Wash ,'War Stories'
Every year we watch the Charlie Brown special, do the Snoopy dance, wish everybody a Merry Thanksgivukkahmas, and thank our Secret Santas in the good riddance thread. Which is this one, in case you were wondering. Out you go, 2013!
How's the non-chewable diet going?
Good and bad. On the surface it seems easy--smoothies, soup, yogurt, mashed potatoes. But I'm tired all the time, so I'm probably not getting all the nutrients I need. I have to buckle down and log everything in my SparkPeople food journal so I can see where I'm deficient. Protein is definitely a problem.
Protein is definitely a problem
Hmm. Are you using Greek or European-style yogurt? Those are supposed to have a higher protein value than the regular American kind. Also, I find the flavor far better.
But good luck: what a trial for you.
I eat Fage, which is delicious and high in protein, but I can't eat it for every meal. For instance, by the end of the day, all I want is mashed potatoes, which is about the thickest texture I can eat without chewing.
Oh, but I did successfully eat oatmeal yesterday, so that was a plus.
Are you an egg-eater? Even if not, maybe try avgolemono -- it's delicious and soft and proteiny. Oh, but there is rice, which might be an issue? Then I recommend just an egg in broth.
Edit: I just looked harder at that recipe, and they say to beat the egg whites, which I think is unnecessary. Just whisking the eggs and lemon together and whisking them into the broth and rice is still plenty delicious.
Would adding chia seeds help? Can they blend well enough? And cook anything savory (like mashed potatoes) in chicken broth.
Refried beans?
What about mashing some white beans in with the potatoes?
I tried chia seeds in my smoothie yesterday and still felt hungry an hour later. I do like beans, but so far I've only pureed them into a soup--I'll try adding them to the potatoes. The egg soup makes me shudder, though--I like my eggs super-well-done.
They don't seem that eggy by the time all's said and done! But if you can't, you can't.
Here's an avgolemono recipe without that pesky egg separating: [link] I don't have trouble with avgolemono and I'm probably as likely to gag at anything resembling an uncooked egg as anyone alive. I do cook things like this longer than the recipe says, under the "nuke 'em from orbit" theory.
I'm still outraged that the dentist didn't warn you.