Potato soup, cheese omelette, grilled salmon, mashed potatoes and well cooked spinach, cottage cheese with peaches. melon with cottage cheese.
I wouldn't "cook" special meals...just eat cottage cheese and fruit or a scrambled egg when they have something you can;'t eat.
I guess I will floss very carefully before I go to bed!! Sounds uncomfortable! Hope you heal fast.
Linda C

I would probably just about live on soups, since I am a fiend for soup anyway. Plus, you could make up several different kinds and freeze them in portions. That way, if you're cooking for the family, all you have to do for yourself is defrost some pre made soup which would be easier than preparing a completely different food.

I know it says no meat, but I wonder if that is more because of avoiding chewing meat fibers that could get wedged between your teeth? Because it seems to me that you could eat things like meat loaf or other ground meat dishes because of not having such fibers. Also dishes like chicken fricassee, as long as you cut the chicken in small pieces before you eat it. The gravy would make it go down easily without lots and lots of chewing.

Pasta would probably be good. And something the family could enjoy as well, saving you the extra work of 2 meals.

Lindac - Yes! Floss carefully! Unfortunately, flossing or not, apparently I'm somehow genetically blessed with this so will have to deal with it.

I love the soup idea, and I love soup - just not in the heat of summer. I may get brave and try cooler soups - maybe like a melon soup or avacado soup?

Rachelellen - Yes, it's the meat fiber issue. I did have chicken the night before my stitches came out last time and got sternly warned by the periodontist. He found a fair amount of chicken goo mixed up with the stitches. So, no chicken. Ground meat is okay.

Pasta would be okay. I made a terrific lemon pasta last night that would work if I eliminated the parsley on my portion.

Thanks for the ideas. As you can only imagine, I am not looking forward to this!

I was thinking...

• split pea soup

• red pepper soup (it's pureed)

• lentils (like Dal, but without the spice) or beans

• bread ripped in soft-boiled egg

• mashed potatoes (I know Linda said them... add a little melted cheese for some variety)

• Flounder

• mousse!!

• pudding

• flan

• if ground meat and pasta are ok... I'd do a version of what the New Englanders call American Chop Suey, and in the midwest we called goulash... though it's neither chinese nore hungarian. I could LIVE On that

• Bill Meal. This is named after my late brother. Simply ground hamburger, cooked elbow noodles and tomato juice.

Also, there may be some "Baby food" recipes online that might appeal to you...

some of these may still be an issue with food chunks between teethy and gums... I'm not sure.. but hopefully it gets you thinking.

Best of luck to you both in your surgery, your recovery, and your meal planning :-)

Ouch gg...sounds awful! We'll be thinking of you tomorrow.

Some thoughts,

Mac and Cheese...add ham for the family.
Salmon cakes made with mashed potatoes.
Creamed salmon with canned peas, on toast or English Muffins for the family, on mashed potatoes for you.
Risotto
Eggs poached in salsa
Scrambled eggs smothered in a cheese sauce

GG, that does sound horrible, I'll be sending healing thoughts to you tomorrow too.

My first thought was Cream of Wheat, ice cream, mashed potatoes and gravy and scrambled eggs.

I also thought of the split pea soup, mine gets cooked so long that it doesn't have any pieces of anything in it much and I put it in the crockpot so if you're not in the mood to stir and simmer, it's easy to put together and then just leave.

Soup is a good idea, you could make chicken noodle then pick out the chicken pieces and have the noodles chopped finely in the broth, or chicken and rice if you cook the rice long enough. Tomato basil would be nice this time of year, you could even make it creamy to get some more calcium and protein from the milk/cream.

A bonus is that you could add/dunk/soak some soft bread in the soup or broth and probably make it much more easily eaten.

Oh, hey, how about donuts, dunked in coffee or hot chocolate? (grin) Not so nutritious but soft, sweet and yummy!

Annie

You folks are terrific! Thanks for the great ideas. Split pea soup had never occurred to me. I made it for the first time several months ago, and DH thought he had died and gone to heaven. I think I'll get that going in the crockpot on Sunday.

I'll be using many of your suggestions. I'm also trying to eat somewhat healthy during this period of time. Protein can be covered in several ways (eggs, yogurt, ground meat, ham from that soup), but what about fiber? Lentils will provide me some fiber as will oatmeal, but I think I'll need more than that. Has anyone ever tried that apparent fiber-containing yogurt?

Annie: Apparently I'm not supposed to have hot drinks either. Grrr. I would be willing to put a bit of milk into it to cool it down a bit, but I'm really not worth anything without a cup or two of hot black coffee in the a.m. Sigh.

Anyone willing to share their split pea soup or fresh tomato basil soup recipes?

Thanks so much everyone!

Oh gg, now I feel really badly for you. No coffee? Argghh...

My split pea soup is pretty easy. I pour a bag of split peas into the crockpot, add a couple of finely chopped carrot, a finely chopped onion, a smoked pork hock if it suits me and I have one. The girls liked me to add cubes of potatoes.

Pour water over the split peas and veggies. If you're using a ham bone or pork hock, don't add salt until it's cooked and you taste it. I toss in a bay leaf and some freshly ground black pepper, put it on low and let it cook all day while I'm at work. When I come home I stir, remove the pork hock if I used it and add the chopped meat back into the soup, taste for seasoning. It's done.

I use the same technique for bean soup and for lentils, but lentils cook up a lot faster.

This is one of my favorite tomato soups, it's from KatieC. She cans it, so do I, but this recipe is just as good freshly made.

Roasted Tomato Garlic Soup
Recipe By :Katie

12 tomatoes -- *see Note
2 carrots -- cut in 1" pieces
1 large onion -- quartered
2 whole heads garlic -- peeled (or more, to taste)
olive oil
2 cups chicken broth -- (or 3)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil -- (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
cream -- to taste

Core tomatoes and cut in half. Place, cut side up, on foil covered cookie sheet with carrots, onion and garlic. Brush with olive oil. Bake at 400F for about an hour, or until vegies are roasted and a little blackened.

Place in a large saucepan with the chicken broth and basil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Blend with a stick blender (or in small batches in a blender) until almost smooth. Add cream to taste.

*Note: These measurements are approximate...I use whatever it takes to cover the cookie sheet. This makes 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of soup.

OK, so I'll drink an extra cup of coffee every morning on your behalf, would that help?

Oh, hey, you could make an expresso ice cream shake, yeah, that's it! I don't suppose you like iced coffee? (I don't, but maybe...)

Annie

I love this soup. And the beauty of it is no heat involved!

Cucumber Avocado Bisque

Serves 6

1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeded
1/2 medium avocado, peeled and pitted
3 green onions, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients in food processor for 10 to 15 seconds, until smooth. Cover and chill.

How about Coeur La Creme for dessert. Again no heat to prepare!

Coeur La Creme

2 pint cottage cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
2 pint heavy cream
dash salt
square of cheesecloth

Beat cottage cheese and cream cheese until smooth, adding gradually heavy cream. Add dash of salt. Line coeur la creme molds with cheesecloth. Fill with cheese mixture. Stand on a plate in refrigerator over night to drain off whey. (if you don't have Coeur la Creme molds, you can use a colander, a strainer, or a foil pan with holes punched in the bottom.)

Serve with a raspberry coulis that you have strained to remove all the seeds:

1 (10-oz) package frozen raspberries in syrup
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Purée raspberries with syrup, sugar, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids.

Sending healing thoughts your way!

Oh, thank you for the recipes! I think I'll send DH to the farmer's market to pick up the veggies for those soups! They all look terrific. That cucumber avacado bisque looks great for one of our warmer days next week!

As for the coffee issue, it has to be hot and black or not at all. I never did get into iced coffeys. I make do with a bit of milk and call it good.

Anyway, I'm home, popped one Vicodin, had a snooze, woke up really ouchy, so I've now taken another Vicodin. I should probably sign off before it takes effect!

Thanks again :-)

For the first few days, I'm sure you would find home made smoothies tastier than SlimFast. You can buzz fresh fruit into yogurt or milk, and add ice cream if desired. The fruit will add a bit of fibre and you can drink it through a straw, which should minimize irritation on the tender stitches.

ganggreen...if you're concerned about fiber, bean soups are your friend. But, fruit smoothies will do the job as well, and at least you're doing this during the Summer fruit season! Freeze some of your favorite fruits, then toss them in a blender with yogurt and a bit of milk to get the blender going. The frozen fruit will give the smoothie that nice frozen feel without watering down the taste with ice cubes.

One of the little tricks I play when I make "cream of" soups is that I cook down large amounts of whatever veggie I'm using in some stock to puree and then add some more of it shortly before serving to provide a fresh flavor. This way, I needn't use a lot of roux or other thickener as the pureed veggies "thick up " the soup just fine. And, you get all the fiber without all the chewing!