Soft foods post-surgery

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#1 Post by **bbsadmin** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 1:23 pm

Someone recently asked that a sticky topic be placed in this forum for members to post ideas about soft foods and eating post-oral surgery. I think it's a terrific idea, so I'm creating the sticky topic for you. Post away!

I also want to remind you that we have some pages regarding soft food suggestions on the main ArchWired site:

Soft Food Suggestions at ArchWired.com

#2 Post by **Kerry** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 2:40 pm

oh thats an excellent link too, never come across that before. if anyone else has some yummy recipes you can suggest would be gratefull

#3 Post by **Kerry** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 5:16 pm

Just read through the above and it has definitely helped me, i will be buying some of those zip n squeeze as they seem to make peoples lifes so much easier.

Im thinking the bullet blender sounds good too, i really need to invest in one nearer the time.

#4 Post by **Brandyleigh35** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 7:59 pm

I second what Meryaten said. I tried hard to stay away from pre-made products though and eat mostly organic after my surgery. I have posted a bunch of my recipes in a link on my blog, but you can get there from this link if you wish to view them. http://postsurgeryrecipes.blogspot.com/

Hope it helps someone. Oh, and I too think the zip and squeeze bags rock. They were a lifesaver the first week.

Brandy

#5 Post by **zou** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:21 pm

I'm so glad this sticky was started. I'm scheduled for upper and lower as well as a septoplasty and turbinectomy on December 12th (the day after my last consult they OS and Ortho got together and changed from upper and genio to a full upper and lower- UGH).

I'm using all the information I'm finding on this and other sites to get as prepared as possible for this event. I' am worried about significant weight loss (I could live with 5-8 pounds but no more). I've actually been taste testing some of the ideas here and some have been pretty tasty.

The magic bullet has already turned into my favorite new toy and today we used it at a friends house to make frozen drinks...who knew a frozen margarita could be so easy to make.

I received my zip and squeez bags and was wondering just how thin does the liquid need to be to get through the bags. The straw seemed very thin on the liquid only bags (the puree bags appeared to be a little bigger). Does it basically have to be about the consistancy of water?

I'm told by my OS I'll be on strict liquid for 3 weeks and then, depending on the healing, no-chew foe 5 more weeks.

Brandy, you and your site have been a great help and I thank you for sharing it with those coming behind you.

#6 Post by **shani** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:19 am

i am 2 rocky weeks post upper 3 peice, lower and genio and i have lost a lot of weight, i was 55kg (121 pounds i think) and i lost 6kg (13 pounds) and my surgeon told me off, but i havn't been able to have pureed foods cos i couldn't stomach it, i think my major problem was nausea and the fact that i was never hungry. my surgeon has allowed me to have soft no chew food and i have stoped losing weight and i think that its because despite the fact im not eating as much, im also not doing any exercise, so i havn't needed as much food. but the main thing is my mum makes really good soup and ive made sure i have at least 1 sustagen a day, being lactose intolerant makes the whole process harder. being in australia zip and squeeze was to hard to organise, so the easiest way that i have found (the same after sarpe) was using the smallest teaspoon i could find, and knowing that you are going to spill everything and get stains on it all, but you'll live so long as you get enough in.
good luck

#7 Post by **shani** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:13 am

the other thing that really works is lactose free milk, never used to drink milk so i could avoid the horors of soy but it was unavoidable, however lactose free tastes the same as 'regular' milk, my mum will even drink it in her tea and not taste the difference

#8 Post by **sauerkraut** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 3:40 am

I'm with Meryaton: drink loads, and puree your normal food.

Basically, I reverted to how I used to cook when the children were very small: cook the family meal as normal, then take a portion out and bung it in the blender, with extra liquid if necessary.

Then one day someone was eating toast and it smelt so delicious I got a craving for cheese on toast. I didn't try putting toast in the blender

but I dug out this recipe which I hadn't used for years:

Cheese Pie

Ingredients:

2oz fresh breadcrumbs
3oz grated cheese
1 egg, separated
7 fl. oz. milk

Place the egg yolk and the milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and breadcrumbs. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Whisk the egg white and fold into the mixture. Turn the mixture into a pie dish and place under the grill for 5 - 10 minutes.

With a bit of imagination the result tastes like cheese on toast without the crunch - although if you leave it under the grill too long the cheese does form a crust so watch out for that. Otherwise the consistency is fairly stodgy. If you can eat mashed potato you should be ok with this. (Hope the British quantites make sense to all.) Guten Appetit!

#9 Post by **NCRN** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:07 am

I am 4 weeks post op and have 4 more weeks of no chew. Here is a list of some things I have been eating.
Oatmeal, cream of wheat, grits, pancakes, scrambled eggs, tuna salad (subways tuna salad in a bowl is easy to eat), cream soups, sweet pot casserole, mash pot, baked pot, the inside of beef and bean barrito with sour cream, stoffers lasagna, biscuts and gravy, angel hair pasta with pesto, alfredo, marinara, pudding, jello, fish (salmon & Tilapia), egg salad,
rice, chicken and dumplings (chix must be very well shredded). yogart,
Vanilla Adkins protein shakes are very good bledded with frozen fruit. Bananas and peaches are my favorite.
Hope this helps. I will cont. to look for more suggestions from you all.

#10 Post by **jjames** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:37 am

One more easy product you might want to try is Campbell's Soup-At-Hand. It's the soup in the taller, kinda grip-shaped container - they've got a Blended Vegatable Medley that was so good to me those first few weeks post op, and a Velevety Potato that was very good as well. Their easy, just pop in microwave, pour in your Zip-N-Squeeze and enjoy.

#11 Post by **bbsadmin** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:10 am

shani wrote:the other thing that really works is lactose free milk, never used to drink milk so i could avoid the horors of soy but it was unavoidable, however lactose free tastes the same as 'regular' milk, my mum will even drink it in her tea and not taste the difference

I've been lactose intolerant for over 10 years and I drink Lactaid milk regularly. Lactose-free milk is slightly sweeter tasting than regular milk, but other than that there is no real difference. Here in the US, you can find it under the brand name Lactaid, or even as the "store brand" labeled "lactose free." Once you get used to it, you really don't notice anything at all. It is available in fat-free, 1%, 2%, and whole milk. They do make Lactaid ice cream, but I rarely see it in stores.

In a pinch, you could always drink regular milk but then take a Lactaid tablet afterwards. Lactaid tablets contain lactase enzyme (the enzyme your body can't make enough of, if you are lactose intolerant). They are available in most drug stores and supermarkets.

#12 Post by **shani** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:18 am

thats really handy to hear about the lactaid tablets, never heard of them before, shall have to see if there available here, could help with those huge icecream cravings!

#13 Post by **Seaholly** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:42 pm

I have a vitamix blender. It's more expensive then a magic bullet but it can blend meats to nothing. I have blended toast in it. I had two pieces of bread some fancy soft cheese that begins with a c and added chicken broth to thin it out. It was fantastic!!!

I also am lactose intolerant and have found that some brands of the rice and soy ice cream are really good. Also frozen yogurt seems to be ok for me.

I've also been using Luna Elixars in my water for extra calories. They are powders from the Luna company (same people make cliff bars) and they have lots of vitamins and minerals.

Meryaten is completely right about asking at resturants. I went to dinner with some friends with an odwalla protein shake in my pocket. I asked about the soups and explained why I needed them blended. The waitress when away and talked to the chef and I got a wonderful risotto blended with lots of broth. Always ask. The worst they can say is no.

#14 Post by **Kerry** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:20 am

how does cous cous go down, i found if you put it into a soup with some milk its really yummy

#15 Post by **Hamstercheeks** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:51 am

I'm in my first week of SARPE recovery. I'm lactose intolerant, so I have lactose free milk. I was using Instant Breakfast powder and looked at the ingredients - it has milk in it too. So, even using lactose free milk I have to take a lactose pill too. I'm now reading my labels carefully. The lactose intolerance isn't bad, it just gives me gas, etc. which I don't need because I also have acid reflux. Gee, isn't it fun getting old. (I'm 50 and getting braces for the second time).
I mixed cream of celery soup, tuna fish, milk and a slice of bread (no whole grains just squishy bread), blended it and heated it in the microwave. Sort of Tuna Casserole.
I've also found that the scent of basil helps me when I'm not feeling hungry - one whiff and I'm salivating.
Thank goodness for this website - I'm gotten so much useful information from it. It's nice to get answers to my questions 24/7.
Thanks for everyone who runs this site and for those who post such great information.
Marie

Metal Mouth Message Board

Soft foods post-surgery

Soft foods post-surgery

Lactaid pills are great!