G-Tube Minute Meals

In the minute it takes for your family to fill their plates for dinner, you can make a g-tube meal. The trick?  Keep your g-tube kitchen supplies handy and your family’s meals healthy!

• G-Tube Kitchen Supplies
  Keep your supplies in a basket, drawer, or plastic bin so they’re always ready.

o   Blender.  Full-power blenders with jars for individual servings, such as the Cuisinart Compact Portable SmartPower Blender, work best for blending single g-tube meals. Standard-sized blenders will work, but the smaller volume of food may cause excessive splashing on the sides of the jar, take longer to blend, and will likely not strain as well.

o   ½-cup measuring cup.  This is your “scoop” for measuring g-tube meal ingredients.

o   Large spoon.  Something like a soup spoon that holds about 1 Tablespoon works well.

o   Fine-mesh strainer.  After blending, you MUST strain g-tube food. No matter how good your blender is, there will always be at least one under-blended bit of food that needs to be strained out so it does not clog the g-tube.

o   2 or 3 cup measuring cup.  Get a 2 or 3 cup measuring cup with a handle and a pour spout. You will use this for straining and feeding your g-tube meal.

• Single-Serve G-tube Meal Recipe
  You can prepare g-tube meals from whatever your family is eating… as long as the meal is healthy!  Go ahead and blend your Southwestern-style omelet, your Teriyaki chicken stir-fry, your grilled burgers and veggies (without the bun), and your favorite chili.  But skip the pizza, Chinese take-out, and toaster waffles drowning in maple syrup.
  
  Measure the recipe ingredients into your blender jar with your ½ cup measuring “scoop”.

o   1 handful salad greens. Toss a handful of salad greens into the blender jar… your family dinner DOES include salad, right?

o   1 scoop protein.  Shredded chicken or turkey, ground burger, chopped pork chops, chili beans, scrambled eggs, etc. If you’ve made a stir-fry, stew, or casserole, just try to make this scoop include mostly protein.

o   2 scoops veggies.  Try to include at least two different vegetables in your meals.  If you’ve made a stir-fry, stew, or casserole, just try to get mostly veggies in these scoops.

o   1 scoop liquid.  Use soup or stew broth, cooking liquid, tomato juice, or water.

o   Adjust calories.  The basic meal recipe (using lean protein, steamed vegetables, and no added oil) contains approximately 200-250 calories.  Since most standard recipes call for oil or other added-calorie ingredients, your meal likely contains more calories naturally.  If, however, you need more calories in your g-tube meal, add a large spoonful (about 1 Tablespoon) of olive oil, coconut oil, or natural peanut butter, or 3 spoonfuls of coconut milk or chopped walnuts. Each will add about another 100 calories.

Blend the ingredients for 30 seconds to 1 minute (less powerful blenders may need more time).  Strain through your fine-mesh strainer. Enjoy sharing dinner with your entire family.