Show #428 Airing Sunday 4/6/08
One of life’s great pleasures is sitting down to share a meal with family and friends. But for anyone with a swallowing disorder, this simple act can seem impossible. Thankful there are easy to swallow solutions, and here to teach us “Good Cooking for Pureed Meals” is the book’s production coordinator, Brandi Henderson.
Question: How did this cookbook come about?
Answer: A good friend’s mom had Alzheimer’s disease and, in 2000-2001, she could no longer eat regularly textured food. I was involved with her care, and we had to start pureeing her meals and, by trial and error, we came up with the various recipes in the book.
People kept on telling us to write down the recipes, because many people besides Alzheimer’s patients may have swallowing and chewing issues. (Dementia, Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease, digestive disorder, etc.) These can even be used as baby food recipes! So eventually, we did write them down.
Question: Even with these benefits, I know you mentioned that some people still turn away from pureed meals. Why?
Answer: People don’t like the way it looks and think that it’s very bland. We can address the blandness. My friend’s mom loved this food’s taste. It’s not bland, but there is no to low salt, and the food is not processed. You control what goes into it.
Question: And you can still have a family meal with pureed food?
Answer: If you’re a caregiver, you can prepare a whole meal and just set aside a portion of it to be pureed. You can sit down as a family and eat the same thing, which makes everyone feel involved and can save time.
Question: Can you show us one example of a meal?
Answer: Demo—Pureed chicken, page 15
Question: Now what is this can here?
Answer: That is food thickener, something that can be found at any drug store. Food thickener is added to most pureed recipes, except for meat.
When someone has a swallowing disorder, the doctor should tell you what consistency his or her food should be—nectar, honey, or pudding. The food thickener helps the caregiver reach that consistency.
Question: And you can really make most anything in the pureed style, can't you?
Answer: You really can. We have a variety of foods—breakfast, meats, pasta, salads, desserts, etc.
Everyone can enjoy a tasty mean with his or her family, and that’s one fact that’s easy to swallow. To order your own copy of “Good Cooking for Pureed Meals,” call the number that’s next. My thanks to Brandi Henderson.
