Let's Talk About Soft Foods

There’s been some discussion about the problem of chewing and eating the last few days. So I thought I’d start a post about soft foods. Good nutrition is essential. A lot of the foods I am going to mention may be unfamiliar. Even most big grocery store chains now have “health and organic” sections. Otherwise you might want to seek out a health food store or an on-lime supplier. Here are some suggestions to start with:

Bread Alternatives

Pancakes and muffins made with whole grains. I particularly like buckwheat/ blueberry combo. They freeze well so the effort doesn’t have to be daily. You can also control the sugar content when you make them yourself.

Dairy Alternatives ( good for protein shakes)

Ryza Brown Rice Milk
Almond milk
Quinoa milk

Protein Powder and Protein Alternatives

Whey
Soya
Bean/ pea
Hemp powder

Hemp nut seeds - delicious with peanut butter on soft bread or softened toast (I put mine in a coffee grinder so not so much chewing)

Nuts, nuts, nuts!
All kinds, so healthy and if you buy them in their natural state without being oiled and salted they will not make you fat! Honestly. I eat several handfuls a day. I grind them up and put them in my daily “pudding” or protein shake.

Golden flax seeds. Great binder in protein shakes or your own personal pudding. Nutty flavour. Best to buy the seeds whole and grind in your own coffee grinder. They fluff up very quickly and are very digest able that way. Whole flax seeds really don’t do much for you.

Chia Seeds

Soak or grind. Also a good binder, very nutritious and helps you feel full for a long time…so you don’t have to be hungry or eat too soon if eating is a problem.

Grain Alternatives

Quinoa, easy to prepare, full of protein and minerals and other nutrients and can be used as a rice substitute in just about anything. Very soft, doesn’t need grinding! Also good as a porridge in the morning with bananas and brown rice milk or whatever you want to throw in there.

Brown rice. I soak it most of the day and add extra water to soften. Also makes good puddings. More nutritious than white rice. Easy to flavour with whatever you like.

Wheat Alternatives

Kamut
Spelt
Buckwheat
Brown rice flour

Pasta alternatives

Brown rice pasta
Quinoa pasta

Beans

I don’t use canned beans because they are preserved with citric acid and citric acid is off my list of tolerable foods.
I buy all kinds of hard beans. They don’t need to be soaked overnight. Put them in a pot, cover over an inch with water, bring to a boil for two minutes, remove from heat, let sit for two hours, then throw away the soak water (that’s the farty part) cover with fresh water and some salt, and cook on low until tender. Beans can be thrown in just about anything or enjoyed just as they are with eggs in the morning as a toast substitute. Also if they are combined with brown rice you get a good protein meal that will keep you full (and regular! No staining on those cranial arteries!) for hours.

Lentils

Brown
Black
Red, my favourite. No soaking. They cook up in 20minutes. Good on their own or with curry (I actually just use turmeric and cumin, can’t take spicy these days) etc. extremely nutritious. Good in soups or thickening for stews of all sorts.

I eat a lot of scrambled eggs with three whites and one yolk to cut down on saturated fat but still get the protein.

Chocolate Debate
Okay, so I know that chocolate can be a trigger. But it is just about one of my favourite foods. The dark kind, 80%. It is an antioxidant in that form and also is serotonin booster that doesn’t come in the form of a pill. So I just have to have a bit every day in the mid afternoon no matter what. Maybe I’ve fooled myself but I honestly believe if I gobble it fast enough and keep it away from the bad side ( okay, ha ha ha) that it works in synergy with my afternoon meds, and gives me an energy and emotional boost. Plus it helps cut down on cravings for sweets. Sugar in any form is just about lethal for me.

So, this is just a start. Many of us have found our own ways around the eating difficulties. Sometimes I can barley stand to eat, and have little appetite but I have found out that it is better to keep an even amount of good food in my system than to go without. Otherwise 9pm comes and I crash big time just when I should be thinking about how to get myself to bed.

Hope this helps someone.

Bellalarke.

Great post Bella! Thanks for sharing!! I especially appreciate the cooking tips!
(( hugs )) Mimi

Hi bella,
Thanks for this detailed post I found it really useful.
It’s easy to get into a rut eating a soft or liquid diet, I’ve now got a few new ideas to try and a little more variety as well as improving my diet.
I always forget to activate my rice, I’ve now put a post it note on the rice container. Thanks!!!

Hugs
Trish

Thanks Mimi, thanks Trish

In some ways I think I wrote as much for myself as anyone. Lots of times I hang on the fridge door or look and in the pantry and all I can think is, “I’ve got nothing to eat”…,

Thanks Bella, I'm vegetarian and a very fussy eater so any new ideas are great for me.

All the best,

Clare

Thanks Clare, happy to be of help. I hope others will add their favourite soft food to this discussion as well.

Great list! Last fall, my husband bought a Nutribullet or Magic Bullet machine (available at Target or target.com for about $99) It pulverizes and blends our fruits and veggies and you can add nuts, protein powder and variety of other things to make a wonderful drinkable concoction. I like getting my fruits and veggies this way and is a soft food alternative, too. A bonus is that clean up is a breeze compared to our juicer and minimal waste of food!

Ok, this must be the post you were talking about! Just to add a few ideas: soft puddings work well, like semolina pudding, maize pudding (made from maize powder).

Couscous I've found works really well for me, paired with any sort of soft curry (requires very light chewing, which I can manage on some days).

Egg 'rougaille' works well too (egg cooked in tomato paste). Bear in mind I live in Mauritius, so gotta go local! Lentils work super well and I love them! Mashed potatoes, boiled chicken franks (can chop them up really tiny). I eat lots of vegetable soups too.

Wow, Mauritius! And I thought I lived in a far way place on my little island. I’ll bet you have great veggies.

Thanks for your ideas. We need all the options we can find and it’s fun to share.

Lol! Yes Bellalarke, in general we do have nice veggies (not such a good season for our vegetables because we had too much rain this year. We're hoping it will get better as winter arrives.)

But speaking of veggies and fruits of course, I found this website while I was hunting for creative ideas on smoothies and other easy to swallow things. It's a vegan website, so it has recipes for soups and dips and vegetable recipes etc.

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2000/02/recipes-list.html

Strange weather everywhere!
I took a quick look at that Vegan sight. Lots of goodies. My oldest daughter and her husband are Vegan so I have been introduced to all kinds of new ways to prepare food, and make many substitutes.

So you are coming into your winter. Wishing your island good crops!