Benji's Blended Diet - Essential Nutrition!

Our son, Benji, depends on a feeding tube because of a delayed swallow reflex which causes him to aspirate. His gastronomy tube (G-tube) was placed February 2nd, 2011. At first, it was incredibly scary for us.... but we quickly realized that Benji's feeding tube was a huge blessing. Not only did it keep him free from aspiration pneumonia, but we were able to make sure he was getting complete nutrition/hydration without the need to stay in the hospital on an IV. We were also able to administer medications and other icky tasting vitamins and minerals directly through the tube without having to add to his already heightened oral aversion. Time after time Benji's feeding tube kept us from hospital admissions when he was ill because we were able to administer adequate electrolytes. And now, we use it to provide a kick-butt, whole-foods, nutritional-dense blended diet.

After several years on commercial formula, and the diagnoses of "failure to thrive," we decided to ditch the formula and introduce a whole foods diet. Benji's nutritionist was very hesitant at first but we were able to persuade her to let us trial it. When we went back 3 months later for a follow up, Benji's labs were better than ever and he had indeed GAIN weight. So, we got the go ahead to keep pursing the blended diet!

Benji does have some significant dietary restrictions including Gluten Free and Vegan (with the exception of honey) so it does take some planning and prep work. He's a tiny guy (6.5 years old and not even 35lbs - BUT considering he was only 2lbs at birth, he's definitely come a lone way!) Because of his low muscle tone, he BURNS through calories faster than typical kids.

Because of his calorie needs, we have calorie dense, nutrition-packed recipes. Today, we're sharing what we whipped up recently for his breakfast blend. His breakfast blend includes whole, rolled oats (cooked in almond milk and coconut oil), pure maple syrup, honey, fruit mix (today it's berries, apples, oranges, mangos, pineapple, and strawberries), natural peanut butter with chia and flax, yams, carrots, prunes, and a high quality nutritional. We also add an additional vitamin B12 because its a vegan diet. 

We make a bunch of meals at once and freeze them. This way, he always has a nutritious meal! Since the blended, real-food diet, Benji has grown and developed by leaps and bounds. He is no longer iron deficient and is off tons of medications and supplements to make up or everything he was lacking in his diet on commercial formula alone. Goes to show how whole-food nutrition can impact you! 

 ***We like to recycle our glass containers from salsa, coconut oil, etc to use to store Benji's blends.... its been working out perfectly and they're FREE! One bolus feeding is 4oz, so most of these jars hold 2 meals!

 ***We have a super awesome professional-grade blender (Blendec) so we don't always need to cook/soften everything - it just purees right up!

                                                                          Mommy's little helper!

                            *Whole oats simmering in almond milk and coconut oil in the crock pot

***Perhaps our biggest challenge is keeping the blends calorie dense, but thin enough to fit through this extension feeding tube. When we blend up berries (especially raspberries) - we usually run the blend cycle an extra few times to make sure we got those pesky seeds.... they do have a habit of clogging the tube if they're not pureed enough!

                                                       ***Yams, carrots, oranges, and prunes simmering!

                                                    ***Here's all the ingredients gathered for the breakfast blend!

                                                                           ***The finished product!