Smoothie-ing Over A Problem

A couple of friends of mine are currently either facing a seriously scary medical diagnosis, or facing the reality of cancer and its treatment.  I hope and pray these ladies will be ok, but their situations remind me so much of what Ry went through with to his diagnosis and treatment, bringing those painful, confusing, frustrating, and frightening times back to my mind.  What also comes to mind was the initial reason why I thought of doing this blog, which was to give the Head and Neck Cancer, and other Cancer, populations more ideas for food.   Throughout the last year and a half of Ry’s life food and eating remained the most important thing in our lives.  Good, even adequate nutrition can be difficult when you can’t eat due to an impaired tongue, or having a tracheotomy, mouth sores, and lack of appetite.  I always wanted to write about the smoothies I made for Ry.  Even when he could chew and swallow relatively easily, Ry always wanted smoothies, and between the two of us, we came up with some creative concoctions.  With summer on its way, I must admit that I am longing for refreshing and nutritious tasty treats, like a smoothie.

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Ry eating on a camping trip at Lost Coast

I made most of Ry’s smoothies for him.  Although rarely cared about how they tasted, he just wanted the nutrition, calories and fat, I tried to make them at least palatable for my sake.  I tasted his smoothies as I made them and some of the concoctions he would devise were downright nasty.  Summer is almost here and smoothies are starting to sound good to me and reminded me of my favorite smoothie I would make for Ry, a mixed berry smoothie with lots of blueberry juice.  I liked it so much I would often drink the excess since a blender-full of smoothie made about 2 and a third smoothies.  I think I calculated the calories for each smoothie as about 400 calories.  No wonder I gained weight.  Now I sometimes make a berry smoothie minus the extra fat and calories.  It’s not as rich and creamy, but it full of flavor and I love it when it is ice-cold.  In Ry’s version I would put in avocado.  Don’t turn your nose up at this, it is good in a smoothie and it will not make it taste like guacamole.  It adds more creaminess and of course healthy fats.

Here are the berry smoothies I oh so love:

Then:

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Frozen berry blend

Blueberry juice

Yogurt

Hemp/Almond/Soy/Rice Milk

Hemp Oil/Almond Oil/Grape seed Oil

Powdered greens

Protein powder (vanilla)

Avocado

Soluble Fiber (optional)

Use as much or as little of each ingredient listed above to accommodate your needs and taste.  I used over a cup of berries, a cup of juice, a cup of yogurt, a scoop of greens, a scoop or 2 of protein powder, ½ to a whole avocado, 1-2 tbsp of oil, and enough non-dairy milk to thin out the mixture, at least a cup.  Sometimes the seeds in berries don’t blend well.  Just keep blending (a couple of minutes) and pulsing.  I blended stuff until the blender started to smell a little like burning rubber.  If the seeds still seem to be a problem, use a sieve and push the mixture through.  It is labor intensive, but essential for keeping a feeding tube un-clogged and keeping food particle from getting stuck in little nooks and crannies in the mouth and throat.

Now:

 Berry Greens Smoothie

 Frozen berry blend

Fresh berries

Blueberry juice

Almond Milk

Powdered greens

Protein powder (vanilla)

Fresh greens (kale, spinach, lettuce)

Soluble Fiber (optional)

 I use about the same proportions as the above description.  Blending is still really important with this smoothie because the fresh greens take a while to break down completely.  If you stop too soon you will get chunks of lettuce stuck in your teeth.  I don’t mind the seeds so much.   

So let’s raise our blenders in a salute to our cancer veterans and sip our smoothies.  To everyone having healthy and happy lives.

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Related articles

• Confessions of a Kale Smoothie Addict (fiercedivaguidetolife.typepad.com)
• My Favorite Smoothie Recipe (simplyhealthful.me)
• Smoothies for Summer (angiechaudoir.wordpress.com)
• Anna@Green Talk: Kale Smoothie: One a Day Keeps the Doctor Away (green-talk.com)

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.