Ideas for food loving doctors and residents

[Dr. Teeth]

Hi, have a great time in 3rd year.

I survived on the little pouches of tuna, combined with salt and pepper I had in little baggies and a lemon that I would puncture with a hypodermic needle and squeeze juice out of (needle stays in hole between uses, lemon whould keep for 7-10 days.) Could be eaten plain or over greens if the ones in the hospital salad bar were acceptable and I had time.

Beef jerky is good too. Little ziplock bags of cereal. And I ate Power Bars that looked and tasted like putty.

I would keep all of this in your locker. Food in the white coat will bother some attendings and house officers.

[LainerX]

At the VA, you can get milk and the individual serving cereals in the nutrition room. Munch on that while you type notes. Also, saltine crackers and graham crackers are standard in nutrition rooms at the VA. If you're lucky, you'll also find some individual cheeses and some peanut butters to go with'em.

Oh God... I'm remembering now that when it got really nuts on call, I would drink a NutraRenal shake or a Boost for a liquid meal. Ugh. Not delicious, but really fast. I would put it over ice in one of those individual patient "water pitchers" and stick a straw in it. I could pound that in the time it took me to go the 2 flights of stairs to the ICU. On one particularly foul night, I also drank "nectar-thick instant coffee". A packet from the dysphagia diet tray.

At work now, I usually pack a couple of Pria bars, some carrots/sliced veggies, and some popcorn/pretzels and some tuna in a foil pack when I'm on call...

Unfortunately [or fortunately] , you will find that nurses' stations are inevitably full of cookies, cakes, chocolates, chips, candy. Usually gifts from patients and their families, or showers for babies and weddings. Nurses know how to party at work. Be careful about these snacks - you will eat more than you realize and still be hungry because you ate on the run. Think about it, if you go to the chart rack 10 times in a morning and have 10 handfuls, you shouldn't need lunch.

In residency I really got into drinking slightly sweetened Earl Grey tea when I was sleepy at night because the bergamot aroma, sugar, and caffeine was a great pick me up. Also because hot water and cups are easily found in all the nutrition rooms, so it didn't take any effort to make it and it is easier on the stomach at 3am than super acidic coffee. I still do keep a tea bag in my breast pocket behind my ancient pocket guide.

Eat healthfully, wash your hands often, and take the stairs everywhere and you'll keep from getting sick. Also, post-call you'll find that you're STARVING but no matter what you eat, you're never full. What you really need is sleep. Eat a little something healthy before you crash, then wake up and make a decent dinner. I swear I eat 2000 calories more when I try to eat a regular-sized meal post-call because no matter what I still feel jacked after I'm done eating it, so I eat more!

Good luck!

[paulraphael]

My girlfriend is in her fist year of medical residency at a hospital in the Bronx. If you're not familiar with the life of a resident, look up "indentured servitude" on Wikipedia, or just read some of the letters written by Russian soldiers at Stalingrad

At any rate, she loves food, but has little access to good food of any kind, and virtually no time to cook. Anything more complicated than heating something up on the stove or in the microwave will probably be too much, although she's ok with preparing some things a day or two in advance, like rice.

Some things I've been considering are those chef-made, frozen sous vide meals (expensive ... I'd get them for her as presents), and those ready-to-eat indian meals (by companies like tasty bite). One catch is that she's a ravenous meat-eater, and would only be satisfied by something like the tasty bite meals if she was able to add some pre-prepared meat.

Any ideas?

[joancassell]

Paul, one rather labor-intensive solution would be to make her a selection of stews, daubes, etc. complete with cooked rice or noodles, and package them in individual Foodsaver plastic bags. She could then open one corner, put them on a paper or china plate or bowl, and pop them into the microwave -- most residents' set-ups have microwaves. Or she could defrost them in boiling water. And I bet you have plenty of recipes of dishes ou know she enjoys that would take such treatment. (Just provide a small salt-shaker, since the freezing removes the salt.)

This will be a lot tastier -- and cheaper -- than anything prepared by someone else.

[ludja]

If I was in the Bronx, I'd be crusing Little Italy for delicious Italian coldcuts and cheeses. I wonder if there might also be some nice prepared or semi-prepared items in the shops there. I'm guessing she wouldn't have time to work with the fresh chickens and rabbits you can buy there but there are probably lots of nice things to make nice antipasti platters or pasta dishes!

[Lilija]

Paul, one rather labor-intensive solution would be to make her a selection of stews, daubes, etc. complete with cooked rice or noodles, and package them in individual Foodsaver plastic bags.  She could then open one corner, put them on a paper or china plate or bowl, and pop them into the microwave -- most residents' set-ups have microwaves.  Or she could defrost them in boiling water. And I bet you have plenty of recipes of dishes ou know she enjoys that would take such treatment.  (Just provide a small salt-shaker, since the freezing removes the salt.)

This will be a lot tastier -- and cheaper -- than anything prepared by someone else.

←

This is EXACTLY what I'm doing for a few members of my family, for Christmas. This is my second year giving food gifts, and it's very rewarding for me, as the giver and my recipients. Some are too infirm to cook, or are extremely career oriented, and really look forward to a break from canned soup and Lean Cuisine, so I make 2 weeks worth of food for each of them, package it in single servings, and freeze it.

It really is a gift from the heart, if you make her favorite things, too.

[Sony]

When homemade reserved ran short, a few of my favorite "I can't deal" options that weren't too bad:

Good quality olive-oil packed tuna for:

-tuna + microwaved potato, cut up + microwave steamed frozen green beans + good olives, all tossed in vinaigrette (good quality prepared dressing is fine) = something like Nicoise salad. Other additions are endless- chopped hard-boiled eggs, fresh herbs, leftover steamed vegetables, etc.

-mixing with good jarred tomato sauce + pasta. Easy green salad to complete.

Patak's jarred sauces for:

mixing/heating with canned chickpeas and eating with rice and a microwave steamed vegetable

heating quick-cooking protein in (frozen shrimp, fish fillet....heck,sometimes I'd poach an egg in the sauce and call it a day)- again, with rice and steamed vegetables

I've heard good things about Amy's soups and frozen meals, but haven't tried them myself. Glad she has someone to help take care of her .

[joancassell]

If you're thinking about having food for her at home, when she staggers home exhausted late at night, barely able to see straight, put a roast in her refrigerator every week: chicken, beef, lamb, pork. Add a container of washed salad greens (baby romaine lasts the longest) and a jar of homemade salad dressing, and perhaps a loaf of good bread, and she'll be well-nourished with little effort.