ISO quick easy recipes........(more)

[Svadhisthana]

Monday morning my brother was taken to the ER. He is in ICU now and I have several family members from out of town that are staying at the hospital with him. I'm the only one who lives here in Springfield so I've been running any errands for them as well as bringing them lunch. They only leave the hospital long enough to come to my house and shower and eat dinner. My car is in the shop this week so I've had to pick up and drop off my Dh at work. I need quick and easy recipe ideas to make for them. I know I should be able to figure this out on my own but between running around and not sleeping my brain is fried. Any ideas would be a great help to me. Also my sister and her son are Islamic so I need for the meat to be more of a side dish than a main feature because I don't think we have Halal (sp?) meat in the area. Thanks in advance.




I forgot to mention my mother is diabetic. Also, any quick and easy snack foods would be great too. The vending machines and hospital cafe are full of junk.

[Isa]

So sorry to hear about your brother Svad. My thoughts are with you and your family.

To fill your fridge, how about a roast chicken. It's not too work and with leftovers you can make sandwiches. There are so pasta sauce in jars that are not too bad, just add herbs and spices and cook some pasta or make macaroni and cheese.

As for snack, how about quickbreads? There are so low fat versions of applesauce cake, gingerbread and banana bread. Puddings and tapioca are quick to make.


Hope your brother will feel better soon.

[Suzanne]

I hope he gets better soon.

Oops, of course not ham if they're Muslim. But if you can get kosher chicken or meat, a lot of the necessary rituals to prepare them are the same. You could bake a big pan of chicken parts, and then use the meat by itself or in sandwiches as Isa suggests, or even add some to pasta sauce.

If your local supermarket or other stores have salad bars, use them to load up on cut up vegs. It's worth the extra cost in less work for you. Just rinse them well before you use them.

Snacks: popcorn?

[marmalady]

Make up batches of pasta salad, rice salad, potato salad, whatever, to keep in the fridge for a couple of days. And keep lots of fresh fruit around for munchies; those pre-prepped veggies - get/make some 'dip', keep the veggies in a zip lock in the fridge. Vegetarian chili - do you have a crockpot? Or a pot of beans and rice which could be reheated?

I'm sorry to hear about your brother, and hope things turn out okay for him. Having been through an ICU experience with my son for a month, I know how trying it can be on family members. Since you've been 'appointed' to keep the family together, watch out for signs of burnout on their parts. Sometimes it's hard to eat and sleep when a loved one is in the hospital with a serious condition, but let them know that they have to keep themselves well and strong to give support to your brother.

[Mezzaluna]

How about vegetarian moussaka? Use lots of diced veggies to replace the meat. Come to think of it, if they will eat Indian food, there's another answer to your hallal problem. Egg-based dishes like noodle kugel, pasta without meat or seafood would work too. Is fish an option? Stuffed vegetables, vegetable couscous...

Since Champaign isn't too far, there might be a kosher or hallal meat market there, given the cosmopolitan atomosphere at U of I.

I'll put in some prayers for your brother and your whole family, and hope the crisis passes soon. Please keep us informed.

[Isa]

How is your brother doing Svad?

[Svadhisthana]

Thank you all for the ideas. My brother has bacterial menigitis he is still in ICU and is just now starting to wake up very slowly for brief periods of time. My sister who is islamic had to go back home because she was too sick with morning sickness so the halall meat is no longer a problem. I will be making a few dishes in the crock pot and I've been keeping my mother stocked up with fresh fruit and healthier snacks. Now, we just have to wait and see. Thank you again for the support and prayers.

[Suzanne]

G-d should give you all strength.

[cape chef]

Dear Svad,

My family and myself send our prayers to you and your family

[Svadhisthana]

My brother is now out of ICU and is doing much better. He has some hearing/ memory problems but he gets a little better each day. Thank you all for your support and prayers.

[Isa]

I'm so glad your brother's condition is improoving Svad. Hope he'll be back home soon.