I've been in 5 hospitals in the SF Bay area recently, so have lots of experience with the food. The worst was Stanford. It was so unhealthy (white bread, white sugar, lots of salt) that they sent a lovely older gentleman around to ask the patients what they thought of the food. My roommate expressed her disgust and then told him to talk to me. Quaveringly, he did so, and I just blasted the food. He said,"But everyone else says they love it." I said, "they love YOU and don't want to insult you." He laughed. Stanford is also dirty, extremely noisy at night and not a good experience. Please save me from students.
On the other hand, Comm. Hosp of Monterey Penin (CHOMP) is exactly the opposite. You get a menu everyday with such items as poached salmon on spinach, 3 types of omelets including veggie, and everything is healthy-except the scrumptious desserts. The hospital is spotlessly clean, large private rooms, staff who come when you ring and seem to care, and my bill was $50,000 less for the same procedure as Stanford (TKR). I've been there twice and believe me, good food and being able to sleep at night really contribute to quick healing. I almost didn't want to leave. And 8 weeks later, I'm healing much faster than I did with the "miracle surgeon" at Stanford. If you live in the area and need a wonderful orthopedist, feel free to email me.

Just noticed the post about thickening chili. This isn't to thicken it, but I add good quality unsweetened cocoa power, cinnamon and Tiger Sauce (in addition to chili powder and chopped jalapenos, of course) which people seem to love. It's worth a try since no one can figure out the ingredients.