Preparing Shabbos food for someone recovering from c diff

amother

Pearl

Fri, Jul 07 2017, 11:35 am

My mother is recovering from c diff, acquired in the hospital / rehab after treatment and extensive antibiotics for another acute issue. She was just discharged after two months in the hospital, and is recovering in my home. She is quite weak -- she has lost a significant percentage of her body weight -- and is still having diarrhea several times day. I need to give her good, fresh, nourishing food. So far I'm doing yogurt in the morning, toast with applesauce or banana for lunch, and freshly cooked chicken and rice for supper. (That's not nearly enough calories, but it takes me hours just to get that into my mother.)

Now I'm sitting her wondering what I'll feed her tomorrow. The morning is no problem, since it's just yogurt, but I can't make toast on Shabbos, and I can't cook chicken and rice on Shabbos. Warming up food on a blech leaves the food at an unsafe temperature for far too long. (It's fine for the rest of us, and used to be fine for my mother, but not now.) Crock pots have much the same issue (the initial slow warming period leaves the food at unsafe temperatures for quite a while), and honestly, I've never eaten easily digestible food that was cooked in a crock pot.

Even if I wanted to ask a non-Jewish person for help in microwaving the food (in general, I don't do amira l'akum, but my mother's state of health is precarious and I would in this situation), there is only one non-Jewish couple on our block, and they're not usually around. There are few non Jews in our entire neighborhood.

What can I prepare so my mother doesn't starve on Shabbos?

SixOfWands

Fri, Jul 07 2017, 12:42 pm

Refuah shleima to your mom.

First things first, I'd ask your rabbi what you can and cannot do in terms of food preparation, given your mother's precarious health.

Meanwhile, I'd give her cold roasted chicken and rice salad.

For a crockpot, you can heat the food before putting it in (before Shabbat, of course), then use the crockpot to keep it warm.

mommy_r

Fri, Jul 07 2017, 2:30 pm

How about congee in the crock-pot? http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....03051 When my husband and I had a stomach virus, we actually served this instead of cholent on Shabbos once... delicious, nutritious, and very digestible/easy on the stomach. If you're worried about the slow warming period, you can probably bring it to a boil on the stove beforehand.

amother

Pearl

Fri, Jul 07 2017, 3:13 pm

Thank you for all your ideas, and apologies for not responding before, but I was shopping. I have decided to make chicken soup and when it is boiling put it into the crock pot so it will stay warm over Shabbos. In addition, I will roast some chicken and poach salmon and offer those cold. And I think hard-boiled eggs will also work.

My mother is a picky eater in the best of times and especially now, so I know all the grain salad ideas won't work (she never eats that), but I think I will cook some egg noodles, and take them out of the refrigerator just enough to take the chill off them tomorrow.

Thanks for all your wishes for a refuah sheleimah. It has been a very rough time, and this has so debilitated my mother -- she has gone from walking with a walker to being totally bed bound, hardly even able to turn in bed -- so she really needs a refuah. She is always happy to hear when people send their good wishes and tefilos.

amother

Taupe

Sat, Jul 08 2017, 11:43 pm

For next week, just wanted to tell you that I often warm noodles for the kids by taking water from the urn, pouring it over until keili shlishi, and then pouring that hot water over a bowl of noodles to warm. Then transfer the noodles to their plate.
Other times I have put a bowl of noodles over another bowl of hot water to try to warm the food.

amother

Teal

Sun, Jul 09 2017, 10:14 am

Refuah shleimah! Lucky mom to have such a devoted daughter! I can't imagine how difficult this is for you! You can heat up dry bread/challah on shabbos over a blech and give her warm toast. Thats what I was taught. Ask your rabbi to verify. Stay strong, you sound like an amazing person!