My Three Cooking Machines

I had a stress migraine today.  I didn't want to spend time upright cooking.  Last night I cooked a pre-seasoned pork tenderloin at 425 degrees in a shallow roast pan for 35 minutes.  I was busy helping my son buy a car in California over the phone.  Hubby came downstairs and made a sliced pork sandwich.  Tonight I thought I'd cube the pork and make a dressing, but with the headache....I put it off.  Then I remembered I'd already chopped up celery and onions with my chopping machine from William Sonoma I got for my birthday last year.  They were just sitting in the refrigerator weighting for me.  
 

My niece wanted to see the juicer and onion slicer to buy for my twin.

When we started the chemo diet, I had chopped enough for the week, and boy, has this come in handy.  I'm sorry the photo isn't clear, as I saved it from their website.  So...with a little olive oil, my pre-cut veggies, whole-grained bread, chicken broth, McCormick's Italian seasoning, and some freshly squeezed orange juice to sweeten it a little, I had dressing in no time at all.

 Along with an electric juice machine, I also own a Vitamix Machine.  I've seen these at Costco for VERY reasonable prices.  I've been juicing fresh pineapple with berries, and even spinach or kale.  When my sister-in-law began telling me a few years ago that these smoothies were sweet, and you couldn't taste the spinach, I did NOT believe her.  She brought her machine to the beach with us this summer and proved that they WERE delicious.  Who knew?  Okay, she did.  I also saw a recipe for frozen fresh pineapple, 1 cup of almond milk, and 1 tablespoon of honey to make a duplicate of Disney's pineapple whip they sell in their parks.  My family LOVED it.  REPEAT...they loved it.  You can also throw bags of frozen berries in it with a little honey and whip it up into a sorbet.  I've done this also.  After almost 40 years of marriage (I married as a child bride), I've learned to cut the top, then the bottom off of a pineapple, then just slice down the sides to take the skin off.  You do not need to core it with this machine.  Just wanted you to know about my short cuts before I start posting recipes.

I Hate Vegetables But I Have To Eat Them for Chemo

My husband doesn't normally eat vegetables.  He will eat spinach salads.  He will eat broccoli with a cheese sauce.  He will eat green beans sauteed with onions and garlic.  He will eat raw carrots.  He has NEVER eaten brussel sprouts or cauliflower.  I did switch to leafy green lettuce years ago, when I found out the "other kind" we all ate for years had no nutritional value.

So here I am trying to change our lifestyle due to cancer, and you can imagine the struggle. The first thing I am going to tell you about food is to buy the book, The CHEMO therapy DIET, by Mike Herbert, ND.  Not only does it give you guidelines for eating, but it has a chapter on detoxification baths.  We had our first one yesterday.  He tells you that since your skin is your biggest organ, soaking in these solutions in HOT water until the water cools, actually works.  Hubby soaked in the pure apple cider in water soak.  His last bath was when he was 7 years old.  (It took ALL OF MY SELF CONTROL not to take a picture).  Since the soaks are at LEAST 45 minutes, we set up the laptop in the bathroom and played a movie for him.  

BACK TO THE FOOD...I am going to list the FOODS TO AVOID DURING CHEMO, AND WHY TO AVOID THEM.

• Alcohol--it turns to sugar immediately.  Cancer LOVES sugar.
• All processed foods--changes vitamin levels and strips foods of nutrients.
• Anything with artificial color or flavor--affects your gut.
• Deli meats and cheeses--the risk of cancer is even greater than eating red meat.This idea is still being debated, but two oncologists and our holistic doctor told us no red meat or deli. 
• Caffeine--dehydrates
• Dairy--huge world study shows CASEIN  from cow's promotes cancer. No milk, soft cheeses, cream cheese, butter, ghee, ricotta, yougurt, ice cream, gelato, condensed or evaporated milk.
• No barbequing.  No cooking foods at high temperatures or frying.  No barbeque sauce.
• No white flour, bread, pastries, cakes, cupcakes, etc.  WHOLE GRAINS are okay.  Don't panic. 
• Soy sauce--proven to add estrogen to your system, and a no-no for guys also. 

• Microwaved food--it takes the B vitamins out of your food.
• No peanuts--they can have mold.
• No unwashed green leafy vegetables--better not to have them at a restaurant. Buy a salad spinner. 

So...after reading this, I had at least THREE panic attacks.  I even had to go on long walks.  I am a processed food person.  I love the convenience.  My cupboards USED to be filled with canned soups, and beans, and...... They no longer are.  

What am I going to feed him, I shouted in my head?  I can't do this.  It's too much work cooking everything from scratch.  Are you panicking with me?   
But...as I started researching and starting finding fun wholesome recipes that EVEN I COULD MAKE....and my friends and family started bringing over wholesome bean and vegetable soups to give me a break....I am on the road.

The next posts will give you the EASY recipes I am using.  Last night we had "Chicken Fried Rice."  The family RAVED about this.  I crock-potted the chicken the night before. I bought Uncle Ben's wild whole grain rice and used my rice cooker for the first time EVER.  I bought it a year ago.  It cooked the rice exactly right.
I added frozen, then cooked peas.  I added the seasonings packet that came with the rice.  I had sauteed onions and fresh garlic (from a jar) and ginger spice in olive oil (as this is your new best friend) and two eggs.  Once rice and chicken were cooked, it only took minutes to put this recipe together.  Rachel Ray showed me how (on television) to cook fish in a parchment bag you make.  She made a soy sauce that's LEGAL on the diet.  I will give you the whole recipe for the fish in another post, so that you aren't overwhelmed. 

The sweet and sour sauce goes:  2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp of sesame chili sauce, 2 teaspoons of honey. Squeeze a little lemon juice in if you want.  I did. Yes, honey is sugar, but I haven't been able to bake or cook without it yet.  I use the pure kind. I tried a new product called SWERVE which has no aftertaste in baked goods, is FDA approved, and has no glycemic numbers on the package.  When I made a whipped pineapple sorbet, there was an aftertaste.  So I made it again last night with honey and everyone loved it.  I am using ALMOND MILK for my baking.  

Update:  I tried a Pinterest recipe.  It was SPINACH CAKES.  Everyone in the family loved them.  Heat your oven to 400 degrees.  Wash a bag of baby spinach (safer for chemo if it comes in a bag).  Put the spinach in your food processor just long enough to chop it up.  Transfer spinach to a bowl and add:

• 1/2 cup hand grated cheese.  I used 1/4 cup Parmesen and 1/4 cup Romano 
• 3 fork beaten eggs
• 2 cloves of garlic.  I used 2 teaspoons crushed garlic in a jar.
• salt and pepper

Bake in cupcake tins that have been oiled.  I used Bakers Joy.  Bake for ABOUT 25 minutes.  Watch them until they are set.  Then leave them on counter for about 7 minutes to finish setting up.
THESE ARE DELICIOUS.  I will add a photo with the next batch, because they were snapped up so quickly. 

Pesto and Chicken Pizza

 

Are you exhausted reading this?  Remember, the purpose of these posts is to follow along with me.  Wait until you see the recipes I found last night.  We had a whole wheat pizza with grated hard cheeses and vegetables...and hubby LOVED it.  There is hope.  Well...you knew that. Oh, you wanted a PICTURE of the recipe.  He had an allergic reaction to CIPRO right before dinner.  Sorry...he came first.

The ABC's of Cancer Therapy

 We have cancer.  Actually my hubby does, but in fact, it is both of us because everything he goes through, I am right there by his side.  I think being a Girl Scout Leader for so many years has helped me stay organized.  My biggest hurdle so far is the effort to eat healthy.  Most people don't know that cancer FEEDS ON SUGAR.  That is why they put sugar through your veins during a pet scan. The sugar runs to the lymph nodes and lights them up.  Don't tell anyone, but the science part of my brain, found the photo irresistible.  Everyone's pancreas lights up automatically.  What does that tell you?

Anyway...I digress.  The purpose of these blogs is to help someone following behind me benefit from my research.  The posts can be searched under the label CHEMO.  My hubby does not want us calling it that. He refers to it as "Nemotherapy."  I enlarged the photo above and put it on his therapy notebook.  Lesson One: make a three ring binder.  Put dividers in.  I made the following subjects:
 CONTACTS:doctors, oncologists, radiologists, nurses doing the drip, etc.
  MEDS: I color-coded each medicine on a calendar I made from a Word Table.  I automatically can glance each day and know what color pill to take out.  I even made a four-colored box poster for the table with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime labels.  I simply use my chart to put the appropriate pills in each box.  He just has to grab them with no thinking involved.
 SCHEDULE: Make another table with spaces for the first three months.  Highlight or color the blocks a different color for treatment days.
 NOTES:  I write down EVERYTHING the doctor's or nurses say.  I also take notes from books I am reading.  Because food plays such an important part, I put notes from those books also.
CONSENT FORMS: There are consent forms for everything.  Keep them in this safe place.
DIRECTIONS:  They give you directions for each of the medicines.  Keep them here.
RESULTS:  You REALLY want these in this section.  I have his blood results handy from each office visit.  I can compare them from the previous ones and understand what is happening. 

This is enough for today.  I will start a post tomorrow on the diet.  It took us three full weeks before the first drip to wean ourselves off of sugar.  Then when the hubby had a spinal leak from a test, the doctor told him to drink a coke.  I just looked at him cross-eyed.  I did NOT stick my tongue out or flip him the bird.  I am VERY PROUD OF MYSELF.  By-the-way,  EVERY med has side effect of mouth sores.  Get your doctor to order Nystatin (swish and swallow).  Use three times a day during first eight days.  We found four teaspoons of GLUTAMINE every day really helps reduce these and up the immunity system.  Read about it.  Tell your doctor you are going to take it anyway if they balk.  Add Vitamin D to the rest of the meds.  Ordinary oncologists, and even ones from John Hopkins won't let you take probiotics or vitamins unless you've been on them for years.  They don't want anything to interfere with the chemo soldiers.  
   Keep your sense of humor:   I told people about the Nemo idea, I said, "The only difference between Buzz and Nemo is that he won't be sleeping with the fishes."