Meal/recipe Ideas for a Friend with Cancer..

You might want to find out if she's nauseated...usually creamy starchy food seem to smooth over that awful nausea feeling....creamy casseroles might be best. They keep well too.

How about a beef stew with salad and bread.
Chicken pot pie , salad and bread
Chicken divan which is chicken broccoli casserole but heavy on curry.
Chili
Chicken and noodles

My thoughts are to stick with something hearty and somewhat bland so each person can add spicy pepper, etc as they want.

How sweet of you to help! We had a close friend pass away this week and it was so sad. She was the school nurse, had 2 high school children and an angel of a person.

My cousin wound up with terrible mouth sores during her treatments. Dry mouth was an issue too. So eating was an arduous task for her. As much as she loved spicy, her mouth couldn't handle it. It fact she needed things bland. Anything acidic (tomato based for example) hurt her mouth AND made her nauseous. Dry mouth made chewing difficult. She needed something a bit more bland and easy to digest. While she was visiting I wasn't sure WHAT to serve her. Poor girl, was so sick of smoothies. So I settled on chicken noodle soup one night. I diced the chicken up really small. Almost like what you find in Campbell's soups. She enjoyed that quite a bit. THe next night I made baked potato soup. She RAVED about that meal. She said it was the first time she felt full in a long time. She didn't have to chew. It wasn't spicy. It was filling and she didn't feel sick afterwards.

Ask what she can hold down after treatment.
Ask if she has any food allergies or if anyone in her home has food allergies.

My neighbor who had breast cancer loved chicken noodle soup - it was light and easy going down. Not a lot to chew. You can make bread or buy a nice loaf at the grocery store to serve with it.

If she has no limitations....

Broccoli casserole
1 bag frozen chopped broccoli - thawed
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/4 cup REAL mayonnaise (Miracle whip does NOT work)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded cheese (cheddar works best)
1 tsp cayene pepper
1 egg
3/4 cup crushed cheese crackers - Cheez Its
1 1/2 Tablespoon butter

Mix egg, mayo, onion, cheese, cayene pepper and soup together. Once mixed well, add chopped broccoli. Place in oven safe container.

Melt butter and add to crushed cheese crackers, stirring to get maximum coverage...cover casserole with crushed crackers.

You can put it in the oven for her - it's best served hot and can stay in the fridge all day. Heat 350 degrees - approximately 35-40 minutes.

Chicken Fried Rice
Chicken breast - cooked the way you like it - I usually pan fry with soy and/or teriyaki sauce. You can try Hoisin Sauce as well - it gives the chicken more flavor - dice it up in chewable pieces.
Rice - prepared as directed
Remove chicken from pan - add 2 eggs - scramble them.
Add frozen bag of mixed veggies (corn, carrots, green beans)
Add Rice
Add Soy Sauce
Mix well.

Chicken Pot Pie
You can buy the shell or use mashed potatoes
Do you need a recipe for this?

Shepards Pie

You will need:
Ground Beef
Pork Sausage (mild)
Mashed potatoes
Frozen Mixed Veggies
1 cup (or more) shredded cheese
1 jar beef gravy

Ground beef and sausage fried completely - drain grease - add gravy, mixed veggies

Line oven-safe dish with 1/2 of the mashed potatoes - then add meat/veggie mixture - put the rest of the mashed potatoes on top and add cheese...

bake until potatoes and cheese are golden brown

Squash and Sausage
what you will need:
One butternut squash
brown sugar
onion
sausage (mild)
tablespoon maple syrup

Peel squash - I use the butternut - steam until ALMOST tender.
Fry sausage and onion while butternut is steaming.
Drain grease from sausage and onion....add squash....add maple syrup and brown sugar to taste.

Serve with warm bread

(this heats up well too!!)

Hope this helps!

Can you take your crock pot to work & plug it in there?
Chuck roast, baby carrots, potatoes (peeled & chopped) and a quartered onion. Low for 6-7 hours. Done! Add a salad & keep in the fridge. Or but rolls.

Big pan of breaded chicken tenderloins. Put tenderloins in a ziplock bag. Toss with olive oil in the bag. Add seasoned Italian breadcrumbs. Toss. Remove to cookie sheet & bake on 350 for 20 minutes. Remove to large disposable foil pan. Add salad. Rice. Or steamed broccoli. This chicken cannot fail! Good hot or cold!

Pan of lasagna. Bread. Salad.

Tater tot casserole. Press 2 lb. ground meat in bottom of 9x 13 pan. Spread cream if chicken soup mixed with half can of evap. milk over meat (about 1/4'' thick) sprinkle 2 T onion soup mix over top, then payer tater tots in rows to cover top. They (or you) can bake at 350 for an hour.

Get a take out Bob Evans family meal for $20.

Shredded BBQ beef Sammies. Chuck roast and a quartered onion in crockpot. Cook high for 4-5 or low 6-7 he's. Shred with 2 large forks. Add a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce already mixed with 1 cup apricot preserves. Provide buns. Add green salad.

Meatloaf, peas, mashed potatoes.

Baked macaroni & cheese. Cook 1 lb. elbow Mac. Shred ( or buy shredded) extra sharp cheddar cheese. Butter a casserole dish. Layer Mac, cheese, Mac, cheese, etc. end with cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 45 min.
Add fresh steamed green beans as a side.

Bake a small ham. Buy or make potato salad. Buy buns.

Bake a Turkey breast. Make stovetop stuffing. Make some corn. Bring 2 jars of turkey gravy.

Don't forget a little dessert treat!

(Can you tell I do this a LOT? Lol)

You are a good friend!

You already have gotten good recipes. I'd be sure to check with the friend directly -- she does know these meals are coming, right? -- to see what she really will eat. You don't want to fix a big creamy casserole with beef only to find that she doesn't eat beef, or creamy foods turn her off. As someone else said, pastas and lasagnas with tomato sauce could be too acidic. So ask, ask, ask. If you are afraid that "I'll bother her if I call to ask," please don't be. She will be glad you were so considerate. If she says "Anything is fine," because she's being nice, be more specific: Do you like beef? Does tomato sauce bother you? Etc.

One caution too: When my friend's mom had chemo, it turned out that she was told by her doctors NOT to eat any uncooked fruit or vegetables at all. The treatment weakens the immune system, and raw or undercooked fruit and vegetables can contain foodborne pathogens (salmonella, E. coli, etc.) that could be very dangerous for someone with a weakened system. This does include salads -- raw salad greens are one of the main sources of foodborne illness in the U.S., so I would definitely not bring salad, fruit salad or anything raw to a person undergoing chemo. Again -- ask your friend what the doctors have said.

My Aunt is a cancer survivor and I know she couldn't eat anything heavy. Beef really bothered her. She mainly ate chicken soup and other chicken dishes. Some tomato based dishes didn't do well for her. I know this lady isn't my Aunt so she may be ok eating beef and tomato based dishes.

She was able to eat sandwiches, turkey, ham etc. Vegetable soup would be a good idea. My Aunt loved Ramen noodles too.

I would like to add that you are a good friend to do cook for your friend. The world would be a better place with more people like you.

I just made a Simple Turkey Soup. 2 lbs. of ground turkey or you can use beef. 1 28 pz can of whole tomatoes. 2 14 oz. cans of beef broth. 1/2 cup of rice and spices to taste. Oregano, onion flakes, thyme, salt and pepper oh and 16 pz bag of frozen veggies. Brown meat. Throw e erything in crock pot. Enough water to cover. 4 hours on High. Delicious!! Make it the day before. All she has to do is hear. Bring Italian bread.

Also crock pot lasagn is great. Google the recipe. Easy and delicious. Same way you make reg. lasagna. Do not cook noodles. Layer in pot. Think it cooked for six hours.

Chili and rice.

Then there is always baked ziti or ravioli Parmesan. Or meatballs for meatball wedges with a salad.

Lasagna can be really easy. Use the precooked noodles and there is a simple recipe on the package. It's great because it lasts for several meals or can be frozen and saved for another time. Bring it with a salad and some garlic bread and you're all set.

I also like to make chicken parmesan (again, with salad and garlic bread) when I bring people meals. I coat the chicken in egg and bread crumbs, fry it on the stove for just a few minutes on each side (put oil in the pan), then cover it in cheese and pasta sauce and bake it until the cheese is bubbly. You can prep the whole thing (including pan frying) and put it in the fridge before baking it, if you want to give it to her like that, or you can bake it and then she can just reheat it.

My coworker went through the same thing and he and his wife preferred that we do gift cards to restaurants or grocery stores. With chemo and radiation treatments, they never knew what kinds of food would sound good to him at that moment. Plus, a lot of typical dishes in this situation (casseroles, etc) tend to be heavier and creamier than his stomach could handle.

I would do Ensure, breads, Popsicles, and other snack items. My daddy snacked when he was in that conditioned. Large meals that were placed in front of him went uneaten and then he got angry at himself for not having an appetite.

I love what you all are doing.

Their appetites are sometime affected by the treatment. Everyone is different. My mother had a bad taste in her mouth, so she didn't care for seasonings.

I would do a soup with a French roll of bread and side green salad. She can pick at what she likes.

You can purchase a carton of broth to start the soup and add meat and veggies. A crock pot will work great.