As a foodie, I blog about everything food related. Including the good and not so good. I had a hospital stay for about a week back in January due to my new arrivals at the Foothills Medical Centre. Here is a recollection of what I ate.
The food was Ok. My first meal was lunch which was basically my first solid food in over 24 hours. Tasty when one is starving.
But let’s get back to breakfast. I could choose my menu some days, when the sheet came around. Just the basics. Toast, egg, usually scrambled, some kind of fruit, yogurt, milk and juice. Occasional muffin, pastry or hot cereal. Good enough for me. I’m not usually a milk drinker but I did during my stay because I was always hungry.
Apparently they had a small kitchen full of snacks which mostly consisted of peanut butter toast, yogurt and juice. Apparently, as I never made it there; I only asked the nurses for the above items.
The lunches were usually sandwiches with a salad, vegetable or soup. The sandwiches look like they might have been prepared in house. For dinner, there was always a hot entree. I was pleasantly surprised one night when I got a cabbage roll. I’m not really into the idea of having my meal produced in say, Ontario, freezing it and shipping it here to be rewarmed as typical in some healthcare settings. This is known as rethermalizing. I was tired of the obviously thawed from frozen peas, corn, carrots and beans, but hey, this is a hospital not a fine dining establishment.
It wasn’t a horrible experience, except for what happened below in the next paragraph. I’ve had airplane food, although not recently and I can say that it is still better than hospital food. I did supplement my diet with fresh fruit from home and some oat bars from Fraiche Desserts. But I can see how if one were used to more culturally diverse foods how one would encourage their family to bring in what they prefer to eat.
My last dinner was clear liquids, thanks to a bout of ileus. I was so hungry and looking forward to some food. The real (as opposed to plastic) knife and fork that came with it was an additional insult. Thank goodness it resolved by next morning so I could have real food for breakfast.
I wonder what would happen if they let patients order from say, Skip the Dishes? Of course keeping in mind dietary restrictions.
Orange cranberry pop tart, toast with peanut butter and jam, yogurt, hard boiled egg, apple slices, milk and apple juice
Scrambled egg, toast, bran muffin, yogurt, mandarin orange, milk and apple juice
Toast wit jam and honey, scrambled egg, cream of wheat, yogurt, mandarin orange and apple juice
Scrambled egg, toast with peanut butter and jam, yogurt, apple slices, oatmeal, milk and coffee
Deli meat sandwich, beef stew with rice, roll with butter, milk, apple juice, fruit cup and rice pudding
Chicken sandwich with side salad, green beans, carrots, consomme, milk and tea
Chicken sandwich with cucumber, peas, butternut squash soup, milk,orange juice and rice pudding
Cabbage roll with mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, corn, fruit cup and tea
Poached salmon with green beans, peas, carrots, carrot sticks, berry crumble and milk
Tea, fruit juice and consomme