I need some ideas

[Blonde Granny]

We're still in Florida for at least another week, but I'm getting anxious to get home.  I have about 2 weeks to get ready for winter and restock the pantry with foods DH can have that are low sodium.

On top of that, we have to go to Little Rock on Nov. 23 for at least 3 days.  Heres' my question: DH is having surgery on his tongue to remove any remaining cancer that might still be there after they biopsy was done.  We've already been told that he will need to be on a soft diet for at least 2 weeks after the surgery.

Remembering his is also diabetic and limited on sodium due to kidney disease, I need ideas on what I can feed him during those 2 weeks.  I know things like applesauce, puddings, grits, oatmeal etc.  But what else would fall into that category?

[resolution]

You can probably do soups based on low sodium beef or chicken broth with the veggies blended.

[Happy prose]

Lentil soup is good and very nutricious. Good luck to your husband.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Eggs will give him protein: scrambled, over easy, as a quiche.

Yogurt

Tender meats such as filet mignon cut into tiny pieces

Soft, flaky fish such as baked haddock

Mashed potatoes

Baked sweet potatoes

Roasted butternut squash

[NancysSummerSip]

Will he eat things like brown rice, or quinoa? Being Jewish, my personal favorite dish is kasha varnishkas (toasted and hulled buckwheat, cooked and then mixed with bowtie noodles and topped with gravy). Can be done low-sodium, no problem.

[Ombud]

Cream soup if you make it (lower sodium)

Mashed everything

Think non chew high flavor or he'll cheat

Good luck

[Blonde Granny]

He's a very picky eater.  Eggs, sausage & toast for breakfast, sandwiches and chips for lunch, burgers, italian, fried anything, steak rare etc. loves clam chowder from the can, but with sodium almost 1000 mg out of his 1500 mg per day is a problem, as is canned tomato soup.  As for soups in general, they dont fly with him.

I can get some smoothies down him using my vitamix, but even those he has opinions about.  The  surgeons PA said to be ready for 2 weeks of soft food.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I'm trying to remember some of the foods that were mentioned on the thread for Diamonds.  I know she had teeth issues but maybe some of the stuff on there would work? Sadly, I don't remember hat pages the food topics were on. 

[Deleted]

Nov 2, 2015 9:45:08 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Will he eat things like brown rice, or quinoa? Being Jewish, my personal favorite dish is kasha varnishkas (toasted and hulled buckwheat, cooked and then mixed with bowtie noodles and topped with gravy). Can be done low-sodium, no problem.

Isn't that kind of deadly for Diabetics?

[NancysSummerSip]

Nov 2, 2015 13:09:42 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Nov 2, 2015 9:45:08 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Will he eat things like brown rice, or quinoa? Being Jewish, my personal favorite dish is kasha varnishkas (toasted and hulled buckwheat, cooked and then mixed with bowtie noodles and topped with gravy). Can be done low-sodium, no problem.

Isn't that kind of deadly for Diabetics?

Lots of things are, in quantity. In small doses, and assuming his diabetes is under control, I would think some would be fine. I am not advocating stuffing him like the proverbial Thanksgiving turkey. Just giving him some whole grains (as opposed to, say white rice or white potatoes) to fill him up and keep food boredom at bay.

[Malarky]

I just made a very flavorful, low fat. low sodium pumpkin soup

Onions, apple, pumpkin, chicken stock rosemary, sage and thyme.  

It can be pureed, I don't because I like the onion and apple bits.  

[weltschmerz]

www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/coping-with-cancer/coping-physically/diet/managing/soft/soft-diet-meals#main

Here you go.

You can also feed him just about anything if you run it through a blender, like baby food. That's what we do at the nursing home, for people who have a choking hazard with solid foods. It's the same food everyone eats, but pureed.

[Gardening Grandma]

BG I don't have anything to add to the above suggestions. Just wanted to say I know what its like.  When DH had his neck radiated, he couldn't chew and I really had to wrack my brain (and cookbook) making things he liked and could eat.  I did make a lot of soups and chili because I could keep the sodium level down.

Glad its only 2 weeks. 

[Artemis Windsong]

Best wishes to you and you DH during this time.

[zibazinski]

Try some vanilla Nepro. You can find it at Walgreens. Sometimes Rite Aid. Low sodium and more importantly, potassium as well as being diabetic friendly. Good source of protein. It's a liquid drink, sorry, almost left that out.

[Blonde Granny]

Thanks for info so far, I knew there would be helpful ideas from this group.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Any soup you make is going to have way less sodium and carbs than anything you find in a can.  

Do you have an immersion blender?  You can make just about any veggie into a soup.

[andi9899]

Vodka.

[zibazinski]

[Blonde Granny]

Don't have an immersion blender, but I have a Vitamix!

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Nov 4, 2015 18:16:21 GMT -5 Blonde Granny said:

Don't have an immersion blender, but I have a Vitamix!

That'll work!  

I make a potato leek soup, that you can easily modify to make it lower carb/salt and it's very flavorful and filling.  If you use low sodium chicken stock and can use uncured bacon fat to start it with (low salt), you saute leeks in the fat until softened with thyme.  Add a chopped up potato (you really don't need a lot, only 1-2) and stock and let it simmer until the potato is soft.  Hit it with the Vitamix, return back to the pot and stir in some heavy cream (about 1/2 C).  4 leeks, 2 med potatoes and 2 cans of chicken stock is usually good for 2 dinners and 2 lunches for us. 

What I do is sprinkle the chopped bacon that I rendered the fat from on top, but you could avoid that.

I have an incredible cream of mushroom soup made similarly, only I don't whir up the mushrooms.  I tried it once and while it made an incredibly flavorful soup, it looked horrible!  

So instead, I saute a chopped onion and some fresh mushrooms together.  When they are softened, I add some dried mushrooms and chicken stock along with fresh thyme (I have it growing on the deck year round), let the dried mushrooms rehydrate in chicken stock and the rest cook down and soften - about 30 min covered (they may be soft enough for your DH to eat).  While those are simmering, I make a roux of butter and flour, with chicken stock.  When the mushrooms and the broth that they simmered in is done, I toss them both together with the roux and add about 1/2 C heavy cream.  The heavy cream helps the looks (I guess you could use milk, but the cream gives a good mouth feel and you don't use a lot for the amount of soup it makes) because the soup is kind of grey before you add it.

[Peace77]

You can make smoothies in the Vitamix.  Ice, milk, peanut butter snd banana would be good snd filling.


Millet is a high protein grain.   Use 1 cup water to 1/4 cup millet and cook on low heat for about 15-20 min.  Add cinnamon, milk and stevia or other sweetener.

Tapoica or rice pudding are other possibilities.

There is a nutrition drink for diabetics sold in the pharmacy area.  I don't know what the sodium content is though.



 

[shanendoah]

There are great ideas here, but I would also ask DH's doctor for a referral to a nutritionist/dietitian.

I will also give you warning (as someone who had to be on a soft foods/nearly liquid diet unexpectedly) that there can be an emotional component to this as well. Simply not being able to chew can be really hard on a person, as it is one of those very basic things that we all take for granted.