By: Sarah Garone
From: bezzybc.com
Caring for yourself during chemo includes giving yourself some grace in the kitchen. When side effects have you feeling less than good, these shortcuts can help you get healthy fuel with minimal fuss.
Eating a nourishing diet can help you feel as good as you can during breast cancer treatment. But, when you’re in the middle of chemotherapy, side effects like exhaustion and nausea can linger for days after a session. These effects can make chores like grocery shopping and cooking healthy meals feel much more challenging, if not impossible.
The good news is you don’t have to cook complex meals to get the nutrients you need.
Here are 6 tips that can help make cooking feel easier, so you can have healthy meals on hand without a ton of effort.
1. Buy prepared ingredients
Shortcuts are the name of the chemo cooking game. Instead of mincing your own garlic and chopping your own squash, buy chopped and prepped versions, if your budget allows.
Bagged salads, pre-cut veggies, and pre-marinated sources of protein like meat and fish can make a time-saving difference at mealtime.
These products are often more expensive, though. If financially feasible, you can consider them an investment in your healing process. Or better yet, ask a friend to help you chop up ingredients you can freeze for the future.
2. Prepare extra
File this one under “You’ll thank yourself later.” On days when your energy is relatively high, try making extra portions of foods that reheat well (and that you know you can tolerate).
If you’re thinking, “What high-energy days?” you might consider asking a friend or family member to help you batch-cook. Foods like soups, casseroles, and pasta dishes last well in the fridge or freezer and can be especially convenient on chemo days.
Just remember that food safety is extra important during cancer treatment. Eat refrigerated leftovers within 2 days and reheat them to steaming hot (165°F or 74°C). You can stick a food thermometer inside to check the temperature.
3. Lean on pre-cooked meats and proteins
Cooking meat is often the most daunting part of cooking. Handling raw meat carries a risk of food-borne illness, which you don’t need right now.
Luckily, you can lean on pre-cooked protein options like rotisserie chicken, packaged hard-boiled eggs, canned fish, and sealed deli meats.
Store-bought pre-cooked meats are held to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards for thorough cooking. To be safe, you can also reheat them yourself once you get them home. Try adding these protein sources to all sorts of simple meals like sandwiches, soups, tacos, and burritos.
4. Make use of shortcut ingredients
Instant rice, quick oatmeal, and pre-made sauces can help shave precious minutes (or more) off cooking times. Through mixing and matching, these foods can quickly become entire meals.
“Combine minute rice, frozen vegetables, and rotisserie chicken with premade gravy,” suggests oncology dietitian Taylor Janulewicz, RDN. “This meal is not only quick to prepare and packed with protein and extra calories, but its moisture also helps keep the mouth comfortable.”
Just note that some faster-cooking ingredients are highly processed. Still, not all processed foods are unhealthy, and it’s possible to eat processed foods within a balanced diet that includes fruits, veggies, dairy, and whole grains.
Look at ingredient lists to be sure of what you’re getting.
5. Remember that canned foods are your friends
Speaking of shortcut ingredients, canned foods are the OG. Canned soups, beans, veggies, sauces, and more provide shelf-stable convenience for mealtime.
If you’re not a fan of eating canned foods by themselves, use them as a jumping-off point for something a bit more elevated. “Mix canned soup with bone broth for an extra protein boost,” Janulewicz recommends. “The warmth and smooth texture make it gentle on the digestive system and easy to consume.”
6. Stock up on healthy frozen meals
Frozen meals have come a long way since the days of TV dinners. Some brands now offer complete meals that are ready in minutes and actually quite nutritious. For example, Daily Harvest features mail-delivered meals containing fresh fruits and veggies, lentils, grains, and other whole foods.
Whatever brand you choose, look for meals with a balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates and minimal sodium and additives.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.