Soft foods post-surgery

[Jawsurgeryhelp]

Would you guys consider sushi soft food?

[EmilyTravels]

Would you guys consider sushi soft food?

I would, although you might have to cut it into pieces with a knife and fork rather than taking it all in at once. It is not as soft as soup, smoothies, or ice cream, of course, but it's certainly very doable once you can chew slightly harder things.

[djsmama]

I won't pretend to have read through all 8 pages of liquid/soft food recipes, but I'm caring for my son who is post-op day 10 and eating full liquids through a syringe, and wanted to share some of the things he's enjoyed. I don't think anyone who hasn't been through this can possibly understand how hard it is to come up with 2+ weeks of liquid meals without dying of gustatory boredom. We've been lucky enough to have a grandmother on duty making long-simmered, homemade stews and stocks, but the three recipes below don't require that much labor. I feel terrible for those of you who are having to do most of your own meal preparation; the liquid diet is so exhausting. You truly have my sympathy. Hang in there.

1. A can of Goya black bean soup (which is really well seasoned - one of the most delicious prepared foods on the market, in my estimation) pureed with a whole avocado, a generous dollop of sour cream, juice from a half a lime, and enough chicken stock to reach desired consistency. It's delicious, satisfying, high-calorie, and easy to prepare.

2. The mashed potatoes from Simply Potatoes are excellent. I pureed some with cheese sauce (I made homemade cheddar sauce from a roux, but you could use cheese sauce from a jar), chicken baby food, and whole milk and chicken stock to thin, and I liked it so much I drank a big mug of it myself, entirely by choice. I'm sure it would be good with beef baby food and beef stock, too.

3. This recipe for sweet potato peanut soup is excellent. It strains easily and is hearty and satisfying, especially if you make the molasses whipped cream and blend it into the soup. This actually requires some "real" cooking, but it's not a difficult recipe and it's a nice flavor break from chicken and beef (the recipe does call for chicken stock; it's not a vegetarian recipe).

https://enthusiasts.ciachef.edu/sweet-p ... anut-soup/

[EmilyTravels]

Those all sound great, djsmama! Just the kinds of things I like. Fortunately I'm no longer on a soft foods diet, but I love your suggestions for those who are!

[MoJo2685]

I made a sweet potato curry in my instant pot and it was magical. I ate it with over cooked soft rice but I think it would also be good with mashed potato. Other than blending soups I think it was the first meal I had that was soft, no chew, and still felt super fulfilling.

[Punakmouth]

I have a large family so I had to start cooking at about day 8. That was pure torture while completely banded shut! However, on day 13 when I was able to open my mouth, I started having everything I was cooking for my family, but blended. Some of my faves are:

1. Baked Salmon with butter and dill, mashed potatoes and spinach blended with hot milk.

2. Chicken Mozzarella Sausage, wild rice and spinach blended with hot milk.

3. Indian entrees (chicken vindaloo or spicy chickpea), with rice and hot milk or coconut milk

4. Thai soup (Tom Yum) broth only. Lemongrass, coconut milk, chicken, spices

5. Any slice of pie (I had lemon meringue) with cold milk for desert.

And of course I love my treats, so I have a stash of Reese's peanut butter cups that I seperate into 4 pieces and place on my tounge to melt. Once I discovered this I bought some Werther's hard candy to suck on too.

I am currently on day 18. So all of this in the last 5 days LOL. Safe to say I won't be losing any more weight!

[class1openbite]

Breakfast smoothie:
200ml oat milk
2 bananas
Handful of blueberries
Handful of oats
Few spoonfuls greek yoghurt
1 tsp honey

Blend

[carewsf]

I mainly stuck with meal replacement shakes through squeezy bottles, those were a life saver!

[HarryGray]

Has anyone got any ideas on how to keep up with protein intake on a soft diet? Rather than just protein shakes?

[jon]

HarryGray,

Protein powder is of course the easiest way. But when I had surgery, I was blending up all kinds of meat as well. Pulled pork with barbecue sauce is really good blended up. I'd eat that with some congee or sweet potato.

I can also recommend soft tofu. Really easy to eat- you can put some soy sauce or scallions on top.

Greek yogurt too.

[Zod]

I didn't read all 8 pages but I see some posts mentioning protein powder. I was going to go that route during recovery but wanted to try and ensure I hit more.nutrient requirements. Soylent or holfood are a couple of options. I went with holfood. The powder on its own didn't feel that filling so I always added milk, peanut butter and half a banana. For additional flavour I added strawberries, raspberries, blueberries.

[rhrh]

Haven't seen recent posts on this, but am feeling the pain of having to eat soft foods. It's been back and forth with liquid diet, soft foods, regular food (except crunchy) cut very small. I'd be happier if the transition was smoother, but every time I get some sort of adjustment, or enter another healing phase, it's back to liquid foods and then slowly soft foods, then boom, back to liquid again.

I have to confirm that protein powder - either plain or flavored - is a great idea. I used to have daily salads and now they are smoothies. Even when I can eat soft foods, I do not enjoy it that much and eat much less. So the protein powder added into my salad smoothie is a nice boost. I don't usually use the full amount, maybe half as much as a full protein drink, and I use a lot of greens.

I feel like my palate expander is constantly full of salad and I have started to use a Waterpik (which took a while to be allowed, the doctor had to clear me for that, YMMV) twice per day sometimes.