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Written & designed by Marissa Bishopblending real food for tube feedingBlended Diet Recipes© 2024 CDKL5 in Color Message
© 2024 CDKL5 in ColorThe information provided in thisbooklet constitutes lived experienceand is not intended as medical advice.Food safety should be well understoodwhen home blending. Always followfood safety guidelines.Always consult your doctor.
Read the labels!My son had his feeding tube placed in 2019 and at that time there werevery few enteral formula products on the market that were made withreal food. Most formulas were a combination of water, oil, vitamins, andsugar. Luckily, that is not the case today. Now you can find a wider varietyof tube feeding products that are made with real food. I encourage you toalways read ingredient labels and consider if a product is something you’dfeel comfortable eating yourself or feeding your child.I believe we all deserve to eat real food.When my son got his g-tube placed I was adamant that I was going tocontinue to feed him real food and that I would blend it myself. His tubewas not a surprise so I had plenty of time to learn and prepare for thetransition. I purchased two books that I highly recommend:Homemade Blended Formula Handbook by Klein and MorrisComplete Tubefeeding by O’GormanThere are SO many benefits to feeding real food through the tube and it isnot difficult or complicated. Actually, blending for tube feeds isn't all thatdifferent than what I was already doing when I blended my son's oralpurees! Here is how I do it:1) I Stockpile. Every few weeks I batch blend fruits and vegetables andfreeze them in 4 oz containers. This way I always have variety on hand. Ialso batch cook meats (or make extra) and freeze in individual portions. Ialways have granola and Belvita Biscuits (great calories!), honey, apple Real Food For All!This booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Color
sauce, and some baby food jars in the pantry too for quick add-ins. In myfridge I keep grass-fed whole milk, grass-fed butter, real maple syrup, andorganic yogurt as well as nut butters especially for him, and I keep highquality extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil on hand.2) I blend as much of what we eat as I can. Last night I made meatloaf sotoday my son had that in his blend. He has no allergies or foodrestrictions so as long as it can be blended (and anything can!) he canhave it.3) I make two blends per day and divide it into four feedings. I make abreakfast style blend and a lunch/dinner style blend. I make sure toinclude all food groups and reach my calorie goal for the day (forexample, if his calorie goal is 1200 then I do 600 per blend). The"Homemade Blended Formula Handbook" has awesome sample mealplans that break down recommended food group amounts. My son alsohas a dietician on his medical team who I consult with about calorie andfluid goals as well as vitamins and monitoring of his bloodwork inconjunction with his GI team.4) I have back up. I keep some real food enteral products in the pantry foremergency use (like to take to the hospital) or for when blending isn’tpossible (power outage, traveling, illness). Many products can bepurchased in small amounts on Amazon.5) I don’t stress! Just like we tend to eat the same things day after day, itis totally fine to have some recipes you know work and rotate them. And itcan be as simple as making a plate and throwing it in the blender!I love blending for my son. It makes me happy knowing he is getting agood variety of nutrition and can eat what our family is having. It is alsofun on holidays giving him those special foodslike everyone else. Even pie!This booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Color
You’ll need some tools to blend successfully. Here is what I recommend:Heavy duty blenderThink Blentec or Vitamix. You’ll need to make sure all the food breaksdown so there are no grits left. I prefer the smaller jar for blendingindividual meals and the larger jar for batch blending. I hear both Blentecand Vitamix offer discounts for medical families who want to blend. Reachout to the companies for more information.60ml O-ring syringesIf you plan to bolus feed (as opposed to using the pump) you’ll want tohave O-ring syringes. Unlike other syringes, ones with an O-ring are ableto be washed reused for a long time without sticking. A little coconut oilkeeps them sliding like new.“Modifying” the pump bagIf you are using the feeding pump for home blends you are going to wantto know this trick. There are how-to videos on YouTube.Strainer and lipped bowlPeople will tell you that you don’t needto strain if you have a heavy dutyblender, but I always strain myblend over a lipped bowl. It’squick and easy and I can pour theblend into whatever containerI am using to store.You’ll Need ToolsThis booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Color
I love breakfast foods and there are so many easy ways to build abreakfast style blend! Combine a protein, starch, fruit/veg, and a fat.You’ll need to add liquid to blend!Hearty OatmealIngredients: 1 packet instant oatmeal, 1 c whole milk, 2 tbs nut butter, 2tbs maple syrup, 4 oz mixed fruit pureeMethod: soak oats overnight or quick cook, blendwith remaining ingredients, keep back as much milk asyou can and add it at the end (blending milk can makeit bubbly) Total Calories = 600 Blended “Omelette”Ingredients: 3 cooked eggs, 1 tbs butter or oil, 4 oz mixed veggie puree, 2tbs Parmesan cheese, 1 slice breadMethod: cook eggs in butter or oil, soak bread tosoften, blend with remaining ingredientsTotal Calories = 590 High calorie, low volume add ins:2 tbs nut butter = 180 calories1 tbs honey or maple syrup = 60 calories2 tbs Parmesan cheese = 40 caloriesBreakfastThis booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Color
What’s for dinner? Anything, even pizza! Combine a protein, starch,fruit/veg, and a fat. Remember, you’ll need to add liquid to blend!Lentil SoupIngredients: 1/2 c cooked lentils, 4 oz mixed veggie puree, 1 tbs oil, 1/4avocado, 1 slice bread, 2 tbs Parmesan cheese, water or brothMethod: soak bread, blend with remaining ingredientsTotal Calories = 610BBQ DinnerIngredients: 3/4 c cooked chicken or meat loaf, 2 tbs bbq sauce, 4 ozmixed veggie puree, 1 tbs butter, 1 slice bread, 1 tbs Parmesan cheeseMethod: soak bread, blend with remainingingredientsTotal Calories = 560Fish & “Chips”Ingredients: 4 oz cooked wild salmon, 1.5 tbs butter or oil,4 oz mixed veggie puree, 1/4 c mashed potatoes, 2 tbsParmesan cheeseMethod: blend ingredients together with liquidTotal Calories = 590Lunch / DinnerThis booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Color
I fought getting a G/J tube for my son for too long because I thought itmeant that I couldn’t blend his food anymore. Luckily I was able toadvocate for what I wanted and our GI team was willing to work with me.Changing to j-tube feeds was surprisingly much easier than I anticipated.My son’s reflux is better and he can “eat” anywhere and in any position -even laying down! On g-tube feeds he had to be sat upright during feedingand for a long while after. No more!It is a bit of a bummer that he no longer has “meal times” - his feedingpump runs 22 hours a day or so - but the benefits definitely outweigh anydrawbacks.Here is how I make my son’s j-tube blend:We get all 6 flavors of Real Food Blends covered by insurance and he getsa different two pouches a day. To that I add homemade fruit and veggiepuree, lentils, a slice or two of bread, nut butter, hummus, prunes, andwhole milk to get to his calorie goal.Every morning, I blend everything (minus the milk) together with a ¼ tspof iodized salt and his multivitamin. Then I stir in the whole milk (blendingmilk creates lots of air bubbles), strain the blend into a pour-able bowl,and pour it equally into two pitchers. I add water to reach our fluid goaland store the pitchers in the refrigerator. He has the first pitcher duringthe daytime and the second pitcher overnight.When your child is on a continuous feed, pay attention to hangtimes and make sure to follow food safety guidelines!!Feeding in the J-tubeThis booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Color
My Blending BlogsHow I Do a Blenderized G-tube Diet for My SonHow I Do a Blenderized J-tube Diet for My SonNatural Tube Feeding with Claire KariyaBlended food in the j-tube - Share this with your doctor!Blenderized RN Private Facebook Group - for support about all thingstube feedingArticles For Reference (No surprise, real food is better for tube feeding!)"A SickKids-led collaborative study with Children’s Hospital ofEastern Ontario (CHEO) has shown the benefits of switchinggastrostomy tube (G-tube)-fed children from commercial formula tohomemade puréed food.""Pureed by gastrostomy tube diet improves gagging and retching inchildren with fundoplication""Blenderized Enteral Nutrition Diet Study: Feasibility, Clinical, andMicrobiome Outcomes of Providing Blenderized Feeds Through aGastric Tube in a Medically Complex Pediatric Population""Efficacy and Tolerance of Blended Diets in Children ReceivingGastrostomy Feeds""Health Outcomes and Quality of Life Indices of Children ReceivingBlenderized Feeds via Enteral Tube"ResourcesThis booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Color
Let’s Be Friends!This booklet is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your doctor. | © 2024 CDKL5 in Colorinstagram facebook linkedinCDKL5inColor@gmail.comQuestions? Interested in being on our podcast?