Betty Crocker's Living With Cancer Cookbook

by Betty Crocker, Linda Carson, Elyse Cohen

Good nutrition is vital to people undergoing cancer treatment, yet treatment side effects can make eating seem unappealing. Now Betty Crocker, two oncologists, and a nutritionist bring back the joy of eating topeople undergoing cancer treatment with delicious recipes that are nutritious and easy to make. A thoughtful, practical gift for patients and families coping with cancer, the book includes:
* 130 recipes, from breakfasts and snacks to dinners and desserts, like Extra-Easy Baked Ziti, Fettuccine with Asparagus and Mushrooms and Country Blueberry Cobbler
* Advice from cancer patients, from coping with the emotional roller coaster to making recipes more appealing
* Recipes tagged to show which are helpful for the most common side effects of cancer treatment, plus special diet menus to help with them
* "Q and A" between Dr. Ghosh and cancer patients about how to handle the effects of cancer treatment
* An easy 7-day menu plan based on eating small meals six times a day -- just right for patients in treatment
* Cancer resource guide, nutrition and medical glossary
"This book will be of great assistance to patients and families undergoing cancer treatment. It is a creative guide to the use of pleasant and easy menus to help alleviate difficult, commonly experienced side effects." --Dr. Barrie R. Cassileth, Chief, Integrative Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking

255 pages, Hardcover

First published December 29, 2001

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like What to Eat During Cancer Treatment: 100 Great-Tasting, Family-Friendly Recipes to Help You Cope, this cookbook is broken down into cancer-treatment reaction sections. I think there are only four or five sections in this book, instead of the seven, or so, listed in the aforementioned book, but it's still helpful.

My mom has liked the foods from this book the best; she reacts to them well and she is more likely to say she enjoyed the meals made from these recipes. It makes sense; her first cookbook was a Betty Crocker cookbook and that's how she cooks: Crocker Style.

These are quick and easy recipes, a lot of them call for prepackaged ingredients so they're great for people who have little time, little kitchen know-how, or who feel like crap because they're going through chemo.

Personally, I don't like this one as well as What to Eat During Cancer but since the foods from this cookbook are more palatable to my Mom and she's the one we're caring for, it gets four stars.

[Jennifer Kopald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a beautiful cookbook, and I love the contributors' intentions to rally around women in treatment. It is also rich in information. However, there are some contradictions as well as misinformation. For example, women in treatment should NOT have fresh flowers in the house because they put the patient at an increased risk of infection; this book recommends fresh flowers in two different sections. Also, in a section addressing the common side effect of mouth sores it says to avoid tomatoes, but the recipe on the opposite page uses tomatoes as the main ingredient.

I like the format; the book addresses the four most common side effects of cancer treatment--diarrhea, constipation, mouth sores, and nausea--and labels the recipes as effective in battling the specific side effect that is present. The recipes for mouth sores include fruit, but some fruits exacerbate the painful side effect. I am a cancer survivor, and I know from experience that strawberries, for example, are especially painful when mouth sores are present.

Lastly, some of the recipes have a long ingredient list with involved preparation. When I was in treatment, I wanted quick recipes that require few ingredients so that I didn't have to spend a lot of time in the grocery store hunting ingredients, and so I didn't have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen because the treatments left me exhausted. The bottom line is that many of the recipes in the book are impractical.

I am able to sort out the discrepancies now that most of the brain fog has lifted, and because I am a college-trained health educator. The average woman in treatment is less able to think clearly as well as not having enough stamina to benefit from the complex recipes.

Therefore, I do not recommend this book as a resource for women in treatment.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book many years ago, really at the beginning of my journey into better health and diet, and while I didn't actually have cancer, the thought of using nutrition to bolster health really appealed to me. Unfortunatley, this book is more focused on making food more appealing to those undergoing chemo than actually using food to fight cancer (totally different topic, I guess). And though some of the recipes are very heavy on carbohydrates, and so honestly not a good choice for anyone fighting cancer as they may promote tumor growth and spread, most of the recipes are healthy in a general sense. I would have to add also, that one of my top favorite recipes which has become an absolute staple in my family is the Crowd-Sized Ministrone Soup from this cookbook. It's one of the best and most delicious ways I know to mega-boost my veggie intake, and pretty much all of the ingredients are cancer-fighting superstars (The recipe alone was enough to justify the purchase of the book, IMO. You can also find the recipe posted online at http://www.dvo.com/recipe_pages/cance... (I highly recommend using fresh, not frozen spinach, and organic zucchini since it can be gmo (or replace with opoe squash))).

[Shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Great info and recipes in it.

[Jjudyfl · Rating 2 out of 5]

-----Chemotherapy side effects lists are long and frightening. I stocked up on dry soda crackers, graham crackers, extra containers of ginger, ginger ale, baking soda toothpaste, and made sure I had plenty of Imodium!
-----I didn't need any of them! It's impossible to predict who of us will get the nausea, the mouth sores and all the icky stomach aggravations.
-----BUT, this cookbook can help!
-----It is set up like a regular cookbook: Breakfasts, Entrees, Sides, Desserts, etc. The difference is that recipes have "flags" at the top. A purple stripe indicates that it might be helpful for nausea, Orange: mouth sores, yellow: diarrhea, green: constipation.
-----Too tired to cook? Make ahead meals are suggested. Your family doesn't like dry toast? Dishes that your family will eat and are also safe for you are suggested.
-----Actually with a little common sense one does not need this cookbook. I found it just okay, but worth a look.
-----My biggest complaint: I could not read the white page numbers on the pale yellow background! I never write in my books, but I had to grab a pen and number them myself.
-----Why have an index if you can't see the page numbers?
.

[Elizabeth]

Very practical cookbook, with recipes organized in part of the cookbook by symptom of cancer treatment (such as nausea, etc.) Recipes simply and not terribly imaginative, but simple is better if one is sick.

[Garbacik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cooking for cancer patients, according to this cookbook, is just healthy, low-fat, low-sugar, high fiber cooking.