Need ideas for a bland, vegetarian, non-nauseating meal...

[Smokering]

Well, it's allowed to be nauseating in the sense of being bland and dull; just not nauseating in the sense of making a pregnant mother throw up. A woman from church is expecting her sixth child and REALLY sick - lying down pretty much 24/7 except for toilet trips, can't keep anything down, etc. I assume it's hyperemesis? She's sort of anti-doctors but her midwife told her very sternly to get her fluids and nutrition up if she wanted to avoid being on an IV drip in the hospital. So she's trying, but she really can't stand the taste or smell of certain foods.

Soooo, I have to make them a meal which is:

vegetarian
no spices
no garlic
no onions
no ginger (yes, ironically, ginger makes her nauseated)

Basically, nothing delicious. I can't think of ANYTHING without immediately going "No, wait, that needs rosemary and garlic to make it taste good". If it were just for her I'd make something bland just for the nutrients of it, but the whole family's eating it, so I want to make it as tasty as possible under the circumstances.

Any ideas? Anything at all? I made them a creamy chicken casserole last time that had no onions or garlic in it, but she's "off" meat now. I also made her hummus once, a really bland version, but haven't heard back whether she liked it or not. She does - at least, did - like my sourdough bread. I suggested making her a not-very-sweet sorbet or granita in my ice cream maker, but cold things hurt her teeth. So - help!

[BetsyS]

Cheese quesadillas on flour tortillas (maybe monterey jack--that's a nice, bland cheese). You can make salsa for the rest of the family, and she doesn't have to eat it.

I like watermelon a lot when nauseated at the beginning of pregnancy, so maybe a nice cut up fruit or fruit salad to add to whatever you make? Also, something like bran muffins might work well for her. Even if it doesn't go with your meal, she could eat it for snacks and/or breakfast.

Another comfort food for me is pasta. When I'm really nauseated, it's just pasta with butter. But, a macaroni and cheese could work or maybe even spaghetti if she's eating tomato sauce (tomato sauce gave me the willies with my last pregnancy) or a pesto pasta light on the garlic and parm. Maybe a room temperature pasta salad with Italian salad dressing?

[Owen'nZoe]

Is she lacto-ovo? This egg custard is what we make around here for sick tummies. It doesn't have a ton of sugar, but it does have a pleasant flavor and beautiful texture, and the milk and eggs would help her nutritionally.

http://missvickie.blogspot.com/2008/...g-custard.html

This recipe is for a pressure cooker and works great, but I should think you could find one that doesn't use a pressure cooker if you don't have one.

[emilysmama]

Thank goodness she is only vegetarian, not vegan! Please tell me that she's not on a low sodium diet!

1. Mashed potatoes. You can even leave out the pepper. It tastes good with just salt and butter.

2. Corn on the cob. Just boil it and salt it.

3. Lightly steamed green beans/broccoli/brussel sprouts. As soon as you take them off the heat, toss with salt so that the veggies will absorb the salt flavor. If she can stand it, you can also toss with a little bit of olive oil.

4. Steamed rice.

5. Egg drop soup

6. Corn chowder

7. Pasta. As soon as you drain it, toss it with a little olive oil and salt. (I'd also toss it with basil and some kind of italian herb and garlic, but you say she can't take it. Her loss!)

8. Scrambled eggs and sweet red peppers (either raw and diced small or sauteed in olive oil), stuffed into a pita pocket

[lynsage]

Grilled cheese sandwich (a slice of tomato on it is a good way to get at least one veggie in)

Vegetable soup

Sauteed tofu and veggies with herbs and salt or soy sauce over brown rice

Baked potato/sweet potato

Tofu, veggie "meat" or seitan shepherd's pie

[Ruthla]

How about rice and beans and veggies? Chop up carrots small and cook them with the rice so the rice can get SOME flavor. I'd also use brown rice for more nutrition and flavor. Cook the beans separately or open up a can of beans and rinse well.

Either combine them all in one dish, or serve the beans separately from the rice carrot/mixture.

Honestly, I'd go with "make simple bland food that she can keep down" and not worry about the rest of the family's boredom with the meals. They can add spices to their own portions if they want to, or Dad could cook for himself and the kids (so long as Mom doesn't have to smell their spicy food.)

[avendesora]

We like this recipe, and I think it would still be good without the garlic and onion. The roasting of the vegetables makes it sweet, and it's a one-pot meal.

[lil_earthmomma]

I found hot foods to be more nauseating because of the smell, so what about cold foods, like hummus (no garlic) and pita. Very bland, but full of protein for her.

[texmati]

I'm so there. When I'm feeling sick I only eat (we are south asian, so some of this is indian food):

mashed potatoes. no cheese, no pepper, no chives, no ranch dressing on the side. potatoes + milk + salt and butter.

sheero -- basically cream of wheat toasted in butter, add milk and sugar. leave out all the other spices.

kichidi-- classic sick food-- overly steamed lentils+ rice, and a little bit of turmeric, salt and you guessed it! butter. serve with yogurt. (lentils gross me out, but if you use split moong lentils you can't barely see them or taste them.) The link is for baby food, but it was the simplest recipe I could find.

raitu-- cucumber yogurt. leave out any onions, garlic, and cut the musterd seed in half. serve with rice or kichidi or eat alone.


Finally, see if she likes anything sour. I loved sour stuff during pregnancy until the heartburn kicked in last week. Green apples, grapes, oranges, even lemons. HTH!

[neptunemama]

I'd make two dishes, one for the family and one for her. When I was pregnant with my second, for a few weeks nothing tasted good. Fortunately I wasn't sick like your friend, but I only wanted fairly bland stuff. White rice with avocado, yogurt and soy sauce (only sometimes) hit the spot. She might also like plain tofu added in also. Brown rice is more nutritious but it had too much flavor for me during this stage.

[mumkimum]

mini-muffin frittatas? You could do a few different kinds, I'd think something like monterey jack cheese with grated zucchini might be pretty "bland" for those, and some others more for the rest of the family?

I've made good rice salads that are simply cold (usually brown) rice, chopped tomato and cucumber, lemon juice, olive oil.

Baked potatoes are a good idea, as are including some fruit (grapes/watermelon were some of my fave foods when having a hard time eating while pregnant).

[Smokering]

Thanks for the ideas! I'll mull over them and see what I feel like making.

She's not vegan: they're not even usually vegetarian, although their meat was limited to occasional chicken. She's just "off" meat - I suspect it might be because everyone called upon to cook for them decided to make chickeny rather than vegetarian dishes, so she's sick of it! Chicken stock *might* be OK and would definitely add nutrients and flavour to rice or lentils, but I'd have to check with her hubby. She does usually eat eggs and cheese, but I dunno - don't they seem like potentially nausea-inducing foods to you? Again, I should probably ring up and ask.

I did consider doing two meals, a bland and non-bland version, but the trouble is, she'd still smell spices or onions in the non-bland version. So it seems risky. I'm not trying to be difficult, I swear. Sodium is OK, thank goodness...

I should also add that I'm giving them the meal at church on Sunday, for them to eat that night. So it needs to keep OK for a few hours before serving. Overnight, realistically.

[emilysmama]

Originally Posted by Smokering

I did consider doing two meals, a bland and non-bland version, but the trouble is, she'd still smell spices or onions in the non-bland version. So it seems risky.

You probably should ask them, but I think they would be grateful for a bland and non-bland version. They can figure out the logistics themselves, but they could eat in a different room. Plus nuking the non-bland version might not make a strong odor. If you send just the bland version, that would be confining the rest of the family to bland. (Or maybe you could just send a bottle of Louisiana Hot sauce, my husband's favorite solution.)

[JessicaS]

Maybe cheesey grits?

[katelove]

The acupuncturist I saw when I had m/s suggested congee. There are lots of different recipes but you could make some of the very basic, plain porridge for her and then add some extra flavourings/veges/chicken to the rest for the family.