the peg tube

    additional stuff
    newbride, if hub is only getting nutrition via the tube now, you might ask the nutritionist about something called ProSource. It is a high protein supplement that I get whenever I get new shipments of Jevity, and I add it to the Jevity one time per day.

    Since we are on the subject of peg tube feeding, I wonder if most people find it to be a pain in the butt to do because they are doing it the way they were taught by the medical professionals?

    In my case, I was instructed, while still in the hospital, to use this beaker-like container, to pour the Jevity into it, to then use that to pour into the big plastic hypodermic-looking thing I stuck into the end of the tube, and then force it down with a plunger.

    In my case, I think I have the luxury model tube device, as the end piece includes a shuttlecock for turning the opening on and off. If I have to sneeze or cough, for example, I can simply turn the thing to the off position and I do not receive a Jevity bath. Also, back in the chemo days, it was a nice exit point for the results of nausea if you know what I mean, and I think you do, if I could get to the sink fast enough and then turn the shuttlecock to the on position.

    What I have also found, however, is that by pouring one can of Jevity into a beaker and filling it the rest of the way with water (good for hydration) I get a gravity feed and do not need the plunger at all. (It helps, of course, to follow each feeding with a beaker of warm water, as that Jevity, for one, will turn to cement if allowed to, and clog up the tube.)

    Just a few thoughts.

    I am sorry to hear, newbride, that your hub is now on the tube entirely. Hopefully, once he has completed all treatment, he will get back to eating and tasting and, ultimately, cooking again!

    Take care,

    Joe
  • newbride
    newbride Member Posts: 142
    #15
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    soccerfreaks said:

    additional stuff
    newbride, if hub is only getting nutrition via the tube now, you might ask the nutritionist about something called ProSource. It is a high protein supplement that I get whenever I get new shipments of Jevity, and I add it to the Jevity one time per day.

    Since we are on the subject of peg tube feeding, I wonder if most people find it to be a pain in the butt to do because they are doing it the way they were taught by the medical professionals?

    In my case, I was instructed, while still in the hospital, to use this beaker-like container, to pour the Jevity into it, to then use that to pour into the big plastic hypodermic-looking thing I stuck into the end of the tube, and then force it down with a plunger.

    In my case, I think I have the luxury model tube device, as the end piece includes a shuttlecock for turning the opening on and off. If I have to sneeze or cough, for example, I can simply turn the thing to the off position and I do not receive a Jevity bath. Also, back in the chemo days, it was a nice exit point for the results of nausea if you know what I mean, and I think you do, if I could get to the sink fast enough and then turn the shuttlecock to the on position.

    What I have also found, however, is that by pouring one can of Jevity into a beaker and filling it the rest of the way with water (good for hydration) I get a gravity feed and do not need the plunger at all. (It helps, of course, to follow each feeding with a beaker of warm water, as that Jevity, for one, will turn to cement if allowed to, and clog up the tube.)

    Just a few thoughts.

    I am sorry to hear, newbride, that your hub is now on the tube entirely. Hopefully, once he has completed all treatment, he will get back to eating and tasting and, ultimately, cooking again!

    Take care,

    Joe

    Interesting stuff
    It's funny cause when he came home he was showing me the same thing with the injection like thing - and I was like "what the heck are you doing" he said that is what the nurse showed him. But that was NOT what the nutritionist showed ME! Too funny. The medical supply company shipped an IV pole and IV bags - the nutritionist told me to pour the jevity into the bag then put it on the IV pole and connect the end of the tube of the bag to the peg tube and let gravity do the work. So much easier and less time consuming. This way he can just lay back and the liquid does what it needs to do!

    Yes, I cannot wait for him to complete treatment and hopefully get a clean bill of health and get on the road to recovery and better yet -- start cooking again -- I think this is the cruelest thing possible that can occur to a chef!!

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