Through a straw?

[bwooster]

My son will have his jaw wired for the next six weeks. So far we've been getting by with broths, GNC protien smoothies and diluted mashed potatoes. Any suggestions for nutritious, flavorful recipies that can be eaten through a straw would be greatly appreciated.

[Dejah]

My son will have his jaw wired for the next six weeks.  So far we've been getting by with broths, GNC protien smoothies and diluted mashed potatoes.  Any suggestions for nutritious, flavorful recipies that can be eaten through a straw would be greatly appreciated.

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If your son likes Chinese food, try making congee with chicken and rich chicken stock. When the meat is cooked, I minced it and put it back into the soup. Buy some large diameter straws ( smoothies, bubble tea size); they worked well with congee when one of my students had his jaw wired.

[sazji]

I went through that many years ago, right over Christmas too. Sounds like you've pretty much already figured it out though. Purees (yech), soups (hearty stuff is more satisfying than clear broths "meal in a can" things. They're probably more nutritionally complete and better tasting than what was around then.

Also, depending on your son's anatomy - I have a bit of an overbite - not everything has to be liquid. Jello, puddings, custard all got sucked through. Being quite in love with creme caramele, I milked my mom's sympathy for all it was worth on that count! I can still remember my family laughing at the way cubes of jello sort of turned around and went "chup chup chup chup" before they disappeared. Emily Post would not approve, but then who asked her. Also being able to slip a piece of chocolate through my teeth to melt inside was something I was quite grateful for!

Actually the worst thing for me was not the food, but rather being unable to brush my teeth on the inside. Can you say "fur?"

And as we say here, "geçmiş olsun" - may it be past!

bob

[lesfen]

Just seeing this topic just made me laugh out loud so I'm going to share. When I was in high school, my best friend had to have her jaw wired shut for just under eight weeks. She was fine with the broths, protein shakes, and pureed soups for the first two... after that she bought one of those very small chopper/food processors and started experimenting. I swear, nothing was safe from her, her food processor, and a straw. Most unusual? That would be pork roast, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes.

[Swisskaese]

Sweet potato soup

Carrot soup

Black bean soup

gazpacho

Fresh/frozen fruit shakes (strawberry, banana, mango, peach, etc.)

Edited January 8, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[fou de Bassan]

I had this done as a teen and the only thing that kept weight on was Ensure. As nasty as it tastes you might want to have some around just in case. Oh, and don't try to puree clam chowder, big mistake.

Also, when the wires come off the jaw muscles will have weakened, so stick to soft foods for the first week progressing to the harder to chew stuff. I craved hamburgers and was reduced to tears when I couldn't chew one.

[jsolomon]

My brother had this done in high school, and I have to agree with lesfen. My brother was happiest when we would take the food we were eating and used a blender or food processor to get it to a state that he could eat it, too.

Good ideas for liquids for these foods: cream, butter, olive oil. Eating through a straw is hard work, and it is highly likely that calories will be lost. Ensure is what the RD is going to suggest, but I'd just make sure that there is a varied diet and crank up the calories.

[miladyinsanity]

I think he should be able to fit chocolate chips in, right? And let them melt on his tongue?

May--priority no. 1) Chocolate