Karen McMillan faced a battle with breast cancer in 2011. Fortunately, she is now healthy and happy and fully engaged with life again.
“But the forced march of cancer was undoubtedly hard-possibly the most difficult thing I have ever been through in my life and certainly the most physically gruelling.” she writes.
Her hope is that Everyday Strength: Recipes and Wellbeing Tips for Cancer Patients which she has co-authored with chef Sam Mannering will help other cancer patients to realise that they too can get through this challenging life experience.
It is packed full of practical, everyday things that those who have cancer (and their families and friends) can do to make each day a little brighter while they are undergoing treatment.
When she was writing Everyday Strength Karen didn’t just rely on her own experience but talked to others who had had cancer and also asked many experts in the field for their contributions. Then she packaged it all into separate chapters each dealing with a different challenge
These include:
- Exhaustion: practical solutions for this common problem
- Lack of appetite and weight loss
- Nausea: simple remedies that might help
- Common side effects of Hormone Therapy
- Dealing with pain and discomfort
- The Symptoms you don’t want to talk about
Three of my sister–in- laws and some good friends have had a battle with cancer in the past. I wish I had had this book then. There are just so many practical suggestions and ways to help and support them that never crossed my mind. It would also have helped me to better understand the day to day challenges they were going through.
Sam Mannering is well known as a regular food columnist, contributor to various publications and cookbook author. Over the years I have tried quite a few of his easy to prepare but stylish recipes and we have enjoyed them all. So I was delighted to find that he has designed the recipes for this book.
While writing the recipes for Everyday Strength he had just finished treatment for his third melanoma scare. Luckily it was caught and treated before it had time to spread.
His recipes were therefore created with care and insight of what it is like to be at the coalface, going through treatments and not quite feeling your normal self.
While he was undergoing cancer treatment he went off a few foods like red meat, tomatoes and chillies. This happens not infrequently to other cancer patients. So he has avoided including recipes that contain chewy red meat or those that are too spicy and has included ones that are alkaline rather than acid.
Sam comes from a farming background. He thinks it is important to know where his food comes from and what has been done to it so that he can make healthy choices.
But overall his view of food did not change. For him, it is much more than a way of satisfying hunger. “It nourishes, it keeps you happy, and it uplifts you.”
He has created a raft of healthy and tasty recipes for all mealtimes, as well as some infusions drinks and smoothies. They don’t require too many ingredients nor are they complicated to make. Many of them can be frozen so that if you are taking one of his dishes over to a friend or a relation who has cancer they can pop it into the freezer to have later.
I especially liked his last section with recipes for children with cancer. Siblings can often feel left out when so much attention needs to be given to the child who has cancer. But Sam’s child-friendly dishes such as crepes, sausage rolls, jam tarts, panko fish bites and chicken nibbles with soy and honey would appeal to them as well so the whole family can sit down and enjoy a meal together.
One set of recipes will not fit all, but there is plenty of variety in this book so that there will be dishes in there to suit everyone.
My sister-in-law lost her senses of taste and smell after surgery but she can still appreciate the colours and textures of food. So when I invited her over to dinner recently I tried to focus on the senses she does have. I made her Sam’s salad of Pumpkin, Lentils, Cauliflower and Hazelnuts. It is colourful and crunchy and looked fabulous on a large white platter. I knew it was a winner when she asked me for the recipe.
Salad of Pumpkin, Lentils, Cauliflower and Hazelnuts
SERVES: 4–6, PREP: 10 min, COOKING TIME: 40 min, Gluten Free, Diary Free
Ingredients:
- ½ crown pumpkin, peeled and deseeded
- 1 small cauliflower
- sea salt and black pepper
- olive oil
- 400g (14.1oz) green or puy lentils
- a handful of bean sprouts
- ½ cup (75g/2.6oz) hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- large handful of rocket
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Chop the pumpkin into smallish 3–4cm chunks. Remove the stem and leaves from the cauliflower and cut into florets. Combine both on a roasting tray with some salt and pepper and several tablespoons of olive oil. Shake the tray a little to coat the vegetables. Pop in the oven to roast for about 25–30 minutes until the vegetables are tender and nicely caramelised. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for several minutes.
In the meantime, wash and drain the lentils, then place
in a saucepan with plenty of water. Bring to the boil,
Then leave to simmer gently for about 15 minutes until the lentils are tender. Drain off any remaining liquid, season well to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside to cool down.
On a large serving platter gently fold together the cooled pumpkin and cauliflower, the bean sprouts and hazelnuts with a little bit of olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Fold through the rocket and serve.
Karen: I’d say this is the perfect ‘comfort’ salad – if there is such an expression. Perfect for the whole family, but especially good for anyone undergoing cancer treatment as it’s packed with nutrition and goodness.
The recipe comes from:
Everyday Strength – Recipes and Wellbeing Tips for Cancer Patients by Sam Mannering and Karen McMillan, Beatnik Publishing, RRP $44.99 www.beatnikshop.com
by Lyn Potter
Parent and grandparent, Avid traveller, writer & passionate home cook
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