preparing meals

Davegrant

I need some help in meal preparation. My DW won't eat anything spicy, salty, (she likes chicken noodle soup), or  anything that is hard to chew. She complains that her teeth are not sharp. If we go to a restaurant she will complain about most of the food and eats about a third of the meal. We have been to the Dentist twice to have her teeth sharpened. She will eat cereal, soups, soft bread, scrambled eggs. I am learning to prepare meals but I am not sure how to handle this situation. So I am looking for suggestions. Thanks

loveskitties

found this page on internet regarding soft foods in relation to dentistry...should work for your LO as well

https://www.authoritydental.org/soft-foods

Rick4407

My DW does not complain about the meals I fix, but that is partly that I only fix things she likes.  Almost exclusively sandwiches, cold cuts, egg salad, grilled cheese, etc, also of course lots of soups.   I would worry less about getting her a balanced diet and more about just serving her what she wants.   We no longer go to restaurants, too many complications!

As one of the posters recently said, its not how many days our loved ones have its about making those days happy.   Good luck, Rick

dayn2nite2

Give her what she likes and will eat.  That may mean no more restaurants so if you miss that, you should arrange someone to stay with her and go yourself.

Joe C.

Dave, I do a lot of pasta dished for DW at home and if we go out I stick with something like fish & chip that is easy to eat. One dish that I have very good luck with is chicken stir fry over rotini pasta. I sautés up lots of colorful vegetables with chick tender cut up in small bites. I also do meatloaf or cook a cheeseburger and cut it into small pieces and serve it with soft vegetables.

Jimbob59

My mother loves creamed corn, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes with lots of butter, home made banana pudding.

Rescue mom

As someone else said, I don’t worry as much as “balanced” meals now as I did before Alzheimer’s; now it’s more about just getting food into my DH.  All of what Rick said..

I have learned he does not notice when he last ate something, so if there’s one dish he likes, he may have it a couple days in a row. (It bothers me, not him). Eggs and soup 2-3 days in a row? Fine with him. 

We just don’t go to restaurants much at all, he does not like them, but I often will bring food home from a restaurant. Don’t be shy about asking to take home leftovers. 

A lot of groceries in my area offer take-out meals, you can choose from maybe a dozen items, and there’s always plenty of soft foods.

harshedbuzz

I found 2 kinds of foods where most easily accepted.

Finger foods became preferred as dad got clumsier with utensils but before he would have allowed hand feeding. Grilled cheese cut into soldiers, chicken fingers, sliders, fries.

He also did better with things that were in smaller chunks that he could spear- beef stew, pot pies, mac'n'cheese, mini-rigatoni with meat sauce. As his disease progressed, he preferred food with a gravy or sauce; I think they were easier to swallow. 

We also pushed milk shakes and puddings to get calories in once he started losing weight.

HB

Crushed

Well we are now down to hand feeding But over the years I fed DW a lot  of salmon in every possible form.  The salmon in pouches was a "go to food".  On trips I cooked a lot of whitefish (hake in south africa  pollock in alaska ) no bones easy to eat.  
 
small pasta with salmon went down well

In Yellostone I would make  pasta with peas and salmon and canned cheddar cheese soup .  use very small pasta (ditalini) At home I used a food processor on chicken and turkey , add cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes and I told her it was astronaut food. 
A lot of yogurt, I would put fruit chunks in it 
And of course Brownies. cut to half in cubes   

She never would eat eggs or milk
lately Ive been cooking fish sticks in the toaster oven  "finger food" in several ways.  

she bites off a half inch at a time  I have to hold it.

jfkoc

Red beans and rice, meatloaf, gumbo ya ya, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, baked potato w/ cheese and don't for get sandwhiches like PBJ. Then there are always meal replacements like Ensure or you can make smoothies.

Stuck in the middle

I feel for you, Dave.  My wife has gotten picky as a little kid.

Canned soups are pretty salty unless you buy the really expensive soups at the health food store.  It is much better and cheaper to make your own.  Chicken noodle soup can be pretty tasty and healthy if you mix some peas, carrots, celery, onions, and cabbage in it.  Just simmer a whole chicken until you can bone it, mix in some veggies, and cook until they are done.  When you and she are hungry you heat a couple of bowls, add ramen noodles (throw away the little flavor packages) and serve.

We had an entire thread of recipes a year or so ago.  I don't have a link to it but you can find it by paging back.  My wife won't eat soup, so I have never tried the 7-can soup, but it sounds delicious and easy to fix.  From memory, it included one can each of corn, tomatoes, Ro-tel tomatoes, and chili, plus three cans of beans (3 different kinds).  All you need is a soup pot, a can opener, and a ladle.

Smoothies are easy to fix and easier to eat.  There are are tons of recipes on the internet.

Good cooking!

Davegrant

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I truely appreciate them.I value highly personal experience.