HELP! Need soft food ideas!!!

sudmom

My husband is undergoing major dental reconstruction. He will not be able to chew for a very long time. Hard to give him salads and fresh veggies. Does anyone have good ideas for healthy foods that would do not need to be chewed? I think he is getting tired of smoothies and soup...

Braincatcher

Wow, sounds like a bummer No sugar added applesauce, plain yogurt, natural peanut butter, and cottage cheese are what come to mind.

sudmom

LOL-basically his lunch today, but that is getting hard to make a meal out of....

TavistockToad

Mashed potato

KimR_1986

I don't know how long he has to endure but I would just try to get as creative as I can with the soups with as little repeat as I can. If you have a good blender just about any food can be a soup-ish/baby food type of consistency.

sudmom

Poor guy has had mashed potatoes with gravy, mashed potatoes with cheese, mashed potatoes with sour cream...trying to come up with the not normal ideas. something that tastes like real food.

sudmom

KimR_1986 wrote: »

I don't know how long he has to endure but I would just try to get as creative as I can with the soups with as little repeat as I can. If you have a good blender just about any food can be a soup-ish/baby food type of consistency.

Have a vita mix that is working really well.

TavistockToad

sudmom wrote: »

Poor guy has had mashed potatoes with gravy, mashed potatoes with cheese, mashed potatoes with sour cream...trying to come up with the not normal ideas. something that tastes like real food.

Flaked salmon?

KatieH12271

I haven't seen mashed cauliflower mentioned yet. You can jazz it up with some turmeric or some light cheese or parmesan. Mashed butternut squash or sweet potatoes too. you can add cinnamon to yogurt or cottage cheese for a different flavor and to add some fat burning to it (if he needs it). and like KimR said... get creative with the soups, there are even some cold soup recipes since the weather is getting warmer like gazpacho or cold cucumber soup.

TavistockToad

Scrambled egg

sudmom

Great ideas Katie! He loves sweet Potatoes, but I never make them (I don't like them), and the cauliflower is also one I think will work! Thanks!

sudmom

I like the salmon idea TavistockToad-I will try it-thanks!

futuremanda

Oatmeal using steel cut oats. You can add whatever to change up the flavours, make it interesting. There are plenty of nice recipes around the web.

Similarly, quinoa or bulgur. Maybe couscous. If he can handle any of those, you could make up sauces, like you would for chili or pasta, that don't have big chewable pieces, and mix in. Could probably also mix in leftover soup, mix in mashed potatoes, etc.

Could make up hummus or guacamole to eat with the mashed potatoes, or with eggs, or with the flaked salmon or tuna, or the grains. Labneh is another yummy soft food you could add to other foods (it's a soft cheese, with a sour cream-like consistency).

Some veggies would be mashable -- like carrots, if cooked to be very soft. Could use a food processor to get things like onion usable.

Could he manage a really fluffy pancake? Or maybe in a few days/weeks? French toast from a really fluffy bread, crusts removed?

Apple crisp/crumble, or a "healthy" variation? Like baked apple, mushed up with cinnamon, maybe added to yoghurt or oatmeal.

If you cooked up ground beef or turkey, with enough fat and without overcooking (so it stays soft and moist), and really, really worked it with the spatula or a fork to make small pieces, you could probably mix spoonfuls into the mashed potatoes or quinoa.

sudmom

Those are fantastic ideas Futuremanda! He would probably love a fluffy pancake-and I was thinking about how to incorporate ground meat- Not sure what Labneh is, but I will Google it. Thanks!

kmsoucy457

Tuna, chicken, ham n pickle, etc salads. Toss all ingredients in a blender and it makes a pleasant pate consistency.

annanavis

Here's an idea, if your husband isn't too tired of mashed potatoes in general. I'm Dutch, and we have what is essentially a national dish called "stammpot". (Pronounce it like *stum-PUT* - stum "u" like umbrella, and PUT "u" like a cross between a "u" and an "oo")

Anyways, much more important than the pronunciation, is the dish, but it really isn't only a single dish or a single recipe. Stammpot is potatoes-mashed-together-with-one-or-more-other-foods. And pretty much the sky's the limit as to what you can mash together. There are some definite specific combinations that are more common, but you can adjust as you like.
The general recipe structure is--
--Boil together an equal amount of potatoes and (insert other food here), usually also with a large chunked-up onion.
--Towards the middle of the cooking time, add to the boiling water your sausage of choice (the most common Dutch sausage would probably be metwurst, which is awesome if you can get it, but any smoked sausage, Polish sausage, etc. will do.) Usually a pound of sausage for 4 people, usually cut into 8 small chunks.
--When the potatoes and others are done, first remove the sausage, then drain (but reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid). Return the veg to the pot, and mash away. Don't add any dairy or milk or butter -- it's not needed and can affect taste. If needed, add a little of the cooking liquid.

Most common combinations that I like:

Carrots, potatoes, onions -- this is the one of my childhood-- for this one, start the carrots first and let them cook alone for a long time before you add the potatoes and onions-- otherwise the carrots don't mash in and incorporate very well

Kale, potatoes, onions -- this is my current favorite-- make sure the kale is washed well. Cut out the thick stems, and cut the leaves into small pieces- think size-of-a-quarter. This is always served with a little sprinkling of apple cider vinegar. And you'll need a LOT of kale for this, because it cooks down so much.

Apples and potatoes --don't use red or golden delicious for this, or any other Apple that breaks down and turns mealy/mushy when it is cooked. --for this one, add the apples closer to the end of the potato cooking time. You want them cooked and done, but we're not making applesauce here, people. You do want some of the apple texture to remain. And for this one, don't salt the cooking water. Wait until it's done to check if it needs salt - salty apples are gross.

Serve your stammpot with the sausage and a side of applesauce, and pretend you're Dutch for a day. Hup Holland Hup!

SnuggleSmacks

Mashed Sweet Potato, Butternut squash, cauliflower, eggplant, or carrots. Give them some extra flavor with some spaces. Garlic is good with the cauliflower and eggplant, nutmeg with the Butternut squash or Sweet Potato.

softblondechick

Get a Vitamix, and blast the heck out of anything. Smoothies.

My SO has dental issuez, he likes egg salad, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, and miso soup with silken tofu.

cblue315

Cook stewed or diced tomatoes with diced pepperoni, put in the blender, then add very soft cooked noodles