Menu Suggestions

Sonja.K
Sonja.K Member Posts: 80 Member

Hi all,

I am just wondering if any of you have any menu suggestions.   I am living on scrambled eggs, homemade chicken noodle soup, applesauce, mashed potatoes and mashed squash/sweet potatoes.   I have been avoiding dairy,  it seems tlo increase mucus.   I have four of thirty radiation treatments left, no chemo, a lot of mouth and throat sores (magic mouthwash does help) and a lot of swelling in my mouth/tongue.   I had surgery in August and had all but three teeth on my bottom removed so chewing is very difficult.    Sweets do not really agree with me, they taste horrible(except surprisingly applesauce).  I can still taste savory foods.  I am starting to feel like if I see one more scrambled egg I am going to scream.  I have found a lot of helpful hints on the site (like I read somewhere to use saran wrap to apply Aquaphor), so I am hoping maybe some food hints too.  Thank you. 

~Sonja

Comments

  • cureitall66
    cureitall66 Member Posts: 913
    Keep it up.....

    Sonja,

    Keep doing what your doing and eat what you can. It is very important that you keep your calorie consumption up, though. My loved one kept drinking Boost or Ensure throughout his treatment and still does 2 years later, as he lost over 50 lbs during treatment. When it was hard to swallow, it was put in his feeding tube. Please also remember to drink, drink, drink and use those "swallowing" muscles. If you don't use them, you could lose them. So, please keep that in mind. 

    I'm sure others could give you some ideas on what they ate. I think some mixed themselves up a high calorie milk shake...maybe Phrannie?

    The magic mouth wash and a suction machine were incredibly awesome to keep the mucus and soreness down.

    Thoughts with you during this process.

    `C

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    food

    Sonja,

    I was happily on a mostly liquid diet for 7 months because of the awful feel and taste of 90% of the food I tried and I was constantly trying everything.  Then overnight it changed and food was good again.

    Today food tastes great!

    End of story,

    Matt

  • Mikemetz
    Mikemetz Member Posts: 465 Member
    Mind over scrambled eggs

    It's hard not to think of food as something you eat for enjoyment and taste--but at this point it's really medicine to help your body heal better and faster.  So, take your medicine for now.  Over time, your taste and appetite will come back around--mostly or even 100%.  For me it was applesauce--I hated the taste but knew it had some needed calories and nutrients--so I forced myself to eat it every day, until I could tolerate other foods in its place.  Do whatever you can to meet your caloric and nutritional needs, even if your mind and tastebuds tell you otherwise.  It will make things you can't eat now taste even better when they come back into your diet.

    mike

     

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    Milkshakes.......

    Yes it is dary and can increase your mucus but drink water to thin the mucus. The large milkshake is over 700 cal. also if you can, Cream of Chicken soup has twice the cal. that chicken noodle does. 300 cal if you eat the whole can. When I first got to eat again [lost a lot of weight, down to 126lbs.] I would eat every two to three hrs and soup, pudding is good also, I was taken in up to 3200 cal a day to get my weight back. 5 cans of soup, 2 milkshaks, 4 puddings and grape juice and you took 3400 cal.   Best of luck and I hope you find thinge to eat.

    Bill

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    Maybe pasta salads?

     Thinking you could flavor it with pimento, and use celery salt instead of regular salt.  You can also get dehydrated onion that will get soft once it's soaked in the mayo.  Any type of vegitable soup, since the veggies will cook down and be mushy....you can flavor with beef or chicken, and whip it up in the blender for a full meal.  Actually, as long as you're not using a tube, there isn't anything you can't make, and then whip up in the blender to make it "chewable/swallowable".  Just as long as your protein intake is high, and you get enough down to get the calories you need.  To make things more liquidy you can use canned chicken or beef broth.

    The saran wrap works really good as an applicator of aquafor, huh?  My fingers were too rough to touch my lips but saran wrap just glided the stuff on :).  Stryofoam cups to drink from, too....they were the only way I could get liquid into my mouth....cans, glass, plastic, everything else was too rough. 

    p

    PS...just thought....those little bullet blenders aren't very expensive, and you can do one feeding at a time.  I've heard they REALLY whip food up well, also.  

  • Bart T
    Bart T Member Posts: 62 Member
    In a word - OATMEAL

    Most people think of oatmeal as a breakfast food to be sweetened with sugar, cinnamon, fruit, etc. It is fine for that, but oatmeal is one of those foods that has almost no taste of its own, but is a very good carrier of other flavors.

    Keep an open mind on this one. Try making oatmeal (not instant, the old fashioned kind that you cook) with savory spices or ingredients. Dice some fresh onion in with the raw oatmeal and water, add some salsa for spice. After it’s cooked, but before it’s cooled, add a couple slices of American cheese (good for calories, taste, and protein).

    Experiment as much as you like. I cook it with a variety of vegetables, such as mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli, etc. Since I’m still sensitive to spicy foods, I go easy on the spices, but use as much or as little as you want.

     Although you’re close to the end of your radiation, the difficulties going on in your mouth will outlive your treatments, so I’d suggest lots of experimentation, as well as walking down the path many of the others have suggested. Think outside the box. If you aren’t afraid to take a walk on the wild side, try some cake batter on for size. 

  • dgg
    dgg Member Posts: 3
    Making food easier to swallow

    One of the easiest things for me to eat, and still eat it every day, is Cream of Wheat.  Most other cold/cooked cereals are hard to swallow.

    A real life saver for me is an immersible hand blender.  Mine is  a Kitchen Aid hand blender, about $60.  It came with both a blending attachment and a chopping attachment and I almost always use the chopper.  When I have trouble eating whatever is served for dinner, into the chopper it goes, which can grind as coarse or fine as I want.

  • Sonja.K
    Sonja.K Member Posts: 80 Member
    dgg said:

    Making food easier to swallow

    One of the easiest things for me to eat, and still eat it every day, is Cream of Wheat.  Most other cold/cooked cereals are hard to swallow.

    A real life saver for me is an immersible hand blender.  Mine is  a Kitchen Aid hand blender, about $60.  It came with both a blending attachment and a chopping attachment and I almost always use the chopper.  When I have trouble eating whatever is served for dinner, into the chopper it goes, which can grind as coarse or fine as I want.

    Saran wrap works great

    Saran wrap not only works great for the lips, I use it to apply creme to my neck too.  Great idea Phrannie, thank you.  

    Thank you for all the great ideas, there are many to try and the positive message to push ahead.  This really does suck.  

  • PJ47
    PJ47 Member Posts: 376
    Hi Sonja

    You are eating a good variety of soft foods all of which I ate going through radiation.  I did try and get down Amy's lentil soup and split pea soup, but had to make it thinner and used organic chicken stock and a blender as any texture bothered me.  

    Cream of wheat made very thin and with brown sugar tasted kind of good and went down easily.

    I also made smoothies with protein, rice or almond milk, frozen strawberries, blueberries and a banana.  

    I found a soy protein supplement that did not taste like an oil slick to me and used it 2-3 times a day to keep up calories called Svelte cappachino was the flavor I liked best and chocolate and vanilla are available.  I found it in Walmart and Harris Teeter.

    Best to you,

    PJ