Pureed Meals for Adults

[etoiles]

Hi all,

I've been trying to research this on my own but figured that there might be people with more expertise in this area already on here that might have advice.

My dad recently had oral cancer surgery and while he is recovering can only eat pureed food. I feel that preparing all of this is very overwhelming for my mom and I wanted to help by bringing some pureed meals over when I visit (we are 2 hrs away so this wouldn't be every week)

It is hard to find good sounding recipes for pureed meals so I wanted to know if anyone had suggestions for recipes or other tips. We plan to visit next weekend and I thought I could make some things throughout the week and bring them over. I was hoping to freeze some also. Any tips on freezing these meals?

Thanks!

 

[kmb584]

As someone who works in a nursing home, the pureed meals I see aren't very appetizing to begin with. Stick with basics that don't have a lot of depth in flavor in their regular form; pasta, eggs, fresh vegetables, french toast and cake work well. Protein is incredibly important so you might consider an unflavored protein powder to add into his meals. Mix pureed meats with a broth instead of water for better flavor.

 

[jdb in AZ]

An elderly cousin prepared meals for her mother-in-law. She bought nice meals from an upscale restaurant and just pureed each item.

 

[ptlohmysoul]

Hi all,

I've been trying to research this on my own but figured that there might be people with more expertise in this area already on here that might have advice.

My dad recently had oral cancer surgery and while he is recovering can only eat pureed food. I feel that preparing all of this is very overwhelming for my mom and I wanted to help by bringing some pureed meals over when I visit (we are 2 hrs away so this wouldn't be every week)

It is hard to find good sounding recipes for pureed meals so I wanted to know if anyone had suggestions for recipes or other tips. We plan to visit next weekend and I thought I could make some things throughout the week and bring them over. I was hoping to freeze some also. Any tips on freezing these meals?

Thanks!

Freshly juice carrots with a granny smith apple makes a healthy drink. You could make a green juice also with lots of nutrients, but not as likely to taste good. Can he have yogurt?

 

[Southernmiss]

Soups? Roasted tomato there's a great Ina Garten one on the web. Potato soup, broccoli cheese soup, chicken noodle soup, pumpkin soup, zucchini soup, vegetable soup

 

[Gigi22]

Vichyssoise. You have to purée it anyhow, and you serve it chilled.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sorry you have to deal with this, but here are some helpful resources.

Net wellness is a good website:
Here is a general guide for puréed diets:
http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/diet/pureedfoodguidelnes.cfm
And one with some recipes:
http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/diet/pureedentreesalads.cfm

This one doesn't have recipes, but has a lot of good info about boosting protein and other helpful info:
http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/pa...eating-guide-pureed-and-mechanical-soft-diets

Another helpful resource:
https://uvahealth.com/services/digestive-health/images-and-docs/pureed_diet.pdf

The most important thing is to have the proportion of water to other ingredients right so you end up with something smooth and not too thick or soupy.
The other thing to think about is combinations. There are some things that go together well and others that don't go together at all.

For storage, when I made baby food, I froze portions in ice cube tests, then stored the frozen portions in a zip lock freezer bag. It's very easy to take out the size portion you want for use". My only caution would be to mark the bags with what is inside. A lot of things look almost exactly the same when frozen.

 

[ctinct]

Perhaps check with local hospitals and nursing homes. Maybe they can give you the name of a supplier for prepared puréed foods. I did see a few items on amazon. And try some of the baby foods.

Also, does he have difficulty swallowing liquids? There was a product called Thicken-it, I think, that we found at Costco for my dad. Might be at the pharmacy; not quite sure. It's a powder that can be added to coffee, juices, and the like to make them easier to swallow if his swallowing muscles are weakened.

And don't forget stuff like applesauce, pudding, jello, ice cream, etc. he may not have much of an appetite at first, and you want to get something in him.

Hugs to you and your family.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I once had to eat a soft food diet (extensive dental work). I found that most fruit and vegetable baby foods were actually not bad. But I hated the meats!

Also ate a lot of yogurt, applesauce, custard (thanks, Mom!), and mashed potatoes (you can add lots of other flavors to that - cheddar cheese, bacon, green onion, herbs)

 

[OceanAnnie]

I am sorry to read about your dad, etoiles. I hope he has a smooth recovery.

He might like to try green smoothies. There are a lot of ways you can make it. It sounds awful but it can be really tasty depending on what you use. It can have a good texture too using ice. Some people lose weight with them, but I didn't cause I used lots of different fruits. Anyway, it might be something he'd like and it's super nutritious and you can vary how it tastes.

Here is a website: http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes


HTH.

 

[etoiles]

As someone who works in a nursing home, the pureed meals I see aren't very appetizing to begin with. Stick with basics that don't have a lot of depth in flavor in their regular form; pasta, eggs, fresh vegetables, french toast and cake work well. Protein is incredibly important so you might consider an unflavored protein powder to add into his meals. Mix pureed meats with a broth instead of water for better flavor.

Thanks! I did not think bout cake or fresh veggies.

An elderly cousin prepared meals for her mother-in-law. She bought nice meals from an upscale restaurant and just pureed each item.

Sounds nice! If I don't have time to make them I will try that.

Freshly juice carrots with a granny smith apple makes a healthy drink. You could make a green juice also with lots of nutrients, but not as likely to taste good. Can he have yogurt?

He can eat any foods as long as they are very soft and mushy. We don't have a juicer sadly though. It sounds yummy though!

Soups? Roasted tomato there's a great Ina Garten one on the web. Potato soup, broccoli cheese soup, chicken noodle soup, pumpkin soup, zucchini soup, vegetable soup

Thanks! Soup did come to mind. I just wanted to think of other options as well since he will have to eat soft food for a long time.

Vichyssoise. You have to purée it anyhow, and you serve it chilled.

Sounds like a good meal for a hot summer day!

Sorry you have to deal with this, but here are some helpful resources.

The most important thing is to have the proportion of water to other ingredients right so you end up with something smooth and not too thick or soupy.
The other thing to think about is combinations. There are some things that go together well and others that don't go together at all.

Thanks for the resources! They were very helpful. My mom also mentioned the combos didn't always work right as well so it's good to have recipes to go off of. I will start I guess with less water since I can always add but not take away.

Also, does he have difficulty swallowing liquids? There was a product called Thicken-it, I think, that we found at Costco for my dad. Might be at the pharmacy; not quite sure. It's a powder that can be added to coffee, juices, and the like to make them easier to swallow if his swallowing muscles are weakened.

Thanks. I did see Thicken It but I wasn't sure if it would taste good or not in foods or add a weird texture. It's nice to know it worked out well for your dad.

I once had to eat a soft food diet (extensive dental work). I found that most fruit and vegetable baby foods were actually not bad. But I hated the meats!

Also ate a lot of yogurt, applesauce, custard (thanks, Mom!), and mashed potatoes (you can add lots of other flavors to that - cheddar cheese, bacon, green onion, herbs)

Thanks for the helpful list of foods!

I am sorry to read about your dad, etoiles. I hope he has a smooth recovery.

He might like to try green smoothies. There are a lot of ways you can make it. It sounds awful but it can be really tasty depending on what you use. It can have a good texture too using ice. Some people lose weight with them, but I didn't cause I used lots of different fruits. Anyway, it might be something he'd like and it's super nutritious and you can vary how it tastes.

Here is a website: http://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes


HTH.

Thanks for the resource! I will pass it on to my mom. They got a magic Bullet so I think she is making a lot of smoothies for him and that would be good.

 

[etoiles]

One question I also had is how do you package little meals if I would make freezer meals for him to heat up? Think about things with the thickness of mashed potatoes in which ice cube trays might not work as well.

Should I get ziploc containers for the freezer? Little foil containers wouldn't work for the microwave. Any other suggestions?

I was thinking of getting things ready for his breakfast and lunch so my mom doesn't have to make food for when she is at work for him. He never cooks so basically a microwave is what he would use to heat something up.

 

[minniebeth]

Just something to keep in mind, you may want to avoid anything acidic for a little while, such as tomato based products, citrus juices and fruits. They can be introduced/tried as tolerated.

Hope your dad is healing well!

 

[lovetoscrap]

One question I also had is how do you package little meals if I would make freezer meals for him to heat up? Think about things with the thickness of mashed potatoes in which ice cube trays might not work as well.

Should I get ziploc containers for the freezer? Little foil containers wouldn't work for the microwave. Any other suggestions?

I was thinking of getting things ready for his breakfast and lunch so my mom doesn't have to make food for when she is at work for him. He never cooks so basically a microwave is what he would use to heat something up.

What about using a muffin tin? I have silicone ones that make popping things out quick and easy once frozen but you can line a metal one with plastic wrap, fill, freeze and then pull out. Once frozen you can put into a Ziplock bag and write the contents on the outside. Either package as a meal with several different things or do one bag of each item to mix and match. Then they just take them out, use a microwave safe container and reheat.

 

[minkydog]

You can also use regular metal muffin tins. When the food gets frozen get a jellyroll pan/cookie sheet with a rim. Put some hot water in it. Set the muffin pan on the sheet for about 20 seconds. Those purees will pop right out. Set them individually on something flat and put them in the freezer. When those bottom edges have hardened up you can put them all in a gallon Ziploc bag.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

One question I also had is how do you package little meals if I would make freezer meals for him to heat up? Think about things with the thickness of mashed potatoes in which ice cube trays might not work as well. Should I get ziploc containers for the freezer? Little foil containers wouldn't work for the microwave. Any other suggestions? I was thinking of getting things ready for his breakfast and lunch so my mom doesn't have to make food for when she is at work for him. He never cooks so basically a microwave is what he would use to heat something up.

I have frozen soft foods/soups/smoothies in paper cups topped with press and seal. A couple seconds in the microwave loosens so you can dump into dish of you choice to finish thawing or heating process.

 

[tvguy]

. Stick with basics that don't have a lot of depth in flavor in their regular form; pasta, eggs, fresh vegetables, french toast and cake work well. .

After my mom's stroke, those foods drove my mom crazy. She wanted savory, and it took us a little bit of time to figure out that she wanted taste. Rehab center was okay with us bringing her garlic and onion powder (not salt), and she never ever ever ate Taco bell taco sauce, but after the stroke, she loved it on pureed foods.
Her eating improved markedly after we started putting something savory on the food.

 

[SueM in MN]

One question I also had is how do you package little meals if I would make freezer meals for him to heat up? Think about things with the thickness of mashed potatoes in which ice cube trays might not work as well.

Should I get ziploc containers for the freezer? Little foil containers wouldn't work for the microwave. Any other suggestions?

I was thinking of getting things ready for his breakfast and lunch so my mom doesn't have to make food for when she is at work for him. He never cooks so basically a microwave is what he would use to heat something up.

Muffin tins as other posters mentioned would work.

For thicker things like mashed potatoes, you don't really need to put them in something. You can use a pan with a layer of freezer or parchment paper on it. Then put 'plops' of mashed potatoes in about the size of one portion onto the paper and put it into the freezer. Once it has frozen, you can peel it off the paper and package it.

You could put a variety of individual frozen portions of food into a microwave container or put them together as a meal in a ziplock bag. Then, all he would have to do is empty the big onto a microwave safe plate to jest it.

 

[AverageDiser]

One thing I found a nice change when I was on a soft diet was mixing hearty canned soups (think Chunky Beef varieties) with mashed potatoes. I think it was just because the potatoes gave it some texture. It would also be easy to puree. I also worked in an ICF/MR, and with things like beef, we would often use ketchup or steak sauce in place of some of the water. Using broth, as a pp mentioned, also helped.