The Kitchen
Mike's Smoothies
- Fresh spinach (large handful)
- Frozen banana, 1 ripe (peel before freezing)
- Frozen mango chunks (1 cup)
- Coconut milk, full fat (1 cup)
- Ground flaxseed (1 tbsp)
- Raw honey (small drizzle)
Recipe notes coming soon.
- Frozen mixed berries (1.5 cups)
- Raw beet, small (grated or roasted)
- Coconut water (1 cup)
- Hemp seeds (1 tbsp)
- Fresh ginger, small knob
- Frozen banana, 1/2 (optional, adds creaminess)
Recipe notes coming soon.
- Frozen mango (1 cup)
- Pineapple chunks (1/2 cup)
- Frozen banana (1/2)
- Coconut milk, full fat (3/4 cup)
- Fresh turmeric, grated (or 1/2 tsp ground)
- Fresh ginger, small knob
- Pinch of black pepper (activates turmeric)
Recipe notes coming soon.
Tips from Mike
Keep frozen bananas, mango, and berry mixes stocked at all times. You will not want to run to the store on bad days. Peel bananas before freezing: they blend cleaner.
A large handful of spinach blends invisible in a fruit base. No color, no taste. This is how you get real nutrition into a kid who refuses vegetables. Do not tell them.
Full-fat coconut milk adds density without much extra volume. When a child is struggling to keep weight on during treatment, that can help. Every child is different, so check with your care team about what is right for yours.
Make extra and freeze flat in zip bags or silicone molds. On the hardest days, these will save you. Thaw in the fridge overnight or blend from frozen.
The act of choosing ingredients, blending, pouring: that is its own kind of medicine. Include the patient if they are up for it. Do it at the same time each day if you can.
We keep turmeric and ginger in almost everything. Fresh ginger tastes brighter than the powdered kind, and black pepper is often paired with turmeric to help the body take it in.
A note: These recipes and kitchen notes are what worked for our family during Emmy's treatment. Emmy's Friends is not a medical organization, and none of this is medical advice. Some ingredients, including turmeric and ginger, can interact with chemotherapy and other medications. Every child and every diagnosis is different, so please talk with your child's medical and nutrition team before making any changes to their diet during treatment.
In Their Words
Dad.
8 things he would tell you about staying positive, finding balance, and keeping your head above water.
Read Mike's Words →
Mom.
7 things she would tell you about trust, presence, and the respirations of life.
Read Aja's Words → In Mike's Words
Dad.
- Stay positive. Especially when it is the hardest thing.
"Our secret to success has just been to remain as positive as possible, whenever possible. Sometimes it is all you have to hang on to when everything surrounding you is so dark, the thought that things WILL get better. Negativity does not do anything to serve us in our lives which is why we really try to live in the positive."
- One week at a time. Not more.
"One week at a time is where we keep it because trying to manage, plan, and think about anything bigger than that is completely overwhelming. It will actually cause your brain to spin if you dwell on it for too long, which is one of the main reasons we have to operate very much in the present and immediate future, no more."
- Balance the hard things with the normal ones.
"It's been important to squeeze in many normal family activities in order to balance out all the other stuff. Many things in life require a delicate balance to find as much harmony as possible and this is certainly no different. It's how we and our sweet little lady shall get through tough times."
- Get outside. Fresh air is not optional.
"Clean, fresh air and enriching sunshine is not to be underestimated for its powerful healing abilities for both little ladies and her parents who've been locked inside for too long."
- Humor is medicine.
"Our little court jester, whose antics and verbiage are regularly ridiculous and consistently the medicine we need."
- Darkness shows you the stars.
"With darkness also comes the ability to see. If you didn't strip away every last shred of light, you would never be able to look up to see the moon, see the stars, and see the rest of the universe as it stretches on from here to forever. Standing there, gazing skyward, bathed in soft moonlight and almost instantly, it's not so dark anymore."
- Let people in. Let them help.
"The love and support we get every day is where we get a lot of the strength we need to keep one foot in front of the other on this sometimes dark journey. Thanks for being awesome and loving our little girl right through this thing."
- Keep living. Squeeze the fun in.
"We've been managing to squeeze as much fun into this experience as possible. That's almost as important as the treatment itself, the balance of everything... a day at the beach, a bike ride along a sun-kissed river, a good meal and a movie, a first baseball game. These are all things we've done this week alone and it is what is keeping us sane."
In Aja's Words
Mom.
- You were chosen.
"There is no doubt in my mind that I was chosen to be this old soul's mom. I often wonder if she chose me. I ask her, and she says with complete confidence, 'Yes.'"
- Navigate only what is immediately in front of you.
"The only way to navigate this is to find my bearings in the immediate surroundings, travel slow, and fight the urge to look too far ahead."
- Trust. Give up control.
"The most difficult part of all of this is giving up control. I have to remind myself every day to trust and lose control. Trying to control all the instability and uncertainty of life is exhausting and crazy-making."
- Take your shoes off. Walk in the park.
"We took our shoes off and walked in the park for awhile. Each step doing its part to ease the stress and bring about some healing. Fresh air is amazing."
- Let distractions be medicine.
"Distractions are so helpful. Keeping busy is so helpful for all of us."
- Breathe with the ebb and flow.
"These are the ups and downs, the ebb and flow, the respirations of life."
- Be at ease in this journey.
"We will make it, and when we do, the mountain air will be clean and crisp. The Earth and everything on it will be covered in a fresh layer of pure white that will sparkle in the golden sunlight. So clean and new, and ready for us to make whatever marks and tracks we want to in it. The sky will be a shade of blue so beautiful that there isn't even a name for it yet. Be at ease in this journey."
"We will cross it together as our family does: heads high, holding hands and ready to face whatever may come on this crazy journey of ours."
Mike Welle · 6.26.18 · Living Life