Absolutely Unexceptionable Food

[BlackShanglan]

Ah, how I wish I was offering recipes.

Ah, how I wish I was speaking of flavor.

Actually, I'm asking for assistance. I know that every family has certain "sick person" foods they fall back on, whether it's tea and dry toast or chicken noodle soup or what have you. I'd be awfully grateful to hear some suggestions for foods that are kind to delicate stomachs and gentle to those without much appetite. Surely there must be some interesting old family favorites out there?

I'll kick the ball into play with a few that I use:

Apple sauce (the ultimate in simple preparation)
Chicken soup with escarole and pencil-point pasta
Jok (rice porridge, usually with some chicken thrown in)

 

[sr71plt]

Ah, how I wish I was offering recipes.

Ah, how I wish I was speaking of flavor.

Actually, I'm asking for assistance. I know that every family has certain "sick person" foods they fall back on, whether it's tea and dry toast or chicken noodle soup or what have you. I'd be awfully grateful to hear some suggestions for foods that are kind to delicate stomachs and gentle to those without much appetite. Surely there must be some interesting old family favorites out there?

I'll kick the ball into play with a few that I use:

Apple sauce (the ultimate in simple preparation)
Chicken soup with escarole and pencil-point pasta
Jok (rice porridge, usually with some chicken thrown in)

Snickers bars. (At least they die happy.)

 

[BlackShanglan]

*laugh*

Well, at least you'll know if they're really sick or just looking for a day off from work.

 

[TxRad]

My favorite is a double shot Of Jack Daniels. Closely followed by a nap with every blanket in the house over me. Burn all them bugs out of the system.

Course it could also account for the brain damage.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Campbell's chicken noodle soup and orange Gatorade have nursed me through many an illness and/or hangover. for the sickie - you okay?

 

[starrkers]

Can't think of any foods offhand, apart from cracker biscuits. But dry ginger ale allowed to stand so most of the fizz is gone is a family favourite.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Oooh ginger ale! Why haven't I stocked in a barrel full of that? Excellent point Starrkers.

Campbell's chicken noodle soup and orange Gatorade have nursed me through many an illness and/or hangover. for the sickie - you okay?

I fear the Gatorade. *shiver* But I do love chicken noodle soup.

And I'm fine, nothing to fear - no seriously threatening symptoms. We're just not quite sure why I've been nauseous for about a month. Everything stays down (thank heaven), but I have very little appetite and my stomach is upset most of the time. The gastroenterologist recommends trying to stick to a regular meal schedule, so I'm trying to expand out at bit from jok, apple juice, and pretzels. Breakfast of champions and all that.

S

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'm hoping for advice in this thread, myself, since I've always been deficient in the soothing foods department. We tend to go the other way, adding chilis or ginger to stimulate the appetite.

Shang, nibbling on candied ginger might help your tummy. It's kept me nausea free through an assortment of situation, including two pregnancies...

 

[Guest]

Egg drop soup - no MSG.

Hope your tummy is better soon, dear Shang.

 

[oggbashan]

1. Hot Bovril with dry crackers (unsweetened biscuits suitable for topping with cheese etc, but with no topping)

2. Instant mashed potato with instant gravy (requires boiling water to prepare) - worked well for wife's morning sickness.

3. Bouillon with dry crackers (good for sea sickness)

4. Scrambled egg with or without toast.

5. Attempt with caution: slightly flavoured milk shake with raw egg whipped into the shake.

6. Tomato juice, with raw egg and a dash of Worcester Sauce stirred in. (Hangover cure)

Og

 

[dr_mabeuse]

For some reason salt seems to settle nauseous stomachs better than anything, and among the saltiest things in the world are umeboshi plums from Japan, salty enough to curdle your scalp and shoot lightning down your spine. You really should need a prescription to buy them but you might find them in health food stores or Japanese markets. One of them works wonders.

My grandmother used to give us a slice of lemon to suck on. That works well for nausea too. Then the strategy was to stay away from all fats and greases. We could have tea and toast and jelly but no butter or cream or milk.

But why should you be getting nauseous in the first place? Isn't the gut doctor concerned?

 

[glynndah]

My husband swears by the "garlic cure". (I just swear at it.) Loads and loads of onions and garlic, handfuls of bulbs, simmered in chicken broth. The whole house reeks as does the convalescent.

 

[Emperor_Nero]

Chicken noodle soup is the best thing for dehydration (boy, Gatorade was pissed when their research grant turned up that answer ... Campbell's funds the study now ) But it gives you proteins, a slightly salty liquid that can help hydrate and carbohydrates from the noodles. That with a few crackers usually works wonders for me.

I also usually have pretty good luck with Quaker oatmeal with a dash of brown sugar with the liquid being a half-and-half mixture of milk and water. Usually the worse my stomach feels, the thinner I make the porridge so it doesn't seem quite so heavy. Wash it down with some green tea and honey.

Hope your feeling more like your normal self soon.

 

[sr71plt]

My suggestion of a Snickers bar is looking more and more appealing.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Dr. M, you must be right - the one thing I keep thinking about the chicken soup is that I want more salt in it, which is unusual for me. I'll go to town with the sea salt. The fats and greases - urgh, that's bound to be right too, for I feel queasy even typing the words. Definitely something I'm avoiding at all costs.

The gut doctor is interested in what's causing the nausea, but the matter is complicated by a pre-existing condition that can kick up all sorts of merry hell in the GI tract. Right now we're treating the pre-existing matter more aggressively on the grounds that it could explain pretty much all of the symptoms ... except the nausea. Unfortunately, the typical first treatment for the nausea has the drawback of being likely to aggravate the pre-eisting matter.

It is, indeed, a puzzlement. I'm going to be keeping Campbell's, Del Monte's, and Morton's in business for a while, I think.

 

[Weird Harold]

Actually, I'm asking for assistance. I know that every family has certain "sick person" foods they fall back on, whether it's tea and dry toast or chicken noodle soup or what have you.

Contrary to the advice against fats and/or milk, my mothers' favorite sick-people food was crackers and milk -- that's Saltines (soda crackers)or "Oyster Crackers" (the little hexagonal crackers) in whole milk; portions and proportions to suit the patient, but roughly a coffe cup full of half crackers and half milk.

Honey and Clove Tea is one of my favorite cure-alls, but except for sroe throats, any beneficial effect is generally psychosomatic.

 

[Huckleman2000]

My total fallback is peanut butter on saltine crackers. That may be due to the fact that all you need is a knife - you don't even need a plate! - and making more housework is important to avoid when I'm under the weather.

I also second the candied ginger, if for no other reason than it smells good.

 

[adetaildiva]

Not gonna be much help here, Shang ..... I'm a 7-Up & saltines/dry toast girl, myself, occasionally adding some kind of broth.

Hope things get better for you soon!

 

[tickledkitty]

I think I read somewhere that chemotherapy patients eat jelly beans and/or suck on hard candies to relieve nausea.

I hope you're feeling better soon, Shanglan.

 

[elsol]

Rice and beans.

What do you want, dammit?!? I'm Latin.

I prefer:
Chicken and Rice soup.
Powerade
If it's a stomach issue... Ginger Tea

 

[Boxlicker101]

For a hangover, I always used to eat a large dill pickle.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Thank you for all of the excellent suggestions! Keep them coming - I'm taking notes. Notes and lumps of candied ginger, which I happened to remember was kicking around the house anyway. I'd already been on the ginger tea, which fortunately is one of the only things recommended for both the nausea and the pre-existing issues. Bless the name of the ginger plant.

Elsol, you laugh but it's been rice one day and beans the next pretty much all month - it's only right that they should meet up, isn't it?

Weird Harold, it's very interesting advice, but alas - this year I got to add "lactose intolerant" to the mix as well. Damnit, I miss ice cream!

Huck, that's the kind of advice I can really live with - "Avoid housework at all costs."

Thank you all so much for the kind wishes and good ideas. I'm off to make a pickle, garlic, jellybean and salted-plum omelet.

 

[rgraham666]

Thank you all so much for the kind wishes and good ideas. I'm off to make a pickle, garlic, jellybean and salted-plum omelet.

I'm not sure that's going to help with your nausea. I'm a little ill just thinking about it.

 

[elsol]

Elsol, you laugh but it's been rice one day and beans the next pretty much all month - it's only right that they should meet up, isn't it?

I was actually going to say for adults:
Sushi sticky rice
Black Bean Soup

 

[SeaCat]

Shang, Ginger is a great cure for nausea. Take it candied or in a tea. (Grate Ginger Root into hot water and let it steep.)

Depending on what is causing the stomach upset Mint also helps.

The big deal is what is causing the nausea. You haven't said what are the underlaying conditions but from what I have read I would have to think IBS.

Now if this has been ongoing for a month something is wrong. Think about changing GI Docs.

Cat