The MTC-ACF is not an authority on nutritional aspects of cancer patients. Nor can we sort through the huge volume of data, reports and popular stories that proport to publicize facts.
We do see the need to keep abreast of current thought in nutrition as it deals with Cancer and the patients. So here we have chosen to reproduce information from reputable sources on the net. Choose "with a grain of salt" any information presented by any source.
Because people are interested in the relationship that specific foods, nutrients, or lifestyle factors have to specific cancers, research on health behaviors and cancer risk is often widely publicized. No one study, however, provides the last word on any subject, and single news reports may overemphasize what appear to be contradictory or conflicting results. In brief news stories, reporters cannot always put new research findings in their proper context. Therefore, it is rarely, if ever, advisable to change diet or activity levels based on a single study or news report.
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White Bean Rosemary Soup
Beans are full of healthy phytochemicals. In addition to this, beans contain a lot of dietary fiber. This is important because research now suggests that getting fiber from FOOD sources is the key to reducing risk of many cancers, including colon cancer. Fiber from fiber supplements does not appear to reduce risk of colon cancer. Try this tasty recipe for white bean soup to get more fiber and phytochemicals into your diet!
Ingredients
- Two 12- to 15-ounce cans of white beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium-large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced, fresh rosemary (if fresh is not available, try ½ to 1 teaspoon ground, dried rosemary)
- 7 to 8 cups vegetable stock (to save time, use vegetarian bullion cubes)
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Rinse well and drain white beans. Rinsing away the liquid around canned beans can help cut down on the amount of gas you may experience from beans.
- In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Saute while stirring lightly until vegetables are soft (5 to 10 minutes).
- Add garlic and rosemary and saute for another 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add drained beans and vegetable stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer gently for 20 to 30 minutes.
- After simmering, place 1/3 to ½ of the bean soup in the blender.
- Carefully blend until thick and smooth. Caution: Be very careful when blending, letting steam and heat escape every few seconds, by lifting blender lid slowly throughout blending. If steam and heat build up, the lid can blow off the blender.
- Return blended soup to pot and stir to mix.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle each bowl with a little parmesan cheese.
Makes 4 servings.
Per serving: 325 calories; 45 grams of carbohydrates; 16 grams of protein; 9 grams of fat; 10.5 grams of fiber.
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Pretreatment Nutrition Planning
As you get ready for your cancer treatment, it can be helpful to focus on eating a well-balanced diet so that your body is as healthy as it can be. The better nourished your body is going into treatment, the quicker you will be able to get on the road to wellness after treatment is completed. See our information about Pretreatment Eating to learn more about this important topic.
Along with eating healthfully before your treatment begins, you can do some pretreatment planning to get yourself ready for eating well during treatment, too. By starting your planning now and enlisting the help of family and friends, you can minimize the amount of work you will have to do to meet your nutrition needs as you go through your treatment.
Plan Now
Before treatment even begins, you can plan for how you will eat during treatment. Try the following tips:
Identify helpful family members and friends you can call on for a quick run to the grocery store to pick up food when you are too tired to do so yourself.
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Do some “pre-education” with family and friends. Let them know that your appetite may not be great during treatment, but that you will call on them for help with food, meals, and grocery shopping when you need them.
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Try thinking about the types of foods you want to eat when you have a cold, the flu, or just feel “under the weather.” This might include easily digestible, bland foods, such as oatmeal, applesauce, yogurt, soup, crackers, cream of wheat, and toast.
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Stock up on your “under the weather” foods just before you begin treatment. This way, you have them handy when you need them.
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Think outside of the box. Foods that you don't normally enjoy may be just what you are craving during treatment. Keep a wide assortment of snacks around so that you can enjoy whatever foods are working best for you during treatment. For example, some people find that during treatment most things taste very sweet. It can be helpful to keep "savory" and salty snacks on hand for when things might taste overly sweet to you during treatment.
Eat healthfully when you can, both before treatment begins and in-between your treatment sessions. During treatment, make sure you eat whatever works well for you, even if you aren't feeling the best. This might include those "under-the-weather" foods mentioned above. Finally, be sure you enlist the help of family and friends when you need it. This way, you'll be nutritionally prepared to get through your treatment and on the road to recovery as soon as possible.
http://www.caring4cancer.com/ is the current source for this information.
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| Puppy Chow For You... Not Your Dog
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9 cups rice chex cereal
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
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Place the chex cereal in a large bowl. Large enough to have enough room to stir things up. Melt the chocolate chips, margarine, and peanut butter in a microwave safe dish, in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, or until smooth and creamy when stirred. Add the vanilla, and stir. Pour over the cereal and stir until the cereal is evenly coated. Put the powdered sugar in a large size plastic bag, add the coated cereal and shake until evenly coated with the powdered sugar. Spread over a sheet of waxed paper until cooled off. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
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Chicken Crunchers |
Makes 4-6 servings
Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
salt &
pepper
4 egg whites
1/2 cup 2% reduced fat milk
1 1/2 cups cornflakes
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced fat, shredded Cheddar cheese
6 chicken breast filets; cut into strips
Non-stick cooking spray |
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Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375˚ F.
2. Set up three bowls with the following: 1) flour mixed with a pinch of salt and pepper; 2) an egg-wash, made by beating the eggs and milk together; 3) cornflakes mixed with cheese.
3. Coat a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
4. Dip chicken pieces in flour, then into the egg-wash, then roll in the cheesy-flakes mixture, coating the entire piece of chicken and place on the baking pan.
5. Discard any unused cornflake mixture after coating chicken.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, turning halfway through to ensure even browning.
7. Serve with ketchup or BBQ sauce if desired.
Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 320
Total Fat: 8 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 90 mg
Sodium: 320 mg
Calcium: 20% Daily Value per serving for people 6-12 years old
Protein: 37g
Carbohydrates: 24 g
Dietary Fiber: 1 g
Nutrition Notes: Some people think healthy meals are hard to come by. But that’s not the case at all. By thinking ahead, you can help your family make healthy meals and snacks to freeze. Then they’ll be ready to go when you need them. These chicken crunchers are perfect to make ahead and eat later as a meal or snack.
This recipe contains flour and corn flakes from the grain group, reduced fat milk and Cheddar cheese from the dairy group and chicken from the protein group - 3 of the five basic food groups. Add a glass of lowfat or fat free milk to the meal and you have met half of your daily requirement for calcium from dairy foods.
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Mac & Cheese & Company
The Problem: Sure, the kids would be fine with the contents of the blue box brand, but for us this ready-mix mac and cheese lost its appeal soon after we learned how to boil water. Conversely, decadent recipes replete with cream, eggs, and a who's-who list of pungent cheeses are decidedly adults-only; just try to serve them to the kids and you'll get upturned noses and pushed-back plates.
So, our goal is a simple, satisfying macaroni and cheese, as appealing to adults as it is to children.
Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package macaroni
1 cup Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) package extra sharp Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons butter
I package of frozen peas
I package of ham
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Directions:
1 In a 4- to 5-quart pan over high heat, bring broth, milk, and macaroni to a boil. Stir mixture often until the pasta is tender to bite, about 10 minutes.
2 Blend cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. Stir into pan and continue stirring until mixture boils.
3 Add peas and Ham; mix well and remove from heat. Sprinkle cheese over pasta mixture and stir just until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.
4 Spoon into wide bowls or onto plates and sprinkle generously with pepper and nutmeg.
Serves: 4
Ready in: 15 minutes
Helpful Hints: Cook the pasta until just past al dente then use a combination of sharp cheddar for flavor and Monterey Jack for creaminess. For a crunchy topping, toss homemade bread crumbs with melted butter, sprinkle over the casserole, and brown quickly under the broiler.
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A fun quick breakfast idea tossed in convenient plastic ziplock bags to be enjoyed on-the-go. Personalize your granola just the way you like with adds-ins like dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips or shredded coconut.
3/4 cup of your favorite granola (found at any grocery store)
1 cup low-fat milk
Favorite adds-ins |
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Place granola mixed with your add-ins in a ziplock bag. Right before eating, add milk, close bag and shake. Open bag and enjoy.
Per serving (without add-ins): 340 calories, 10g fat, 300 mg calcium.
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1 cup cold low-fat milk
1 cup mixed berries: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries etc.
2 scoops low-fat fruit sorbet:
mango, pineapple, berry
2 teaspoons honey
Place in blender and blend until smooth. Use frozen pre-chopped fruit for a fast 3-minute breakfast.
• Per serving: 265 calories, 4g fat, 200 mg calcium.
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Spunky Vegetable Pizza
Makes 8 serving
Ingredients:
3/4 cup pizza sauce
1 large Italian pizza shell
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup sliced red or green bell pepper
5 to 6 ounces, shredded, lowfat mozzarella or Cheddar cheese
Preparation Time ... 
Cooking Time...
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. Spoon pizza sauce on pizza shell.
3. Put pizza shell on a cookie sheet.
4. Arrange vegetables over sauce.
5. Sprinkle on the cheese.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.
7. When baked, cool pizza for 3 minutes before slicing. Cut into 8 wedges.
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