soft foods

mchopper1
mchopper1 Posts: 11 Member
Hi, I have a rare disease that causes a lot of facial pain. Some times I can't eat anything that requires chewing. I recently had a 8 week flareup which made me lose 14 pounds. I am worried it screwed up my metabolism. When I couldn't chew, I ate soft foods and there was not a lot of variety. I am such a picky eater. I refuse to throw my meal into a blender. Just the thought of drinking my meal turns me off. I am looking for soft foods. Foods for all the meals. I am tired of pudding and jello. Please help

Replies

  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,374 Member
    I went 3 months without eating solid foods because of jaw surgery. I ate pasta, eggs, soups and drank a lot of protein smoothies.

    And no, you have not 'messed up' your metabolism.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,739 Member
    Cottage cheese and yogurt.

    I've had lots of oral surgery off and on. I did a lot of (and this may sound gross) just letting the harder foods sit in my mouth and soften up or eating tiny bites of things but not chewing. Just swallowing. Not totally sure how good that is for you, tho. :)
  • RachyP01
    RachyP01 Posts: 1 Member
    You can cook veggies very soft. Soft carrots are quite yummy! You can spice them up to your liking. Sweet potato, apple sauce, over cooked macaroni and cheese, blended soups, smoothies, "nice" cream (banana ice cream). I am unsure if you are trying not to loose weight or slow the weight loss. Adding healthy oils into your foods will help with slowing - avocado is delicious, nut butters (you can thin them out). Good luck.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,183 Member
    Maybe it's too far to go for you, but mashed potatoes with add-ins have worked for me during phases when chewing was an issue. Mashed potatoes baked with cheese and some eggs mixed in, little bit of baking powder, makes a nice puff-type thing. Can be fried in patties, too, topped with whatever.

    Do you like beans or peas? There are lots of good soups with those, and they're soft.

    Pancakes, maybe, with applesauce or yogurt? There are some good protein pancake mixes.

    I adore oatmeal, but I know not everyone does. I mix in thawed frozen berries, some blackstrap molasses, some smashed walnuts, plain Greek yogurt, cinnamon, hemp hearts and milled flax seeds - YMMV, but that's yummy and filling for me, and for sure full of nutrition.
  • bethan0mae
    bethan0mae Posts: 23 Member
    Egg or tofu scramble, porridge (with lots of cinnamon and apple sauce), protein smoothies (personally I like a 'mocha' flavour smoothie with spinach added), Thai/African-inspired soup with rice cooked in it, mushroom and leek risotto, lentil dhal, rice pudding, weetabix, baked beans/tinned spaghetti.

    Hope some of these help. I would also check out medical recommendations for a soft diet as there's lots of resources online from medical professionals.
  • MomJess4
    MomJess4 Posts: 10 Member
    Cream of wheat is really easy to eat.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,938 Member
    Can you eat shredded pork or chicken if cut in tiny pieces? You could cook stamppot, a Dutch dish. Normally it's 1 part starchy potatoes, 1/2 part carrots and onion each, all cooked soft. Added milk or butter, and then it's all mixed and turned into a puree. usually served with a slab of meat or a smoked sausage, and dark gravy but you could also use something like small pieces of shredded meat.

    Can you eat something like cottage pie? Not much chewing involved as well. Soups or stews? On that note, I have enough soup and stew main dish recipes that I could eat something different for pretty much a whole year. maybe with white toast or other soft bread on the side. Of course I usually cook for several days. Hmm.. an easy addition might be falafel in a soup because it tends to fall apart. Small chicken pieces might work or beef cooked into submission. Then pearl couscous, small pasta, small cut vegetables, barley, etc.
  • babynew
    babynew Posts: 613 Member
    GRITS,Corn Meal Mush,= Polenta many different ways,Nuked Potato like a Jacket Potato..many different toppings .. mustard sauce is a Fave ..( try it) Salsa,Cotage cheese,lemon capers,with Avo Oil Squirt,etc.. Blender Fire Roasted Tomo n Black beans ..Tasts like Chili . Sooo many options or additions. Bestus Wishes to You. ⚘
  • zumba1351
    zumba1351 Posts: 1 Member
    I was wondering what type of facial disease you have? Is it Trigeminal Neuralgia???
  • LenGray
    LenGray Posts: 857 Member
    So sorry to hear you're going through that! I'm not sure if these will fit your requirements, but some of my go-to soft meals are:

    Mapo tofu with rice- https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/vegan-japanese-style-mapo-tofu-gf/#wprm-recipe-container-9548. This can be made even softer by using the firm shelf-stable tofu at the store.

    Savory oats with tomato and spinach- https://producemadesimple.ca/savory-oats-with-ontario-greenhouse-grown-tomatoes/

    Congee- https://veganheaven.org/recipe/congee-rice-porridge/#recipe. I would recommend changing out the tempeh for firm shelf-stable tofu, the bamboo shoots for mushrooms, and the bok choi for spinach. This should also make it a one-pot meal.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,419 Member
    Allrecipes has a recipe called “No Fry Refried Beans”. It’s super simple. Throw the ingredients in a crockpot and mash at the end of the day.

    Throw a little cheese on top and it’s super rich, nourishing and satisfying.

    We use half black beans and half pinto. Go light on the salt til you’ve made it once or twice.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    Hummus, yogurt, sour cream mixed with cottage cheese, blended soups (vichyssoise, gazpacho, cream of tomato soup, etc.), semolina. Also, you can get your fruits from baby food pouches so you have more variety than just apple sauce.
  • WAJ1970
    WAJ1970 Posts: 2 Member
    I think someone else asked this. Do you have trigeminal neuralgia? I have that and the facial pain is relentless even with meds. I've had an MVD and Gamma Knife Surgery. I do regular deep brain stimulation sessions.

    My goto's when I am in a flare are:
    1. Oatmeal - Usually steel cut, cooked with a little extra water and also cIooked a little longer to make it extra mushy.
    2. I make a bowl of cottage cheese, frozen raspberries, oat bran, ground flaxseeds with a little honey or stevia. I let the raspberries thaw somewhat but still cold which I find very soothing and also nutrients, protein and fibre are high with this.
    3. Boiled carrots until they are very soft, with a little maple syrup.
    4. Mashed potatoes with sour cream and cheese. I get a bag of the mini potatoes that are well wash, boil them with skins on and then mash them up with a dollop of sour cream and a bit of grated cheddar.

    God speed to you.
  • gentlygently
    gentlygently Posts: 752 Member
    Refied beans from a tin of you don’t fancy making from scratch - melt on some cheese, and add some sloppy tomato sauce (basically tinned tomato cooked down with herbs and garlic, mashed or blended if you like). We call this meal
    ‘Bean mush’ in my house and usually serve in soft tortilla but it would also work on mash.

    Soups of course - lots of soups have plenty of veg vitamins and protein sources, and are often in effect a traditional meal cooked for longer with more liquid and mashed up more! (So eg I make fish chowder soup with left over fish pie!) So perhaps make or buy a good quality soup and mash/blend a little more if need be?

    Lentil Dahl - tasty, plus it is protein and fibre.

    Hummus can come in lots of flavours (I really like beetroot hummous)

    I hope your flare up calms soon